Travel Industry Lobbying Efforts: Following up President Barack Obama’s Jan. 19 announcement to boost U.S. tourism and recognition of the travel industry’s contribution to the economy, the U.S. Travel Association last week unveiled “Vote Travel,” a new yearlong campaign to raise its profile with travelers and among policymakers in Washington, D.C.

“The world is experiencing a travel boom and the United States needs to be part of it,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “The impact of the $1.8 trillion U.S. travel industry is significant and growing, which is why we are galvanizing support and asking all Americans to ‘Vote Travel’ this election season.”

The Vote Travel campaign intentionally coincides with 2012 being an election year and provides an added opportunity for the organization to garner support for travel policy initiatives. Campaign goals include:

• Building support for travel industry policy and advocacy priorities among policymakers and the general electorate;
• Generating media attention surrounding the travel industry’s impact on the U.S. economy, as well as state and local economies, including specific congressional districts;
• Strengthening the travel industry’s visibility and relevance in Washington;
• Showcasing the critical importance of meetings and conventions with events during the Democratic and Republican conventions to target both convention attendees, as well as media;
• Deepening relationships with travel industry partners by helping them tell the story of the travel industry’s importance to the U.S. economy; and
• Building additional grassroots support for U.S. Travel and the Power of Travel Coalition through social media platforms.

“Travel supports more than 14 million jobs in local communities and states across the nation,” said Dow. “By casting a vote for travel, our industry can increase jobs, help our economy recover and get America moving.”

Hotel Room Discounts: Room 77 has kicked off 2012 by offering travelers 10 percent off any hotel booking, any time, even off already-discounted rates, for bookings made on its site between now and Feb. 22, 2012. There are no blackout dates and there is no limit to the number of times the discount may be applied. To receive the additional 10 percent off, enter NEWROOM77 when booking.

For users with existing reservations—even if the hotel was booked elsewhere—Room 77 is offering a chance to test out its Room Concierge service, which helps travelers get the room that best matches their preferences. For those with an upcoming reservation at a three-star and above hotel, simply email your itinerary to concierge@room77.com with VIP CONCIERGE in subject line.

Additional travel news of interest:

OTAs Settle Suit by Palm Beach County – Palm Beach Post
Peek Raises Money for Planning Tourism Activities – The New York Times Bits Blog
Yoga Room Now Open at SFO Airport – San Mateo County Times
Kayak Redesign: How and Why They Did It – Tnooz
Mexico Tourism Up – Bloomberg, Travel Weekly
Travel Hiring Is on the Rise – The New York Times

Photo: U.S. Travel Association/Vote Travel

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Room 77, the hotel search-by-room site that debuted in February, has added booking and comparison-shopping capabilities along with a free concierge service to its offerings.

Starting today, travelers can use Room 77 to simultaneously shop multiple major online travel agencies (OTAs), compare prices across a variety of room types and book at more than 120,000 hotels worldwide.

The company also enhanced its search pages, adding a useful “fees” link for each hotel that shows users the prices of extras, such as valet parking, self parking, Internet connectivity, cribs and pet fees.

The ability to compare various room types at multiple hotels helps travelers more easily find the best values for their stays. For example, they might see that for $25 a night more, they can get a room with better views in the next higher category. Or, they can determine that a suite at one luxury brand is less than the entry-level room at another nearby luxury property, or compare competing properties for the best deal. Results can be viewed in a list or on a map.

In addition, for three- to five-star properties booked through Room 77, travelers get access to a complimentary Room Concierge, which uses Room 77’s proprietary RoomMatch technology to identify the best rooms for each traveler and works directly with hotels to try to secure them.

“No matter where you book a hotel today, your actual room is still a gamble. Room 77 stacks the odds in the traveler’s favor by combining the power of our room IQ with advanced search technology and unprecedented service to get you the right room at the right hotel for the right price,” said Brad Gerstner, founder of Room 77.

Once a hotel has been selected, the new booking pages list the average nightly rates plus taxes and fees for each room type at the property, along with prices for various room types found at Room 77’s partner sites, some of which include Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, Hotels.com, CheapTickets.com and Booking.com.

Travelers who choose to book through Room 77 get the added benefit of the Room Concierge, on qualifying properties. Here’s how it works (or you can watch the attached video):

On the booking form, before finalizing the reservation, travelers can select both primary and secondary room preference (quiet, views, size, easy access or connecting rooms), then supplement those attributes with personalized requests, such as specific room numbers, floor preference, cribs, distance to elevator or whatever else they think of.

