13 November 2009

Guess what? Customers want the agent touch after all

Agents at a World Travel Market seminar on the future of the industry could be forgiven for their wry smiles on Thursday as expert speakers suggested that selling had gone full circle on the web and the focus was now on personalization.

As online travel agents scrabble to make some useful sense of their data, utilize their metrics to understand their customers individually and present them with user generated content that will make them feel they are getting trusted advice before buying, it seems the key to turning lookers into bookers is recreating that bricks and mortar scenario where clients purchase from agents who know them.

Expedia Worldwide vice president product and strategy Graham Cook said: "We have a huge amount of information and content and customer reviews and we have lots of metrics that tell us how people are using the site. Now it’s about trying to replicate the human consultant in the shop so we can anticipate and service the customers’ needs in the same way a human who knew the customer would.

"Through intelligent segmentation and review gatherings, we can start to draw assumptions about a customer and decide what is relevant to them. We want to make sure that the content that a user sees is the most pertinent it can be to them as an individual. This is the way forward. It’s gone full circle now."

But executive chairman of Cheapflights Hugo Burge told the seminar that he didn’t think the travel industry had got it quite right yet in the way that Igoogle had because it was difficult to predict what people wanted travel-wise as their needs varied from trip to trip, as they could be booking a business trip one minute and a family holiday the next. "There is some way to go yet in anticipating people’s needs," he said.

By Dinah Hatch

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Your Comments (3)

The local touch

Having travelled to quite a few destintions in the whl.travel network I can only support what John has said. I of course always search the net myself to gauge the deal I am getting, but with the local whl.travel MPO you have a reliable, vetted and LOCAL who can not only help organise your trip, but is someone who can also help you with your whole travel experience, not just book, pay and your on your own. Can't wait to get to Vanuatu soon.

By Shaun Gilchrist, Sunday, November 22, 2009
There is some way to go yet ...

Sure is. Start with knowing the customer comes first and not selling the 'dog' seats to get those extra contract payouts.

By J Hewson, Monday, November 16, 2009
Only one organization has got it "Just right".

The traveler's ultimate solution is be able to clone the immediacy, cheaper rates and technical wizardry of the internet with the personal relationship of the travel agent. But to really make it work, have it all operating in the country that he/she is traveling to in order to benefit from the priceless local knowledge and near 24 hr phone accessibility whilst travelling in the country for all those things that can go wrong. This exists, its called www.whl.travel. The organization has highly experienced travel advisors - booking agents in 180 destinations, called Market Place Operators (MPOs), spread around the globe and the organization is accruing many more every month. '¦Yes, a brilliant solution to the problem. I have been fortunate to be the MPO for my country Vanuatu for the past four years, the following recent traveler feedback we received is not unusual, it and others can be found in out site: www.vanuatu-hotels.vu ''¦..Your personal touch works for me and adds to your credibility as reliable people to deal with. Better than dealing with local travel agents in Oz who don't have your knowledge and expertise in the South pacific. Good Work! Just a note, be careful about Travel Agents, always do your own research to confirm what they say. Last time I used a Travel Agent we were going to New Zealand, they told us it snowed all year round and we could go anytime and ski. Very wrong. This time I thought I'd give them another go, different travel agent mind you, about 200km apart (-: This group of travel agents I asked about booking a holiday to Vanuatu told me everything was sold out and I had no hope of getting there over Christmas. So I went home and found many flights with Pacific Blue and Air Vanuatu still available, and as for accommodation, everything I looked at was available in both Port Vila and on the island of Espiritu Santo. If your looking to plan your own trip to Vanuatu, I highly recommend visiting vanuatu-hotels.vu to look through all the accommodation and to book, they were quite helpful when I had some questions and got me a better deal with the accommodation. All up it worked out better than last minute rates for the same hotel' Richard XXXX Unlike other On Line Booking operators, we are not a computer data generated service or call centre on one other side of the world selling unknown destinations on the other side. Our information is not '˜cut & paste' from other websites (including ours) or imagined, and quite often outdated or plain incorrect. Our content is original, written with objectivity, and with the traveller in mind by the local expert who has personally inspected the property. Our duty of care is to the traveller. Unlike many travel agents, we are not obligated to (via agent/wholesalers contracts) to sell any specific hotel, resort chain or other tourism company, therefore we have no vested interest in promoting or encouraging bookings to selected "preferred" accommodation providers to obtain higher commissions. Every property on our site is provided the same due diligence regardless of who they are, any property that does not deliver is culled, this is our commitment to our customer. Regards, John Nicholls Vanuatu Hotels

By john nicholls, Monday, November 16, 2009