New travel sites gathering steam

An emarketer report points to the rising influence of niche travel sites like farecompare (forecast rates) and gusto.com (trip-sharing) and the growing pressures on big players. An interesting finding – websites (33%) trumped word-of-mouth (9%) and other avenues when it came to influencing respondents to book an airline ticket (July 06). Websites with fare-prediction technologies and cheapest-rate-guarantees have no doubt contributed to the surge of confidence Vs recommendations from friends and family. For a traveler, the opportunity cost of not using the web might not work out – low rates has time and time again proved to be the best reason to buy! Not using the web for booking travel is like not using a PC in today’s day and time!

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Vijay Dandapani

Co-founder and president of a New York based hotel company for 24 years. Grew the firm to five hotels in Manhattan and also developed a greenfield project at MacArthur airport, New York. Speaker at numerous prestigious forums including Economy Hotels World Asia, Lodging Conference, NYU, Columbia University Real Estate Roundtable, Baruch College's Zicklin School and ALIS. President and ceo of New York City Hotel Association since January 2017.