2006 through the eyes of a Travel Blogger
By Darren Cronian on Thursday, December 21st, 2006

It’s been a fantastic year for me as a travel blogger and I have enjoyed writing and discussing travel with fellow travellers and travel companies. The year ended on a high, with a visit to the World Travel Market in London and an invitation to visit the Travolution conference, with speakers from Google, BA.com and Trip Advisor.

2006 through the eye of a Travel Blogger

2006 though, has been a tough year for the travel industry, with the outbreak of Avian Flu, and the increase in terrorism attacks. UK Travel agents and operators have been hit hard due to the FIFA Football World Cup, and a hot Summer in the UK – keeping people at home.

The Internet has had a massive impact on travel, and sites like Kayak, Travel Supermarket and SideStep are going to play an important role, allowing us to find the cheapest holiday deals quickly, without having to search on Google or another search engine.

It’s obvious that consumers, like me and you, need resources like this blog, to help us plan and organise our holidays. That’s become more apparent of late with the increasing number of emails I am receiving from consumers looking for advice - surprisingly the blog article that was read the most, is the launch of Oasis Airlines, a low cost airline flying from London to Hong Kong, which was read 7,000 times.

Whilst the blog is rising in the search engines, and attracting more than 1,000 visitors every day, the biggest achievement for me this year, was being mentioned in various media publications including, UK newspaper, Metro, and the Travel Weekly and Web User magazines – all I do is write about something I love, and that’s travelling.


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19 responses to “2006 through the eyes of a Travel Blogger”

Kevin May | 21 December, 2006 at 9:31 am

for fear of being sniffy and yearning for accuracy, avian flu has not really had the impact analysts thought it would in 2006, despite its very slow creep across asia, and there were no terrorist attacks affecting tourism as such. THREATS of terrorism, however, are a diffierent matter.

tourism is a remarkably resilient sector when it comes to reacting to external forces like war and terrorism. sharm-al-sheiq, for example, bounced back VERY quickly.

you’re right about the meta/travel search engines in 2007. but also keep an eye on the multiples (thomson, thomas cook, et al), who are all making a concerted effort to distribute their products through the online channel.

what you my find in 2007 is the “value” of a holiday becomes more important. much of the industry laments how travel is so commoditised and price is the only determining factor. this will change soon as well.

travel-rants is one of the best sites around i’ve seen that translates some of the changes in the industry to consumers in a simple and concise way.

Travolution is glad to be associated with Travel-Rants and i’m glad we have been a good influence on you, Darren!!

merry xmas to you all from travolution.

klm, ed, travo

Reviews and Predictions Project - Day 3 | 21 December, 2006 at 1:12 pm

[...] 2006 through the eyes of a Travel Blogger by Darren [...]

Lee Harrison (owner Select World Travel) | 21 December, 2006 at 2:11 pm

Well What a year Darren. Long Live the Independent Travel Agent is all I can say. In a Year that Todd Carpenter has lamented as being one of the worst in The Travel Industry, Select World Travel continues to buck the trend, and perhaps our blog at http://www.selectworld.travel shows why.

We have enjoyed ” blogging” and have lots more to offer in the new Year.
We have Posted a Christmas Card for everybody on our blog and our next entry will not be until we come back on Wednesday the 27th we will be highlighting another of our Tour Operators coming to The Select World Travel Holiday Show on Jan 28th. It will feature a great Video of Kenya with specialist Somak Holidays.

We look forward to meeting you as well Darren on the 28th

All the best for a Very Merry Christmas

( P.s. did you get the TTA podcasts I e-mailed you?)

Bloglinkr Blog » Problogger’s Group Writing Project - Read Submissions | 21 December, 2006 at 5:34 pm

[...] 2006 through the eyes of a Travel Blogger by Darren [...]

Ashish Mohta | 22 December, 2006 at 12:58 am

Pretty good!! Yiu did a lot of research and networking for those.Thx for sharing the info.

I also got entry in darrens project.
http://technospot.net/blogs/index.php/2006/12/19/predicting-the-evolution-of-techspot-insideout/

And i am feeding your blog.There wont be another chance to meet so many bloggers

Merry Christmas

Why I Love Problogger Group Writing Project | Kuala Lumpur is Home | 22 December, 2006 at 1:50 am

[...] 2006 through the eyes of a Travel Blogger by Darren [...]

Darren Cronian | 22 December, 2006 at 10:22 am

Kev, I realise it didn’t have a massive impact, but it did have “some” impact on the industry, and probably put some people off visiting the Asian countries that were affected.

There weren’t was just threats of terrorism though - remember Turkey, India these countries were affected by tourism, and whilst there’s no official figures, a combination of the Avian Bird Flu and terrorism will have put people off from visiting the destinations, thus having an impact on tourism.

Thanks for the comments Kev, and I’m simple, in that I don’t understand alot of the jargon, which is good for the blog, because I write in a non jargon style (most of the time) All the best to Travolution for 2007! I’m sure it’ll grow even bigger than it has in 2006.

Lee,

You should be proud of yourself, and what you have succeed in 2006. I can see 2007 being the year of the Travel Blog. Okay, travellers have used blogs for years, but travel companies are starting to realise how powerful blogs can be for their business.

It’s simple creating a blog, what the test is, is promoting that blog, and adding unique, fresh content regularly, otherwise people won’t simply come back - making it promotional and slapping on promotional content wont work - it’s the age of information, and that’s what holidaymakers/consumers want.

Happy Christmas to everyone at Select World Travel, hopefully I’ll be booking again with you guys for my 2007 holidays.

Darren Cronian | 22 December, 2006 at 10:24 am

Ashtish, and everyone visiting the blog from ProBlogger.net - welcome! Please feel free to leave a message.

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