travel tech insights

To the public eye travel is a straightforward concept focused on destinations, activities, tickets and itineraries. For those who work in the travel industry it’s always been a complicated set of interrelationships between retailers, wholesalers and service providers – made, if anything, even more challenging by the global reach of the Internet. Two of the more visible ways the Internet has changed the travel are: 1) raised customer expectations for a unique and amazing travel experience; 2) price transparency – customers can book much of their travel directly online, or have travel plans in mind and quotes in hand before the first conversation with atravel agent. 

Whether you’re a travel agency, a tour operator or a travel management company, you face the challenge of a changing travel market and the sobering reality that your competition is not standing still. In order to grow, your company has to aggressively find new product and service opportunities, adjust quickly to changing economic conditions and stay ahead of competitor strategies. The travel industry is complex and no single operational dimension will be the deciding factor for how well these challenges are met, but certainly a company’s software system will play a major role.

Based on the number of blogs I see on travel websites it seems as though the argument for their presence has been won.  The same holds true for most industries. With few exceptions, navigation bars will link to a blog. Some are easier to find than others, but look hard enough and you’ll usually find one. But, as a professional writer and blogger, I often find myself wondering why some websites appear to have let their blog drift, with posts seemingly unconnected by themes or uneven in format and content. That’s not meant as a negative comment from one writer to another, but an observation based upon professional experiences with a range of clients. The point of this blog is to share some of those experiences and a few lessons learned along the way.

Just this past November a bargain-hunter found a NYC hotel right on Central Park with a 35% discount off regular rates. A quick Google scan showed strong 4 star review averages across several booking sites.  Then she noticed a different result on Yelp. That site showed a 2.5 star review average. Yelp’s average was based on several hundred reviews whereas the other sites averaged several thousand, but both struck her as good sample sizes. It didn’t make sense for the ratings to be so different.

The travel industry is witnessing a cross-current of demographics: on one hand, the Baby Boomer generation is retiring and leaving the work force; on the other hand, the millennial generation is entering the workforce and beginning to climb the income ladder. To a large extent, the way a travel company handles this transformation over the next ten years will determine its success. It will have to adroitly adjust to the changing travel habits – and budgets – of the graying boomers and become aware of – and knowledgeable about - millennial lifestyles and travel preferences. In some ways the challenge of millennial travelers is unique; certainly the influence of technology is unprecedented. But in more ways, it’s no different from what the travel industry faced when the boomers arrived decades ago; a new, significant, market requiring insight and innovation.