USA Today’s report on web 2.0 and its impact on the travel industry makes an important point – online travel has taken to web 2.0 and its disruptive technologies like a fish takes to water. The article gives many examples of travel sites using sharing and collaboration technologies to forge communities.
Can travel 2.0 co-exist with official content without distracting from the main objective of driving business and without seeming like paid-for-advertising!? Sheraton’s website design is a fine example of a disruptive technology used not-too-disruptively! The user-content seems right at home and visitors in a hurry can still book their rooms without losing track!!
It is very true that the travel industry will not be able to avoid the changes that Web 2.0 is bringing. Sheraton has taken a solid first step toward adopting a new online culture that is centered around user created content. If a brand can create a user centered community the MySpace generation may just do wonders for their market share.