Room 77 uses its RoomMatch technology and other information to identify the best rooms to match those preferences, appends the requests to the bookings sent to the hotels, then follows up to ensure they were received, and works with the hotels secure the best matches and confirm the room assignments.

Within 48 hours prior to arrival, a guest will receive a message with the status of their room request and, when possible, a confirmation of specific room number. Room 77 also sends additional hotel information, including suggested rooms and additional hotel-specific tips to increase their odds of getting a preferred room at check-in if one isn’t confirmed before arrival.

“It’s really a blend of science and service that defines the process,” said Kevin Fliess, general manager and vice president of product at Room 77. “We’ve analyzed over 750,000 individual hotel rooms and know where the good and bad rooms are in the hotel. We then use that technology and data to generate a very specific room request—then do a little follow up (the service).”

According to statistics from a Room 77 survey:

• 75 percent of travelers who book online report that they have been disappointed in their hotel room, often because of view, noise and location.
• 93 percent of travelers who book hotels using online travel sites believe they get an average or worse room in a hotel due to the fact they use these sites.
• In beta testing, more than 90 percent of travelers who have used Room 77′s Room Concierge service report that they were assigned a room that met or exceeded their expectations.

One thing to note: The search results pages show the lowest day rate available for the length of stay for each hotel. A vast majority are dollar rates, however for a few international hotels, the number may represent a figure in a foreign currency, however when you select the property and get to the booking page, the site automatically does the conversion and all sales are currently made in U.S. dollars.

Photo: Room 77

Related posts:
Room 77 Wins Big at Launch Conference
Traveltechnology Weekly: Room 77, Hotel Twitter Account Valuation…

Room 77 app

Feature 1: Room 77, a hotel-room search engine, has launched in public beta with a free iPhone app and indexed data on what will soon be more than 425,000 hotel rooms in 2,500 properties spread across 16 cities.

The company plans to grow its database by crowd-sourcing it with pictures and room data submitted by users. The Room 77 app has built-in features so that travelers can easily rate and review a room, verify data accuracy and upload interior room and view photos.

The app could also come in handy at the front desk during check-in. Users simply have to enter the room number offered by the clerk, and the app instantly advises if you should “take it” or “leave it”, and offers alternate suggestions.

Read our post about the new company and it’s Launch award: Room 77,  ‘SeatGuru for Hotel Rooms,’ Wins Big at Launch Conference - UpTake
Consumer data reveals most popular web sites for viewing hotel visuals -VFM Leonardo
Holiday pictures by friends inspire 52 percent Facebookers’ travel plans - Skyscanner

Feature 2: Seventh Art Media has published a white paper that quantifies in dollar terms the Twitter account value of top hotels and hotel companies. It studied 120,000 tweets made by 135 hotels on Twitter between Nov. 1, 2010 and Jan. 31, 2011.

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas tops the list with a $445,688 valuation, which translates to $47.93 per follower. The Roger Smith Hotel’s account, valued at $109,361, also stands out as an example of what a single property can do on social media.

Twitter Hotel account valuation

But 83 out of the 107 accounts have valuations below $15,000 and the median value is only $3,941. Read the full report “Hospitality Brands and Twitter” by Seventh Art Media.

Here’s the rest of the week’s interesting news:-

Q&A: Stephen Cloobeck, chairman of the Corporation for Travel Promotion - LV Sun
New York-Las Vegas airline promises “straight to the room” baggage service – LV Sun

Visit Sonoma launches online “Speak Sonoma” glossary – SonomaCounty.com
San Jose to add “Silicon Valley” to airport name, maybe – Gadling

Travel site retracts mistimed deal after Christchurch quake - Stuff.co.nz
EasyJet apologizes for serving Jewish customers pork - Huffington Post

Israeli startup Bioexplorers using mice for airport security – Israel21c.org
Kentucky offers to help promote Florida’s Oxy-tourism - Palm Beach Post

Direct Connect users fear GDS retribution - ABTN
Direct Connect in a can -TheBeat.travel
Priceline CEO sees mixed market airline bookings - WSJ

Report: Economic significance of meetings to the U.S. economy – PwC US
Report: Antitrust issues posed by Google-ITA merger – American Antitrust Institute

Photo credits – Room 77, Seventh Art Media

Related post:
Room 77,  ‘SeatGuru for Hotel Rooms,’ Wins Big at Launch Conference

It’s a banner day for the folks at Room 77, the new search engine that could become the ‘SeatGuru of hotel rooms.’ Not only did the company officially launch its website and free iPhone app today, but it also won the Best Overall award in the 1.0 Competition category this evening at the Launch conference, which took place Feb. 23 and 24 at the San Francisco Design Center.

