Facebook’s new “like” buttons are appearing all over the web. It’s beyond Social, this is game changing.

Possibly between the Iceland’s Volcano and the Kentucky Derby you missed the significance. Here’s a quick summary on why this is a really, really big deal.

According to Facebook,  “Share ” buttons are being replaced with “Like” buttons (we’ve already added them to all of TravelDragon‘s 6000+ trips). “Facebook Connect” is going away (being replaced by the Facebook Platform). Activity feeds for other users and recommendation engines are part of the new toolkit. 50,000 websites have added the Like button and/or other social plugins since they first launched last week.

For the Travel Industry and all businesses this makes it much easier for potential consumers to share what they like on your site with friends, in real time.  The consumers no longer needs to move between content and facebook and are likely unaware of how this information is being tracked. WOW. Think about people cruising around on your site, seeing cool tours, reading reviews  from past guests, checking out your latest travel video. “like” “like” “like”! What the consumer might not know is that you’ll now have access to publish directly on their newsfeeds in the future.  Take for example a reader who “likes” your new  tour Gastronomic Catalonia and you can’t wait to start sharing all your Adventure/Culinary and Wine travel opportunities with them.

If “Like”= Approval Rating think about it, TripAdvisor might have some competition.  It’s about time.

How cool, you can now  find out what your friends like without needing to visit facebook.
But wait.  Are your “friends” really your friends?

“Facebook is building the Social Graph, a vast network of connections between people and the things they like”. What does it all mean to the end user? There are a lot of people very concerned  privacy issues are only part of that concern. “Instant Personalization” service are undeniably good for business owners and advertisers but for us as consumers? You’ll be telling the world the things you like, even when you’re not on Facebook.

I’d love your feedback from a consumer as well as a travel industry professional.

Kathy Dragon – Traveler, Chief Curator
TravelDragon & The Dragon’s Path

Featured Experience on TravelDragon Aconcagua Ameghino Valley Upper Guanacos Traverse with porters (Argentina)

Social Media, Technology and Transparency

My friend Everett Potter asked for a few predictions for 2010. Have a look at his post and what other industry folks think is ahead.

Kathy’s Travel Industry Predictions for 2010

Customer-centric: the customer will become the sales force, product developers, service centers and resolution managers for companies. Those companies who offer creative tools to enable this will see success. This will occur both online and offline.

Social Media: will be a game changer. Tour providers will invest in developing and implementing social media strategies. Those who embrace, interact, listen and share will see significant changes in customer retention, referral bookings, and resolution/customer satisfaction. Facebook will lead the consumer interaction, twitter will lead the pr, mobile devices will lead content sharing. Get Satisfaction and Trip Advsior will continue to navigate reviews and resolution.

Curators will Rule: too much noise, too much information, and too many people talking become increasingly overwhelming. In order to make decisions people will rely on people/sites they trust in the travel space (and in all decision making). Blogs, travel bloggers, twitter leaders and niche vertical sites will gain exposure and influence as they turn down the volume.

Technology will Enable: Live content, original, interesting, authentic content, interactive maps, new mobile apps, and rich media will be king.

The Sandbox will be broken: new technology and innovation will break the old sandbox where companies that do business in a certain way are thought of as leaders. Authentic, agile, innovative individuals will trump large companies and years in business.

Specialization vs Expansion: Niche Tour Operators will gain exposure and success. Consumers will be looking and able to find smaller companies who offer exactly what they are looking for.

Distribution: Niche Tour providers will increasingly distributed their products and content across new platforms and to new sites. The egocentric silos of personal websites and brochures will become only part of the real-estate content and data live on. There will be a consistent data structure and understanding of API and data feeds.

Collaboration vs Exclusivity: success will come through working together between multiple entities travelers, tour operators, destination management companies, tourism boards.

Transparency vs Selective Sharing: Information, links and reviews of hotels, routes, guides, restaurants will all be open. Consumers will know who is actually operating tours and what levels/values are involved. The line between incoming tour operators and outgoing will continue to blur.

Experiences will Drive Itineraries: Travelers will continue to search out authentic experience, unique/boutique accommodations, passionate personalities and cutting-edge destinations for new stories they can re-tell  for a lifetime.  Destinations will blur, people and community will become more memorable as we search out quality off-line engagement.