We all have heard of the  Expedia’s and Travelocities, but there are new search engines coming out that may transform this marketplace. Sites like Sidestep, Kayak, and Farechase are coming into their own as great alternatives for finding the  best fares.

These sites do not book travel, but they do let you find the cheapest prices for air fares, hotel, and car rentals. They have no vested interest in who you book with but allow you to book directly with the providers with the full information.

”These guys have become a credible threat and competitor to Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia,” said Al Lenza, vice president of distribution and e-Commerce at Northwest Airlines. ”It’s good for the consumer, because the search engines highlight the fees the travel agencies charge.”

Not everyone is convinced. Henry Harteveldt, vice president of travel research at Forrester Research, says travel search companies, sometimes called metasearch sites, are generating only about 1 percent of airline bookings. He said that’s not enough to survive.

”Metasearch 1.0 is dead,” he said. ”It’s time for Metasearch 2.0 to emerge and service a slightly different purpose.”

The travel search engines definitely face an uphill struggle. Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity handle the bulk of online travel sales in the United States. They are online travel agents that help customers find fares, rooms, or cars and then book them, usually charging a fee for the service they provide.

Travel search engines have a very different business model. Instead of selling travel, they assemble travel information. The searcher chooses the fare or hotel he prefers and clicks through to make a purchase directly from the airline or hotel chain. The travel search engines don’t charge their customers anything. Instead, they make money from small referral fees paid by travel suppliers and advertising on their websites. High volume is the key to their business.  via Boston Globe

 Another guide to inexpensive airline tickets is Cheapflights.com. They also have a blog. Another link for my favorites.

As the travel market rebounds, costs are rising for the business traveler on almost every front. The airlines are getting a handle on the capacity issues and fuel costs and are increasing their ticket prices, and hotel and rental cars are following suit on higher demand. While good for the industry, the business traveler will be feeling the pinch in the pocketbook.

A recent report from consultant American Express Business Travel projects annual increases in 2006 of up to 8% for airfares and car-rental rates. High-end hotel rooms will increase by up to 5%, the report says. Meanwhile, general inflation is expected to be up just 2.3%, according to the latest consensus of the National Association for Business Economics.

Caleb Tiller, a spokesman for the National Business Travel Association, which represents corporate travel managers, says his members are adjusting to the new world of expensive travel. “They’re adjusting budgets accordingly and looking for ways to contain costs,” Tiller says.

The article in USA Today goes on to break down the cost increases in each segment of the marketplace. It is a good read if you are a frequent business traveler.

The LA Times has a very interesting article on getting the best price on hotel rooms. The use of yield management by the hotel companies means that rooms can be sold for different rates depending on occupancy and other factors.

“The core concept of yield management is to provide the right service to the right customer at the right time for the right price,” the report says.

It’s all about timing.

A big problem, industry experts say, is that room demand waxes and wanes by day of the week, time of year, special events and other situations that hoteliers can’t control. Yet every night, a Hilton or Sheraton has the same 100 rooms to fill.

Ensuring that rooms get booked at the maximum price possible, without getting stuck with vacancies at 5 p.m., is a delicate high-wire act.

Enter yield management, which aims to “gain control of consumer demand by using time- and price-related strategic levers,” the report says.

Yes, they’re manipulating you.

By lowering the rate for stays during slack times, hotels induce penny-pinching vacationers to book then, filling rooms that otherwise would have gone vacant. By saving some rooms for last-minute bookers, often business people who have no choice, they can demand higher prices for the now-scarce rooms.

2006 will bring the brand new Westin Resort, Spa, and Condos at Dawn Beach on the island of St. Maarten. This will expand  Westin’s Caribbean resort market that includes the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Puerto Rico and St. John.

The property, slated for completion in December 2006, will boast 310 hotel rooms and suites, 100 condominiums, a casino, a full service European-style Hibiscus Spa, restaurants, retail shops, ultra lounge and night club, amongst other amenities. The project is financed by Scotiabank.

The laying of the cornerstone comes some seven months after the developer showed interest in redeveloping the property, which was left in ruins by Hurricane Luis 10 years ago. The St. Maarten flag was hoisted by Leader of Government Sarah Wescott-Williams and a Westin flag by Jung to signal the official naming of the property.  via The Daily Herald

InterContinental is the hotel company with the largest number of rooms in the world. They have increased the number of rooms available by 49% since 1995 to a total of 532,701. Cendant is a close second followed by Marriott, Accor, and Choice Hotels. Hilton International was the leader in growth since 1995 by nearly tripling the rooms that they offer.

• InterContinental, 532,701 rooms, up 49 percent
• Cendant, 520,860 rooms, up 26 percent;
• Marriott, 469,218 rooms, up 154 percent;
• Accor, 463,427 rooms, up 81 percent;
• Choice, 403,806 rooms, up 37 percent.

Via the NY Times.

Book Early says Priceline. A majority of those who wish to go skiing pick 4 weekends each year,  Christmas (Dec. 23-26), New Years (Dec. 30 - Jan. 2), Martin Luther King’s Birthday (Jan. 13-16) and Presidents Day (Feb. 17-20). To get a reasonable price, one should look to book now as opposed to waiting till the last minute.

So if you want a great deal on tickets, get working on the trip right away. Otherwise, it may be hard to make your ski holiday a reality this year.

Press Release:

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Travel Weekly has a couple of fun things to do in Hawaii over the next couple of months. The first is aimed at golfers, the second is for the coffee lovers.

From Travel Weekly:

TURTLE BAY RESORT on the North Shore of Oahu will host the Champions Tour Turtle Bay Championship of Golf, Jan. 23 to 29. The tourney includes a 36-hole professional-amateur competition and a separate 54-hole pro tourney, both on the Palmer Course. Each will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel. The total purse for the event is $1.5 million, and the resort has signed a four-year agreement with the Professional Golf Association to host the tournament until 2008. Go to www.turtlebayresort.com for more information.

THE KONA COFFEE CULINARY INVITATIONAL will take place on the Big Island at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort on Nov. 9. Wine and beer are paired with dishes created with the coffee bean by local chefs, including Outrigger executive chef Jason Koppinger, who oversees the event. The invitational will take place in the Royal Gardens from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Call the hotel at (808) 324-2554 or visit www.konacoffeefest.com for more information.

I think I would go to both!

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