In-destination booking capability more vital, says PhoCusWright
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Travel agents need to work harder to provide in-destination bookings and respond to the increasingly ‘always on’ traveller, according to analysts PhoCusWright.
Speaking to Travel Daily recently, the industry intelligence company’s founder and visionary Philip Wolf said travel companies need to take advantage of new technology and target customers while they are on holiday to ensure they provide a full service.
“Travel agents are not focused on the customer enough and if they were more like other stores where they have their own inventory they would act differently,” he said. “Travel companies are not marketing to customers that are ‘always on’ and in-destination planning is becoming a big trend. It is more apparent for travellers to land in a location and book the hotel when they land, but also hoteliers and businesses need to remember what their own technology offers too. I recently stayed in a hotel where its website only used flash and it would not upload on my iPad; this is not ‘always on’. It cannot just be a website but a means for support and to help travellers make decisions”.
Distribution is the travel industry’s other online element, which Wolf and PhoCusWright often refer to as the ‘search, shop, buy, share’ model. It’s something that is not new, with the term ‘SoLoMo’ (Social, Local, Mobile) having been around for some time, but is gaining pace as technology and online steps up in importance. Some say Facebook is now a market of its own and while established players have felt threatened by internet start-ups, the latter is increasingly coming out on top.
“The better you innovate and use technology, the better you can enable travellers to inspire and travel. You could have the most amazing place or hotel but you need to get people there and the only way to grow that is through technology,” Wolf told Travel Daily. “Change marks the success of companies amongst challenging times and businesses should take advantage because there are plenty of opportunities”. Wolf used the example of photograph companies Kodak and FujiFilm to prove his point, the former of which has entered bankruptcy while FujiFilm has sat quietly behind and developed its own digital product and tools.
This example could easily be found in the travel industry, with the main common factor that while the means of reaching information and booking may have changed, there is still demand for the product itself. PhoCusWright’s latest figures show a 5% growth in UK leisure travel last year, with the next 12 months generally positive although UK consumers are uncertain. Further results show an increasing shift online, with online travel agency bookings set to exceed £34bn next year and tablet and mobile adoption to continue its rapid growth. The once fragmented market is becoming more mature and PhoCusWright predicts Google’s expected entrance into the price-shopping market to affect travel agent bookings.
“There is still plenty of travel; the difference between companies is the management team and attitude,” explained Wolf. “Really businesses are just competing against other management teams. There is so much growth and sitting around and waiting is not an option. Just existing isn’t enough”.