Apple Inc. has filed patents with the US Patent & Trademark Office for two travel related app ideas for directly interfacing with airline and hotel booking and information systems, along with a third one for fashion shopping. The patents were filed last year, but have just been made public by the USPTO.

Apple travel app patent

The travel services app patent (20100190510) deals with “Systems & methods for accessing travel services using a portable electronic device.”

Application summary says this includes “Such services can include, for example, reserving a travel itinerary, checking-in remotely for a reservation, providing airport information, providing for social networking, obtaining dining or entertainment during travel, controlling and requesting cabin services, providing arrival notifications to third parties, providing destination location information, and the like.”

The hotel app patent application (20100191551) summary says “This is directed to systems and methods for accessing hotel services through a portable electronic device.”

Examples of hotel services cited include “that a traveler can interact with a hotel to make a reservation, check-in, order room service, control room settings, use a concierge to identify attractions of interest in the vicinity, purchase entertainment options, check-out, and schedule subsequent aspects of a trip (e.g., order a taxi, reserve a rental car, or check-in to a flight).”

Apple Hotel app patent

The third patent application is for high-end fashion shopping (20100191578), and includes methods for providing information for promotional and invitation-only events, browsing catalogs, availability of fashion items, and view or provide ratings or reviews for stores or fashion items.

If Apple is willing to risk innovation in mobile travel apps with patents like these, it means they’re actively seeking to book a place at the table as a gateway between mobile consumers and travel service providers.

Related posts:-
There’s An App For That?

Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced that BP is providing $7 million to the Northwest Florida Travel Council for tourism marketing and advertising. Florida had asked for $50 million, and Gov. Crist is still demanding that BP pay the balance of $43 million.

Gov. Charlie Crist onboard oil skimmer

BP has already paid Florida $25 million for tourism marketing, as part of a $70 million tourism promotion grant for the four Gulf Coast states impacted by the BP oil spill.

After that money ran out, Gov. Crist had sent a letter to BP on June 30, asking for another $50 million. BP refused, claiming that they didn’t see the need.

Apparently BP now sees the need, at least in Northwest Florida. Members of the Northwest Florida Travel Council include the tourist development councils of Escambia, Okaloosa, Walton and Bay counties.

They plan to use the BP funds to provide real-time information about the status of their beaches and run television, radio, print and online ads.

In response to BP’s new $7m committment, Gov. Crist sent a letter to Doug Suttles, CEO, Exploration & Production, BP America Inc. Excerpts from the letter:

“I must continue to urge BP to recognize that the impact of the oil spill extends far beyond the coastal counties of Northwest Florida… While the $7 million you have committed to the Northwest Florida Travel Council is certainly appreciated, we continue to believe, these funds fall drastically short of the need throughout the Sunshine State… From Pensacola to Key West, tourism industry leaders are reporting cancellations and declining reservations… To continue restoring their economic security, we respectfully request an additional $43 million to complete a second round of tourism advertising and marketing.”

That BP is willing to pony up more money for tourism marketing is good news for tourism boards in the Gulf Coast, and will almost certainly set off a new clamor for more BP funds from other organizations and cities that have made similar demands of BP.

Photo – U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter Shinn; source

Good news for Arizona travel and tourism from all fronts. For starters, the controversial part of the immigration law (SB1070) has been blocked by a judge. Second, the Arizona lawmaker who triggered the travel boycotts is now calling on conventions to come back to his state.

Stop AZ Boycotts

In response to a lawsuit filed by the federal government against SB1070, US District Judge Susan Bolton ordered a temporary injunction on provisions in the law which would have forced immigrants to carry their papers, and allowed officers to make warrantless arrests of suspected illegals.

SB1070 goes into effect on July 29, 2010, but the legal fight will now wind its way through the courts all the way to the US Supreme Court. Until then, assuming no court lifts the injunction, consider the whole SB1070 issue moot.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) took this legal victory as an opportunity to rescind his call for a boycott of Arizona by out-of-state conventioneers. In a statement, he said “I am encouraging national groups to return their conventions and conferences to the state to help us change the political and economic climate.”

Grijalva was the first one to call for an Arizona boycott, and it triggered off a tsumani of travel boycotts from organizations, private businesses, and entire cities. Now that SB1070 is stuck in the courts and Grijalva is calling for the conventions to come back to Arizona, it offers cover for everyone who would like to call off their boycotts.

To be noted that Debbie Johnson, CEO of the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association, along with other members of Arizona’s travel industry, might have helped nudge Rep. Grijalva in the right direction.

At the Governor’s Conference on Tourism held earlier this month in Tucson, there was a presentation about How the Immigration Debate and Boycotts are Affecting AZ Tourism. The presentation explicitly singled out Rep. Raul Grijalva for blame. Debbie Johnson also urged attendees to vote against politicans who supported the boycotts.

Ruth McClung, a rocket scientist from Tucson, is running against Grijalva in the upcoming November elections, and she too attended the tourism conference in Tucson. McClung has a novel campaign slogan -  ”Boycott Grijalva, not Arizona!”

To upp the pressure some more, they even sent Grijalva multiple letters about his boycott call and demanded an apology. Grijalva ignored the letters, and has not apologized as yet. 

To combat the boycotts, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has set up a tourism taskforce with a budget of $250,000. The task force has come up with some recommendations for improving the AZ tourism brand.

Also, organizations in Phoenix have set up a website (www.stopazboycotts.com/) which spotlights ordinary people (waitresses, cab drivers, etc.) who depend on tourism and have been adversely affected by the boycotts. The hope is that putting a face to the boycott will help people realize the damage being causing to innocents.

A Ypartnership/Harrison Group survey of US travelers with household incomes in excess of $50,000 has interesting consumer trends for 2010 and beyond, related to leisure travel, green travel, and the demographic breakup of traditional travel agent users.

2010 Consumer Trends

Highlights from the survey, published in the July 26 issue of Travel Weekly:-

- Leisure travelers are divided into four basic groups, based mostly on age and marital status.
- Travel agent usage (or lack thereof) differs based on ethnicity, age , sex and income.
- Huge disconnect between passion and practice for green travel.
- Celebration trips a rising trend.

The report lumps leisure travelers into four broad groups. 28% are Sensationals, as in younger, single or couples with a taste for action and clubs. The second biggest group (Extraordinaires – 26%) are the elders - wealthy and near or beyond retirement. This group is interested in European destinations, museums, theater and prefer boutique hotels and resorts.

The third biggest group (Familias – 23%) is made up of mostly dual-income families with children who prefer packaged trips, theme parks and beach vacations. The last group (Touristers – also 23%) are slightly older and married, and are high-end travelers who spend a lot and expect quality.

Echo-boomers (age 18 to 31) represent only 14% of all leisure travelers but make up 20% of those who use traditional travel agents. Only 39% of Boomers use traditional travel agents, even though they’re the biggest block (45%) of leisure travelers.

The section on green travel shows a startling disconnect between passion for the environment and willingness to practice green travel. While 81% claim to be environmentally conscious, only 9% have based their supplier choice on the environmental impact (carbon footprint) of their trip. 48% say they would give preference to an environmentally responsible supplier, but only 16% are willing to pay more for it.

Celebration vacations are a rising trend. 65% said they had taken celebration trips in the past 12 months. 45% of these trips were for milestone birthdays, 37% for anniversaries and 35% for weddings. According to Abercrombie & Kent, there was a 30% jump in clients traveling to celebrate a special event during the first six months of 2010, as compared to 2009.

Related Links:-
2010 Portrait of American Travelers – Ypartnership publications
2010 Consumer Trends: Behold the New American Traveler – Travel Weekly