Humane Touch of the Virtual Reality: By Luis Zapanta.

During my years of teaching English and Latin literatures, one of the favorite books my students loved to discuss is “The Prince” of Machiavelli. They always remember the line, “The end justifies the means.” Even until now, whenever I got a chance to talk to anyone of them, they would always quote Machiavelli.

Machiavelli’s thought is timeless and universal. As one who works on eCommerce, PR, and Marketing, I would say that there is a real bit of reality on Machiavelli’s thought with regards to the aforementioned fields. In the articles I have written earlier, “A Philosopher’s Take on the World of Internet Commerce and Ethics” and “The Challenge of Virtual Relationship”, I have tackled a part of the ethical side of eCommerce. Though, many eCommerce executives still face the challenge brought up in the said articles, there is another challenge to be faced…how should eCommerce be judged? Would really be ‘end justifies the means’ or the other way around?

New “Sheratonresorts.com” Invites Travelers to Customize Their Dream Vacation and Discover Unique Experiences at 62 Luxurious Resorts across Six Continents



Sheraton Hotels & Resorts invites consumers to discover unique local experiences and hidden travel gems with sheratonresorts.com, a new website dedicated exclusively to its global collection of premier resorts around the world. Leisure travelers can explore 62 unique local packages and search the Sheraton brand’s extensive collection according to specific interests. The launch of the new website coincides with Sheraton Hotels’ global initiative to enhance and differentiate the guest experience at each of its 406 hotels across 71 countries.

In keeping with the hospitality industry shift from selling rooms to creating unique experiences, Starwood Hotels & Resorts has re-launched its Luxury Collection website with a great new look and interactive features, rich content, a global cultural calendar and much more.

The first Travel Distribution Summit for the Middle East region was held on Tuesday & Wednesday (June 17, 18) at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. Organized by EyeforTravel, which also runs the popular TDS conference in London and other locations, this first-time event was well organized and a closer reach for most in the Middle East region. The event was moderated by Mona Faraj, previously with Rotana (and now with the new One to One Hotels in Abu Dhabi) and attended by a little over 100 attendees from a wide cross section, including eCommerce managers, eBusiness managers, revenue managers, distribution specialists and other corporate hoteliers.

The focus of the conference was undeniably on the hotel industry, with a token session on the airline industry that included Qatar Airways and Air Arabia. Also present were a sprinkling of OTA representatives and other travel suppliers, including WAYN co-founders Peter Ward and Jerome Touze, who seem quite eager to take on emerging Travel industry social media spend. It was heartening to see that more hoteliers in the corporate office are getting e-savvier about the role and importance of e-commerce and Web 2.0. Not many hoteliers seem sure about just what to do about these trends yet though...and there was very little concrete talk of cutting edge approaches or the sharing of existing best practices (possibly due to fear of competitive leaks in a shaky new environment!?).

“We’ve come a long way, baby” claimed a high-spirited pop idol not so long ago, following up on the claim with an equally upbeat track. And so we have…in the world of Internet Marketing too. From the age of information (think glorified electronic brochure) on the web to the world of snappy online transactions…we’ve now moved into the age of an experiential and social Internet, all great leaps in a relatively short space of time. Hotel eMarketers can lay claim to that cheery phrase too, as far as marketing and distributing hotel rooms on the internet is concerned, in spite of the traditional, people-centric nature of the industry. But despite the eMarketer code to boldly go where no other hotel marketers have gone before, very few venture into the fuzzy world of online marketing beyond rooms.

Major travel and hospitality companies have expressed anger over Search Giant Google's stance on Piggybacking. A worrying issue for most big-brand search advertisers, a recent article on the Wall Street Journal "Google Search Ads Rile Its Big Customers" explains it:

Tensions over piggybacking have been simmering for a couple of years. Companies such as Marriott International Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and Northwest Airlines Corp. say the use of their names and slogans in the text of other companies' search ads confuses potential customers and increases their cost of doing business. They are particularly upset with Google, which is the dominant player in the search business.