Chris · February 18, 2008
It’s pretty hard to get excited about third-party hotel distribution websites, but VibeAgent is a hotel site that takes Tripadvisor’s reviewer model to a whole new level. I wrote a post about VibeAgent here at Vacant Ready, because we think they offer a unique, fun and informative place to shop hotels.
Last week Dennis Ortiz, VP of Marketing over at VibeAgent dropped me an email, and he mentioned that Vibes has launched a virtual tour component to the website.
I checked out a virtual tour of the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, which came up first in a search for hotels in Vancouver. The v-tour, produced by Hotelview was a fairly typical hotel-produced tour, and I would like to see user-generated media from YouTube etc. on the site to get a less formal perspective.
Still, it’s great to be able to get a visual of any hotel you are thinking of visiting. The excellent reviews on Vibe Agent do add great context to the Fairmont’s selling proposition.
Dennis forwarded me his Vibe Agent press release, which included a few supporting thoughts:
“According to PhoCusWright, the leading online travel research firm, 81 percent of online travelers indicate that videos and photos most influence their travel purchases. VibeAgent already boasts both hotel and user-submitted photos for most of its 120,000 hotels worldwide - now travelers can further enhance their decision-making process by viewing the new “Video” tab on each hotel’s detail page. ”
VibeaAgent continues to develop an interesting and useful community to find deals in great hotels recommended by guests who stay there, and I look forward to participating on Vibes more often in the future.
