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Insights Analysis of events, data, and trendsaffecting the information industry. |
Nothing takes a B2B trade publisher deeper into critical workflows of its target audience more than being involved in the sales transactions of the segment being served. In this case, Questex's move makes it more than "involved", it now owns the exchange in which the transaction takes place. Important Details: Questex Media Group has acquired Five Star Alliance, an online luxury hotel booking service. Five Star Alliance provides reservations for a number of luxury hotels as well as newsletters and blogs covering the luxury hotel market, transacting more than $30 million in gross luxury hotel sales annually. The site provides bookings for groups including Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and Orient Express Hotels, and is among the London Times Best Travel Web Sites. Five Star Alliance's target market of luxury hotels dovetails with Questex's travel and hospitality group, which includes Luxury Travel Advisor, Premier Spas and Premier Romance, Travel Agent Magazine, Luxury Travel Expo and Luxury Travel Expo Mexico. The Questex Travel Group was formed in April 2005 out of the acquistion of Advanstar's travel group . Implications: Nothing takes a B2B trade publisher deeper into critical workflows of its target audience than being involved in the sales transactions of the segment being served. In this case, Questex's move makes it more than "involved", it now owns the exchange in which the transaction takes place. The advantages include the incremental fee revenue from handling the transactions; sitting on top of the transaction flow capturing data and trends; using the site as a channel to reach prospects for advertising online, at events or in print; and more. The biggest downside is the appearance of loss of neutrality in the eyes of other hotels not served by Five Star Alliance. Other B2B trade publishers will be well served by identifying the exchanges in their markets and considering them as content and services partners or acquisition targets. Staking out a goal of being considered by buyers and sellers as the eBay of your vertical markets will drive thinking that uncovers serious workflow and transaction participant opportunities, the most complete stage of which is doing what Questex has done: becoming the exchange itself. |
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