Travel websites get personal

New York – As the hint of summer vacation emerges on the horizon, wanna-be travelers begin sifting through travel guides, both real and online, to concoct just the right vacation getaway. Price matters hugely, especially for travelers heading overseas with anemic dollars. But just as important is getting the best value out of a trip. That means before they plunk down thousands on a trip, travelers are craving real reviews and recommendations from others who have been there, eaten that. And online travel companies are snapping to attention.

A flock of relatively new online travel companies offer myriad ways to compare airfares and hotel rates and of course, book reservations. Others are promoting unpolished–and unvarnished–reviews contributed by fellow travelers. Still others promise to help keep us organized.

You can call it WebTravel 2.0–or you can just pull out what you need to plan your vacation.

“The influence of social networking and community services is growing significantly for online travel,” says Douglas Quinby, senior director of research at PhoCusWright. “Seeking information and looking for perspective–like-minded experience and judgments–are currently trumping the straightforward hunt for the best price. Services that facilitate a purchasing decision by aggregating or filtering content make [online travel information] relevant to the user.”

Online travel companies, including Travelocity and Expedia (nasdaq: EXPE – news – people ), are now some of the oldest Internet brands. But they’re buffing up how they serve vacationers by acquiring social networking sites that focus on travel. Travelocity’s parent company, Sabre Holdings, acquired social travel site IgoUgo in 2005. The following year, IgoUgo–which hosts user-generated reviews of travel destinations and hotels, photos and maps–was folded into Travelocity.

Travelocity wouldn’t say how much IgoUgo has helped boost bookings, but President and Chief Executive Michelle Peluso believes that social networking features are “democratizing.”

Such features “break down the hierarchy between users and Travelocity,” Peluso notes. “Consumers care about value and experience more than they care about finding the cheapest price.”

Expedia owns a social travel site called TripAdvisor, which is considered the premier site for user-generated travel reviews.
IAC/InterActive, Expedia’s former parent company, acquired TripAdvisor in 2004 and rolled it into Expedia the following year.

Social travel sites can also foster real-world socializing. Some members of Travelocity’s IgoUgo, for instance, strike a rapport online and then make plans to meet in person at different places around the world.

Online travel agencies aren’t just investing in social networks to appease consumers, however. They also need to offer services that airline Web sites, which handle the majority of online bookings, don’t have. “There’s been a critical need for online travel agencies to differentiate their service from travel suppliers,” Quniby said.

Get entire article on – Forbes.com

Share

FREE  for 30 days

 Email This  Print This