Comments on: Mobissimo Activity Search

by: Stuart MacDonald

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 06:21:06 +0000

You build loyalty by delivering the right thing, to the right person, at the right time, and well. So you either integrate content in a way that moves you up the purchase funnel and pools reach which you can direct to the highest bidder (e.g. “Where do I want to go next?” vs. “What time is the flight?” - let’s call it the TripAdvisor model) or you provide the best nuts-and-bolts answer, easiest, all the time and people love you for it. If you rock you do both, but this is tough because you have big hotel inventory holes and supplier sites often still suck, regardless how good you are.

In any event, this ain’t that. Love you Moby, but…

- Stuart

by: Mike

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 05:16:40 +0000

Great post. Thanks, Brian.

I think the key for TSEs is to build loyalty through product differentiation. The travel search experience and technology in general is easy to replicate with very low barriers. Mobissimo’s Activity Search is a solid attempt… let’s see what kind of traction they get. Agreed, it is about the right user experience (feature set) that can garner sustainable loyalty. Who of the TSEs will create a defensible, user valued, experience that sets them apart from the pack?

by: Mark Johnson

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 01:07:31 +0000

Focusing on user experience is the only way to build loyalty. You should absolutely eat those words =)

I agree with Stuart that this isn’t exciting news in the travel industry overall, but it’s good to see that Mobissimo is continually innovating, even if they sometimes miss the bull’s eye.

Mark Johnson’s post on Mobissimo’s Activity Search.

by: Brian Smith

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 16:34:00 +0000

Well, I don’t think I said it’s the ‘Next Big Thing’ (although I definitely have a habit of sounding part cheerleader, part evangelist), but it’s these type of Web 2.0 additions that get people’s attention and keep it.

As for Expedia’s Inspirator, I always found it restricting (and not just from the perspective that I couldn’t use the service in the US) and a fairly canned experience. If Mobissimo can deliver on its promise of more destination content and integrate user generated tags in a slick manner, I think Activity Search has the potential to leap ahead of Inspirator-esque services.

by: Stuart MacDonald

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 16:16:39 +0000

Well, Brian, the del.icio.us concept might go somewhere, but you’ve sorta missed the boat on saying this is The New Next Big Thing. Other sites have had variations on this forEVER. Cripes, I had it built and launched on Expedia.ca at least 4 years ago. It’s been killed off since because they added other packages from tour operators and, one presumes, it didn’t do much for users (personally, I always thought that the feature as it got built was half-hearted - death by a thousand cuts and dev constraints, but anyway). Expedia.co.uk still has the “Inspirator” - there’s a link to it right from their home page A column. It’s not as robust, but it’s been around for a looooong time.

Methinks your breathless enthusiasm, while well intentioned, is a wee bit misdirected. Yes, travellers like to plan on the basis of things other than date/flight/room/price, and yes the OTAs haven’t done super well at it (though let’s not forget that TripAdvisor *is* Expedia) but this is not exactly news.

- Stuart