Sometimes it seems that  that the only element of the marketing mix that the travel industry remembers from its school days is the P of Price. As soon as demand slows down, as soon as difficult times are announced, as soon as we think that we will not realize the desired volume there seems only one answer: slash the prices, bring on the discounts. Today,  we seem to start realizing that a 100% price focus will get us in trouble, not only this year but also the next years. 

The number of airlines organizing their distribution without GDS has doubled recently: from 1 (Ryanair) to 2. Monarch Airlines has decided to exit from the existing contracts with Amadeus and Galileo , putting all its cards on www.monarch.co.uk as well as its –smart- online low cost travel distribution brand Avro.The big question is: are we noticing a panic-driven, crisis-caused tactical move, or are we at the beginning of a new strategic development: the start of the post-GDS era?

Twitter is nothing short of a phenomenon. This site allows you to sent very small 140 character - messages (Tweets) to your friends and business relations (called Followers in the Twitter jargon) at all times. The result is a permanent dialogue with the Twitter world, from your PC or -probably much more important in the near future - from your mobile phone.  Professor Dimitrios Buhalis , who chaired the Enter2009 conference (organized by the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT)in Amsterdam ) mentioned the following item in his closing remarks: “Twitter is becoming the next big thing and many predict that it will have a similar success to SMS due to its simplicity, interactivity, speed and relevance”.