You probably noticed that no web startup these days can live without a lousy Google Maps mashup of some kind or another. Somehow that even become a sign of the web 2.0. Anyway, when it comes to travel using Google maps is probably makes sense, and ArrivedOK is just the case. Take a look at the map of ArrivedOK Beta Testers flight arrivals. We didn’t do Google Maps integration yet, it’s just a screenshot, but I find it interesting and fun. We have multiple arrivals to the same airports but I didn’t put that info in, otherwise the picture would be too messy. You can view that at Google Maps website too. It’s been two weeks since the official Public Beta launch, and the list of countries from which we admit the testers is stil quite limited, yet we have our users flying, landing and getting tracked all over the globe from UK to Australia.

NB: You might notice there are still no landings in the U.S. That’s right, we wrote about that here, and we’re working on that.

Google map of ArrivedOK Beta flight arrivals -- click on the image to see the full size.

“Torres says that the goal of Google’s travel division—aside from tapping into the $90+ billion global travel ad and sales market—is to give users a destination where they can research travel plans, read user reviews, and see user uploaded videos and photos. Already, about 50% of travelers use some sort of online social media site to research their plans, says Torres. Why not give them a one-stop shop for travel information? “We are already so highly searched for travel,” says Torres.

Source: www.businessweek.com

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has begun new campaign to “improve and edit all the information about Thailand”. The online campaign includes editing of articles about Thailand on Wikipedia and developing of web-portal with TAT’s and traveler’s UGC content about the country.

Good initiative.

TAT should also pay more attention to mobile media (in addition to this online campain), helping tourisits in a time of visit.

Now, for example, AIS mobile service for travelers doesn’t work. ConciergeGo, another source of information about major Asian cities on mobile, has no information about Thailand too.

“Lonely Planet are planning a smorgasbord of mobile content for its readers, ranging across SMS, WAP, downloadable Java apps and rich content. [...]

Mobile services will be complementary to guidebooks, allowing people to stay in touch with other travellers and with people back home, through mobile blogging.

Web 2.0 is the answer: For Lonely Planet Web 2.0 solved a lot of problems, or at least pointed the way to the solutions. People are now a lot more comfortable providing reviews and content, and the problem of restaurants (for example) submitting fake reviews is combated by people having a reputation in the forums. “When someone submits a review we know all about their previous behaviour in our digital community,” said Hitching. The company plans to link its mobile efforts to its online sites like the forums Thorn Tree and the accommodation and booking site Haystack.

Part of Lonely Planet’s strategy is community-based, and part is building off the existing content the company has. The revenue stream will depend on the type of content—SMS services lend themselves to premium SMS billing while other content could involve sponsorships or other forms of mobile advertising.

Location-based services are ideally suited to travellers finding their way around a new city. At the end of this month Lonely Planet is launching a new series of books—Encounter—which will be more concise and direct, designed for people who are spending only a short amount of time in a city. It’s launching SMS services to coincide with that”.

www.moconews.net

The first company’s mobile effort – ‘CityPicks’ in 2005:

“Aussie telco Optus has launched a service with Lonely Planet called CityPicks, which are basically destination guides for more than 40 cities around the world with at least 50 recommendations per city”. www.moconews.net

The book titled “Tips from the T-List” is a collection of the best posts from T-List bloggers from around the World. The audience for the book is executives, marketers, and decision makers from DMOs, tour operators, and large intermediaries from across Canada. e-versions of the book have been made available for the Travolution conference in London and the Web-in-travel conference in Singapore.