New Web Travel Tool Thinks Big Despite Downturn - Page 2

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While it may be able to rely on long-term support from its backers, TripIt has still made moves to keep up in these difficult times, cutting spending on marketing and advertising in favor of keeping the company small and focusing on continued technology development, it said.

One area where observers see a good deal of potential is in the site's efforts to capitalize on the booming interest in social media.

For instance, analysts say that TripIt application's being tied to LinkedIn is a winning combination for both. For TripIt, the exposure to LinkedIn may act as another lead generation tool to fatten up TripIt's user base.

At the same time, LinkedIn gets another way of building ties among users. For instance, via TripIts application, LinkedIn colleagues can see upcoming and overlapping destination plans. In the professional world, this may spur impromptu meetings, before, during or after a conference in a destination city, Bob Offutt, an analyst with PhoCusWright, told InternetNews.com.

"If you have business colleagues in your destination city and one of them sees you coming in, it could be a catalyst for an unplanned meeting," Offutt said.

Not everyone is as sold on the idea of TripIt. Forrester Research analyst Henry Hardeveldts said that it's yet to be seen whether the company will reap the revenue benefits it expects.

"I'm waiting for TripIt to clarify their revenue model. While I do see lots of opportunity, I don't see lots of action," Hardeveldts said.

Still, TripIt is sticking to its guns. Brockway plans to keep the company lean and focused on delivering on the promise of its beta technology. "We're basically focused on building out the project and service," he said.

"All of the economic uncertainty and turmoil is and will continue to have a negative impact on the travel industry," Brockway said. "We're seeing leisure and business travel down and it will continue to be down for a while. But we're still building TripIt and have a good amount of money in the bank.

"A year to 18 months from now, we'll see what the world looks like. Hopefully the economic situation will have turned around," he added.