The big craze in online retail over the last year has been “smart content,” defined as the ability to use Internet cookies to serve up content that, theoretically, is more suited to what specific visitors to websites are interested in. In other words, if I go to Zappos.com and always buy Nikes, it behooves both Zappos and me for them to create a Nike-centric online experience for me.
And that is what is behind this week’s big travel story in the news – the Wall Street Journal story that Orbitz has discovered that Mac users spend more money that PC users. A lot more money. Orbitz has discovered that Mac users spend as much as 30 percent more on hotel rooms than PC users. Orbitz told the Journal they’re experimenting with showing different hotel offers to Mac and PC visitors. However, they say they aren’t showing the same room at different prices. And they also point out that site visitors can rank hotel room options by price.
So you can look at this two different ways:
- Mac users tendency to spend more is an indicator of taste, and therefore Orbitz is serving them options that will better appeal to them. And, besides, Mac users don’t mind spending more for a better experience. Or….
- It’s a scam that is duping unsuspecting Mac users into paying more.
Individual travelers will have to figure out what they think is the truth. Or maybe they’ll just have to buy a different computer.
Once upon a time, dreamers dreamed of traveling around the world in 80 days. In 1985, Prince came out with the album Around the World in a Day. And this week, Gunnar Garfors made it happen. Garfors is a Norwegian who set out to travel to five continents in a single day… and he did it. He tells CNNGO’s Hiufu Wong that it’s doable, “as long as there are no flight delays!”
Earlier this week, we wrote about smoking around the world. This week, a Eurobarometer report calculated that smoking and its health impact costs European countries 100 Billion euros a year. The survey says 28 percent of Europeans smoke.
Big congrats to Airbnb, which celebrated its 10 millionth booking. Airbnb matches travelers with people willing to rent out their spare room for a few days, providing cheaper accommodations for travelers. That’s a lot of potentially awkward house visits.
There’s a new airline coming to Africa. CNN’s Teo Kermeliotis reports that “FastJet” will be a low cost airline. The founders’ goal is to “democratize air travel in Africa.”
If you could travel the world with any movie star, who would you choose? The people have spoken, thanks to Sky Movies’ new survey to determine which movie stars would make the best travel partners. Thirteen-and-a-half percent of the film fans polled said Jennifer Aniston would make the best road trip partner. Sky Movies suggests it’s because of her personality. Yeah, right.
If Ms. Aniston is your travel partner and things work out, you might want to consider these exotic, out-of-the-box honeymoon spots, courtesy of Lonely Planet’s Caroline Seig.
