travel tech insights

The Importance of Conversion Rates for OTAs

Let’s examine a very common scenario in today’s travel industry: Your customer is browsing a travel package or destination on your site, has done their research, is fairly confident your site is offering the best value, but is still unsure about completing the booking. Their virtual shopping cart is loaded, yet there’s still something holding them back from completing their purchase. How does a travel company entice or encourage this customer to click ‘buy’ and complete their booking? How does a travel company make the buying process simple, fast, and efficient?

What we’re talking about here is conversion. The scenario we described above plays out thousands of times a day in the travel industry for online travel agencies and companies in their quest to enhance online conversion rates, increase revenue, and build brand loyalty. But what’s an OTA to do to drive conversion in a competitive online landscape? How do they reconcile this situation? How do they turn probing clicks into purchases? How do they stimulate their conversion rates and leverage these successes into a jumping off point for sustainable growth and competitiveness?

Topics: travel website conversion OTAs conversion rates online travel agencies

5 Ways Online Travel Agencies Can Increase Bookings

It’s a trend you see all too frequently in today’s global travel industry: a traveler lands at an online travel agency’s website with the intent to complete a booking, but then leaves the site empty-handed. This can happen for any number of reasons, but the result is the same regardless: the traveler is unfulfilled by their digital interaction with the OTA, and the OTA misses an opportunity to forge a potentially long-term relationship with the customer.

It’s a problem many OTAs face in today’s travel industry, especially as online and mobile capabilities become cheaper to source and easier to deploy. The expectation that an OTA will operate a robust online travel booking platform is also putting pressure on OTAs to leverage fast, powerful web-based resources travelers can access 24/7 across any number of applications or contexts, be it laptops, smartphones, mobile devices, and more.

Topics: online travel agency Mobile Bookings online travel OTAs Travel bookings

5 Myths About the Role of Online Travel Agencies

Ever since they rose to prominence, there has always been misinformation about the role and value of online travel agencies (OTAs). OTAs were initially viewed a short-cut to increased profit margins and growth without really adding value to the travel and tourism industry. However, with the rise in online bookings, social media, and mobile technology, OTAs have established themselves as a benchmark for how online travel companies can and should operate in today’s global travel marketplace.

Yet even as OTAs have solidified their standing in the travel industry, many myths still exist about how they function, the value they provide to customers, and their place as a key driver in the evolution of the modern travel industry. Some of these myths stem from simple misunderstandings about the role of OTAs in the e-commerce sector of the industry, while others are based on trends within the industry that drive popular thought - for example, how in recent years millennials have turned to brick-and-mortar travel agents because they desire a one-on-one, personal connection in making their travel plans.

Topics: online travel agency travel trends online travel OTAs

Getting Your Products Out There: Technology, OTAs, and Distribution

Talk to OTAs across the globe about their highest priority concern and you’ll hear the same thing again and again: Distribution. In an increasingly competitive, global industry, the ability of an OTA to sell and distribute services quickly without error is critical to driving growth and maintaining a competitive advantage over other OTAs and brick-and-mortar travel agencies.

But how can OTAs best achieve this? What kinds of software solutions must OTAs leverage to succeed in creating an efficient value chain? These are the questions OTAs must address in getting the most value out of their distribution strategies and providing the best customer service to travelers.

Topics: online travel agency Travel Distribution Channels Online booking systems OTAs B2C