Brand Spanking News

In a recent article on SearchEngineWatch.com, Elisabeth Osmeloski discusses two new travel search sites that are designed to "inspire" users to go places. The sites, Uptake (formerly Kanga) and TravelMuse, certainly package travel and tourism "information" differently than the current top booking sites. But "inspiration"? Please.

These sites repackage existing, relatively generic content (wikipedia articles, user reviews, how-tos and travel tips, advertising and a booking engine) behind interfaces that supposedly help the user to "Find Inspiration".

Uptake asks me to choose between...

• just get away
• family vacation
• romantic getaway
• pet friendly
• girls getaway

...then serves me up a bunch of generic hotel listings - similar to those on other travel booking sites.

TravelMuse asks me to pick themes & activities from a word cloud. Nice use of technology, granted.

But maybe I'm missing something here. To tell you the truth, I'm far from inspired.

In her article, Elisabeth talks about the travel planning cycle:

Inspiration > Research > Planning > Booking

These sites strike me as research fodder, not inspiration. And conveniently, I have to fly. I can't drive, even if I only want to go an hour away.

If you want to inspire me to travel, tell me stories that feature little known details that some database couldn't possibly know. Make me feel like I'm in the know, that this place is for me and I will be a better person for having traveled there. Tell me why I'm going to love it, that Hemingway stayed there, or that it's the birthplace of some ancient tradition.

Then, and only then, sell me a plane ticket, a rental car and a place to stay.