“Six hundred companies applied to the Launch conference. Forty were selected to present. We are thrilled and honored to have won,” says Kevin Fliess, general manager and VP of product for Room 77. “The fact that Room 77 won validates the power of platforms and transparency. Our singular focus now is to have every three-star and above hotel featured in this game-changing hotel search solution.”

So what does Room 77 offer?

The chance for travelers to optimize their hotel-room choice before they check-in. It’s that simple.

The focus is on three-star and above property categories, and the site provides data, floor plans, descriptions and simulated views for more than 425,000 hotel rooms from 2,500 properties in 16 destinations, all in U.S. markets save for London, with more in the works. Currently, about 500 hotels are up on the site, with the others marked as “coming soon.” Some of the hotel companies already working with Room 77 include Starwood, Hyatt and Kimpton.

Basically, you choose a hotel and room category, then set your room preferences—options include high or low floor, view important or not important, elevator near or far, and whether you want a connecting room—and Room 77 lists the “Best Matching Rooms” from high to low—strong, fair to weak—based on percentages calculated from an algorithm that takes into account collected data points matched to your preferences.

Returned room details include floor and number, distance from elevator, type of view, bed type, room size, if it’s a smoking room, and whether it’s a corner or not.

It’s pretty straightforward. Rooms on high floors away from the elevator will rank high for people looking for those attributes, with the match percentage decreasing per lower floor and the closer to the elevators. Vice versa for guests preferring the opposite. The insider “Heard in the Lobby” tidbits are a nice touch, as is the “Request a Room” link, with suggestions on how to actually get the hotel to assign you to the room you now want—key information considering how you can’t specify rooms through online bookings yet, and you need to call the hotel directly for room requests.

Some cons: You can’t chose more than one room category at a time, and a few of the hotels I spot checked have incorrect information in their descriptions—a common problem for sites that license such data or rely on internet research to parse together content. Some of the virtual views also don’t quite match up to reality. Case in point: Last September I stayed in the corner room in the photo above (or one a floor just above or below it), but the actual view stretched all the way up the center of Manhattan, with the Empire State Building right in the middle. Although having even a general idea of what your hotel-room view will be is clearly a positive.

I’d also like to eventually see more categories added to the preferences, such as distance to emergency exit stairs (currently users can see where stairs are located on floor plans), ADA rooms and kitchenettes. As the site grows, it would be great to pinpoint amenities too, including coffee machine, mini bar and bathtub—items that have become less common in rooms in recent years but that are nonetheless desired by many travelers.

Including photos of each room and not just views from the rooms would be great perk too, though plenty difficult to pull off. But Room 77 is banking on its app users to help fill its database with that information and more. Read more about the Room 77 iPhone app in UpTake’s Friday’s Traveltechnology Weekly column.

The company so far has raised $3 million from more than a dozen investors, including founder and chairman Brad Gerstner, who’s also the founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital; Rich Barton, founder of Expedia and Zillow; Erik Blachford, former president and CEO of IAC Travel; Bob Pittman, founder of MTV; Hugh Crean, former president and CEO of Farecast; and Fliess, founder and former CEO of TravelMuse (full disclosure: I worked with Fliess at TravelMuse).

How well Room 77 succeeds depends on how many hotel room plans the company manages to add to its database and whether enough properties can (or will) accommodate guests’ requests for specific rooms. For a brief period last year, I attempted to gather floor plans and room details for the company from some hotels in New York, and none of the properties I approached would cooperate. While Room 77 has since gotten some brands on board, it also ended up gathering information from some hotels without their permission by simply taking photographs of floor plans from the backs of hotel-room doors or other public displays.

A few individuals in the hotel industry that I’ve spoken to regarding Room 77 agree that providing micro-level room details is a great service for travelers—and one they personally would be interested in—but acknowledge that it’s a challenging proposition for many hotel companies, particularly larger chains, and it could disrupt how room allocation processes are handled.

Still, transparency is everything these days, and it could mean a big shift for how the best hotel rooms are booked. In addition, the desire and the demand from the traveling public seem to be great enough to support such a change. In a survey conducted early this month by Harris Interactive, 84 percent of online adults say they would be interested in an online service that reveals details about specific hotel rooms, such as size, layout, amenities and views before check-in.

But as the adage says: Be careful what you wish for. A major downside could be the unbundling of the hotel-stay experience, not unlike in the airline industry, with potentially each service, perk and amenity assigned a cost.

Photo: screenshot from search on Room77.com

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