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EyeforTravel
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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:

  • 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.
  • 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:

  • Javier Pérez-Tenessa de Block, CEO and co-founder, eDreams Odigeo Group
  • Gary Morrison, SVP of Retail, Expedia Worldwide
  • Mittu Sridhara, CTO, TUI
  • Marco Ryan, CMO, Thomas Cook
  • Khawla Salem Nasser Ali Albadi, Head of IT Innovation & Exploitation, Information Technology, Etihad Airways
  • Chris Annetts, Commercial Passenger Services Director, Heathrow Airport
  • Marion Bauer, E&M Commerce Director, Vueling
  • Scheherazade Zekri-Chevallet, CMO, Thalys
  • Monika Nerger, CIO, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
  • Kenny Jacobs, CMO, RyanAir
  • Fernando Vives, SVP Commercial Strategy & Pricing, NH Hotels
  • Michael Levie, COO, Citizen M Hotels
  • Mark Logan, COO, Skyscanner
  • Toon Bouten, CEO, TOMORROW FOCUS AG (owners of HolidayCheck, Huffingtonpost.de, Zoover, Ecotour, Mietwagencheck, Tjingo and more)
  • Lee McCabe, Head Of Travel, Facebook
  • 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)
  • 49% hotel executives that will be increasing investment in mobile over the next three months
  • 80% OTA (online travel agent) and metasearch executives who believe mobile is business critical and will be investing more in the next three
  • 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
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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

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Placement Dates: 12/09/14 – 02/09/15
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