Hotels.com, ICHG, Hyatt and Priceline Convene to Discuss the Latest Online Marketing Trends in Chica

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. October 14, 2008

APRIL 15, 2008. Find out how to harness the power of social media and track your marketing campaigns at EyeforTravel's annual marketing forum: Online Marketing in Travel, this year, being held in Chicago at the Downtown Marriott, on 25-26 June. Speakers include Orbitz Worldwide, Red Lion Hotels, Virgin America, Hotels.com, Avis Budget Group, Norwegian Cruise Line, Google, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, InterContinental Hotels Group, JetBlue Airways, Priceline.com and more. For a full list of speakers click here: http://events.eyefortravel.com/smusa/speakers.asp

This well-established event, formerly called Sales and Marketing in Travel, has consistently attracted over 200 senior marketing executives from across the travel industry. For a full agenda and list of previous attendees visit www.eyefortravel.com/smusa

The agenda for this year sees familiar topics, like search marketing and email marketing, alongside new sessions, such as optimizing website usability and mobile marketing. Senior-level marketing experts for all sectors of the travel will be discussing these issues in the context of web 2.0 and an unstable economic outlook.

Playing a much bigger role than previous years, the afternoon track features five keynote presentations on social media, each tacking key issue for travel marketers. Diane Clarkson, Analyst from Jupiter Research, will open the afternoon by examining customer satisfaction online and looking at the impact that UGC has travel decisions.

Dr. Natasa Christodoulidou from California State University from will give an academic viewpoint on the best way to incorporate social media initiatives into your eCRM strategy. Ken Leeder, CEO, RealTravel will provide insights on customer behaviour and monetizing UGC. And following that, the highly charismatic, Randy Petersen, CEO, Flyertalk.com will be tackle the biggest concern of web 2.0, how to protect and promote your brand in the social media space.

Cassandra Imfeld Jeyaram, Social Marketing Manager from InterContinental Hotels Group will be giving a supplier perceptive on the power of user-generated content for Online Marketing initiatives. And finally European UGC site Tripr.tv will demonstrate how travel companies can monetize user-generated videos and explain their unique value proposition to the audience.

On the second day Linda Anderson, VP Marketing for Red Lion Hotels and Buddy Atlus, Director of Online Distribution, Avis Budget Group, will be joined by the CEO of ekit for a discussion on how the travel industry is utilizing mobile marketing.

Also, new for this year is a session on website optimization, designed to teach delegates how to engage and capture online customers to increase conversion rates. Speakers include Steve Pinetti, SVP Sales and Marketing, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, Dena Yahya, General Manager, Onetime.com and Yen Lee, CEO, Uptake.

Online Marketing in Travel's agenda is a true representation of the key issues facing any travel marketer. In a web 2.0 world it's difficult for marketers to strike the right balance between tactics, old and new, whilst still maximizing ROI. And by bringing together such a wide variety of speakers from hotels, airlines, cruise and car rental, this event give delegates a great opportunity to benchmark their online marketing strategy against the world's most successful travel brands.

To request a PDF brochure will the full two day agenda, click here: http://events.eyefortravel.com/smusa/more-information-logix.asp

Contact:

Helen Raff

VP North America

EyeforTravel

+44 (0) 207 375 7582

helen@eyefortravel.com