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Mobile
& Data: Two Strategic Pieces in the Online
Travel
Game That C-Level Execs Can’t Live Without
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London,
UK – December 2014 / Newsmaker Alert / As the founder of a company
that runs 12 conferences a year, Tim Gunstone could justifiably suffer
from conference fatigue but sometimes really important insights are uncovered.
He shares insights from this week’s analytics event in Amsterdam.
If
a show about analytics sounds like a dry event, that couldn’t be further
from the truth. Not only did Smart Travel Analytics take place in the vibrant
and edgy European city of Amsterdam, but the brainy and the switched on
from across the travel industry were present. And trust me, some of the
insights to emerge were strategic and revealing!
Between
speaking, running mics, battling with audio-visuals, making sure the coffee
was hot and the beer was cold – so, no I didn’t hear every speaker – this
is what I took from the event:
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With
soaring mobile usage, data analytics is vital: The days of the Ryanair-style
billboard website are over. If you can’t provide a contextualised mobile
message to your customers, watch the door – it’s going to shut on you.
The future will see travel companies having to sell core and ancillary
products on just three to six phone slots. To secure those all-important
conversions you’ll need to know how to analyse social, location and transactional
data to push the right product to get the sale.
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Mobile
has destroyed the direct booking channel for hotels. Figures abounded
in Amsterdam, but the scariest was that 60% of the direct channel has been
snaffled by mobile savvy OTAs. This could explain why earlier this year
Booking.com bought the property management system (PMS) Hotel Ninjas. If
this PMS grows and its data is harnessed (and with booking.com’s financial
clout, that seems par for the course), this could pose a real threat to
hotel brands. Do we really want a situation with one such powerful player?
Travel
suppliers have to focus on loyalty and mobile should be at the core of
this. Brands seem resigned to the fact that the OTAs are doing such
a good job selling travel via mobile, that there is no real reason to put
up a fight. What travel suppliers can and must do is to build the relationship
after the point-of-sale; the mobile device must be a core part of the service,
serving to build consumer trust in the offering. Not only will this help
travel suppliers control their supply chain better, it’s also the path
to financial success. Which brings us to….
…the
opportunities: They are huge! Words that stick in my head come from
a speaker who caught me as I was rushing out to ensure the beer was cold.
“It’s time we stopped looking at ancillary as an ancillary,” he said. The
successful equation will look something like this: Mobile + Real Data Led
Customer Insight + On Trip Inventory that’s now coming online = A Threesome
Made in Heaven (Okay so this was Amsterdam). EyeforTravel
research tells at that 66% of you consumers want you to engage with them
on trip. So, travel suppliers need to partner with anyone that can provide
them with a bookable database of restaurants, pubs, tours, taxis, activities
and so on, so they can provide their customer with the services they really
need. Lets face it who will the customer trust the most… a faceless OTA
or an hotel or airline that keeps them alive, warm and welcome? To be honest,
the OTAs may have a head start with data but it’s not too late.
All
this provides plenty of grist for the next event that I am running on March
2 in conjunction with Mobile World Congress. In Barcelona, one of Europe’s
most exciting cities, just for a day, 16 board level execs from airlines
to hotels, rail companies, metasearch, OTAs, tour operators and AirBnB
will meet to discuss the two hottest, industry shaking trends – data and
mobile and how the two are intricately linked.
The
following executives are confirmed speakers:
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Javier
Pérez-Tenessa de Block, CEO and co-founder, eDreams Odigeo Group
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Gary Morrison,
SVP of Retail, Expedia Worldwide
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Mittu
Sridhara, CTO, TUI
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Marco
Ryan, CMO, Thomas Cook
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Khawla
Salem Nasser Ali Albadi, Head of IT Innovation & Exploitation, Information
Technology, Etihad Airways
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Chris
Annetts, Commercial Passenger Services Director, Heathrow Airport
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Marion
Bauer, E&M Commerce Director, Vueling
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Scheherazade
Zekri-Chevallet, CMO, Thalys
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Monika
Nerger, CIO, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
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Kenny
Jacobs, CMO, RyanAir
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Fernando
Vives, SVP Commercial Strategy & Pricing, NH Hotels
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Michael
Levie, COO, Citizen M Hotels
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Mark Logan,
COO, Skyscanner
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Toon Bouten,
CEO, TOMORROW FOCUS AG (owners of HolidayCheck, Huffingtonpost.de, Zoover,
Ecotour, Mietwagencheck, Tjingo and more)
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Lee McCabe,
Head Of Travel, Facebook
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Mike Curtis,
CTO, AirBNB
Tim
Gunstone is available for an interview tim@eyefortravel.com.
Demand
for the event is high. Booking rates are 110% higher than last year. Don’t
delay!
Journalists
are invited. Please get in touch to gain your complimentary press pass.
The
conference is a partnership between the GSMA and Eyefortravel. It takes
place on March 2. To attend visit the EyeforTravel
web site.
Additional
statistics:
-
According
to EyeforTravel’s latest research 68.8% of travel executives said they
would spend more on mobile in 2014 (up from 53.3% in 2013)
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49% hotel
executives that will be increasing investment in mobile over the next three
months
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80% OTA
(online travel agent) and metasearch executives who believe mobile is business
critical and will be investing more in the next three
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20 million
the number of times hotels.com’s app has been downloaded
-
70% of
people who travel with a smartphone
EyeforTravel
is an online travel intelligence provider to hotels, airlines, online travel
agents, cruise, car hire firms and more. Established in 1997 by Tim Gunstone,
right at the inception of online travel, the group offers a diverse product
portfolio including industry analysis, insights, research, webinars, reports
and conferences. From major hotel brands to new startups, EyeforTravel
helps its 80,000 strong customer base make better decisions, build better
brands, close the most lucrative deals and ultimately sell more of their
product. For more information visit www.EyeforTravel.com.
Upcoming
Events:
Smart
Travel Analytics N. America 2015 (January 28-29, 2015)
Online
Marketing, Social Media & Mobile in Travel Asia 2015 (February
3-4, 2015)
Mobile
& Innovation in Travel N. America 2015 (March 23-24, 2015)
Contact:
Tim
Gunstone
Managing
Director
EyeforTravel
T:
UK +44 (0)207 375 7557
US:
800-814-3459 ext. 7557
|
Company
registration number for EyeforTravel Limited is 06286442. It is also registered
in England & Wales. Registered office is 7-9 Fashion Street, London
E1 6PX. United Kingdom |