travel tech insights

You hear it all the time: “I really love the features of this travel app, but I wish I could actually talk to a travel agent…”

Even in today’s travel industry where interconnectivity and deploying the latest technology platform is the name of the game, travelers still crave the personal, one-on-one interaction brick-and-mortar travel agents provide. Such personalized connections have long been a critical challenge for online travel agents (OTAs) as they strive to maintain a foothold in the travel industry, particularly when attempting to reach millennials and other highly-prized demographics.

Everyone knows the old saying you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but at the same time everyone knows the importance of making a positive first impression. It’s a paradox that relies solely judging a book by it’s cover, but it’s a paradox we live with on a daily basis and one that travel companies must reckon with when it comes to their web presence and the responsiveness of their website.

Imagine: You log on to a travel company’s website to research a destination or complete a booking and the site takes seemingly forever to load. Images don’t display properly, text is difficult to read, and drop-down bars and navigation tabs don’t function and impede your ability to move through the site. You try to access the same site later from a smartphone and tablet and encounter the same issues again, only this time their magnified because the site is not equipped to handle mobile interfacing. Frustrated with this experience, you ditch this website in favor of a competitor which offers a more simple, clean web-based interaction.

This is what is meant by a responsive website: a website design that recognizes a visitor’s device, changes page configurations for best viewing, and is capable of displaying with optimal functionality across all spectrums of devices - desktop, laptop, tablet, and more.

It’s no secret in the tourism industry that summer is the season of travel. In fact, a 2015 survey examining the travel habits of more than 1,000 respondents found a majority of those polled save more than one-third (37 percent) of their vacation time for the summer months, and that 46 percent of those who save their time use it for shorter weekend excursions rather than one long vacation.

As this trend is predicted to continue into this year’s summer season, travel companies can expect a surge of web traffic as travelers research and book trips. And because industry analysts forecast consumers opting for multiple short-term trips, travel companies must strive to maintain efficient, user-friendly web presences to ensure customers return each time they plan a getaway.

or how to bring back the joy in the travel agency

Think about the travel industry: is one of the most dynamic and segmented industries. As a player in this industry, there are lots of things that you need to think about: GDS commissions, hotel banks, markups, reseller networks, accuracy of the content and many more. And you don't just need to know about them now and then. You need to pay very close attention to what's happening in your market because the travel market is extremely dynamic. 

Considering all of these, many of the players in the travel industry have lost their focus. They have forgotten who they are talking with, and what is their main target: The customer.