As the cruise season approaches, World Wide Web users' eyes roam lustily to online travel sites. This growth will affect in-paper travel advertising and editorial strategies and squeeze travel agents as users make reservations without intermediaries.
Thin margins shrink as bargain-hunters take to the Web for discounts.
Such guides either may take online reservations for their advertisers or pass users to booking sites. Travel editorial has to look more like a Zagat's guide and less like a feature. Articles on Bali, however interesting in print, will do little to turn your site into an e-commerce winner. For your local audience, personalization, the ability to manage customers' membership points and other inducements may build loyalty. Already, the base of consumers that frequent personalized travel pages numbers around 10 million.