27 April 2010

Six key trends for successful online travel providers

A new study identifies six key trends critical to the "increasingly crowded yet fragmented pack" of online travel providers with perhaps the most noteworthy finding related to the growing acceptance and demand for sustainable tourism.

"Suppliers who deploy green practices are enjoying favored status among acutely aware consumers," says the study of the US travel industry by eMarketer. In other words, after years of discussion, sustainable is becoming attainable.

The study says after the "perfect storm" of global recession, high unemployment and terrorism and flu fears, usage of the Internet for researching and booking all types of travel has shown "surprising resilience."

"Though sales declined 6.7 percent in 2009, eMarketer predicts US online leisure and unmanaged business travel sales growth will begin to accelerate this year." They predict a seven percent increase at its peak in 2012.

"Online will grow to make up an ever greater percentage of the total travel market in the post-recessionary environment," said Victoria Petrock, eMarketer senior research and author of the report called "Online Leisure Travel: Six Post-Recession Trends."

The study is viewed as a blueprint for future success in the online travel field.

"As a wide variety of industry players ramp up their efforts to make online travel
even more transparent, robust and mobile for consumers, these trends will
dictate the winners and losers in an increasingly competitive market," said
Petrock.

The other trends in addition to the breakthrough in green travel include:

• Value has taken center stage. "Amid the economic rubble, travelers have adopted a back-to-basics mentality, seeking quality at the right price," the study says.

• Social media has seen a rise in new ways of sharing. "Online reviews and
user-generated content are being combined with social networking,

• Mobile has taken "travel on the go." A growing number of travelers now use
mobile devices to plan and book trips and access location-specific destinations, the study says.

• Personalized micro-niche travel has taken off. "Growing dissatisfaction with
one-size-fits-all travel is driving demand for customized offerings," the report says.

• Online travel has spanned new horizons. "Growth in online booking is shifting
overseas, while US travelers who book online are looking for more
international options," the study found.

By David Wilkening

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Online Travel Growth Among Key Trends

The trends noted above are absolutely true! As a small tourism provider we have noted significant changes in the industry since we began operating in Jan. 2002. Firstly, we were up against "big" companies who were providing en-mass tours (and were informed "you are too small"). Over the years there has been a definite move towards the small & personalised tour, (such as what we have continued to offer). Another big shift is towards direct booking (online or phone). Customers are cutting out the middle-man and doing it themselves'¦the internet has opened-up the world to everyone. Customer review websites (e.g. Tripadvisor) are becoming the place where people source their travel info from. Along with Forums, there is advice from people who have actually used the product! Compared with many Quality rating certification organisations (which may only do product assessments annually or biennially), potential customers are getting '˜real-time' information. With the world more focused on Environmental matters, the tourism sector is also keen to portray itself more environmentally friendly. To keep face with this trend, many of the costs incurred to do so are being '˜built-in' to the tour price, and it is the tourist who is paying for Carbon Offsets etc, and not actually getting any more customer '˜experience' for their dollar. There's a lot of '˜green-washing' going on in the industry too, and tourists need to keep an eye open for this one. As an example, apart from the '˜feel good' feeling, an Eco-tour company still quantifies to travel great distances out of its '˜local' area so long as the company does a carbon offset! Are agents failing to recognize these trends and '˜move with the times'? Today, 'one-size-does-NOT-fit-all'. Maybe this is part of the reason why customers are making their travel plans themselves.

By Donna Hamilton, Wednesday, April 28, 2010