Comment: All travel firms can benefit for Big Data

Some of the most interesting developments in travel technology concern big data and prescriptive analytics, writes Angelo Rossini, travel and tourism analyst at Euromonitor International.

"The convergence of these technological developments and the possibility of identifying online consumers through unique IDs are going to be some of the most significant factors affecting the online travel competitive environment in the next few years making it possible to target consumers in a more personalised and effective way.

This process will see winners and losers. Technology companies, which are able to collect the largest amount of information on consumer profiles, are expected to benefit most from these developments. However, all travel companies will have the chance to take advantage of the personalisation of online travel marketing.

Technology companies at the forefront of new developments

Technology companies are able to collect plenty of information on consumer profiles through multiple sites and devices, and use it to offer more sophisticated marketing tools.

Google certainly leads the way in this area, owning information collected from its own site and from web searches on external sites such as Google Analytics, AdSense, DoubleClick, Google+, Maps, Hotel Finder, Android and YouTube.

Facebook is also able to collect vast amounts of information on consumer profiles through the database of the world’s most popular social networking site, which currently has over 1.1 billion members, as well as through Facebook Connect, which receives data from millions of sites using it. Apple is particularly active in collecting and using information about consumers on the go: Apple iBeacon, for example, allows companies to target consumers in their surroundings through coupons and promotions.

Google and Facebook are currently using personalised online marketing tools to allow companies to choose which consumers to target. Through unique IDs, Google allows (although with some restrictions) companies to place higher advertising bids when a search is made by their best customers. Similarly, Facebook, through its Custom Audiences programme, allows companies to cross check their internal data with Facebook data to specifically target their customers through advertisements.

From standardised to personalised deals

The rising importance of big data analytics will have a significant impact on all types of travel players.

Firstly, it will mean that their relationships with technology players will be increasingly crucial, given the larger access to data on consumer profiles by technology and advertising companies.

Secondly, it will mean a different way of marketing travel products. This will be less standardised compared to the current travel offer, which is very similar for all travel players, including both direct suppliers and intermediaries.

In the next few years, personalised deals will become gradually more important and it will be increasingly useful for travel companies to partner in order to offer consumers the specific products and services they need. Partnering will be more important between direct suppliers and intermediaries, between direct suppliers in different travel categories, and between travel companies and technology companies.

For example, online travel agencies, meta search engines and technology companies will closely cooperate with hotel companies to offer personalised deals to their customers, based on their preferences and offered at discounted prices or with the inclusion of some of their favourite activities.

Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi discussed these developments in an interview he recently gave to TV channel CNBC where he said that the company is "going to be able to offer hoteliers the possibility to show very specific deals to small segments of the population whether they are Facebook fans or tourists coming from Indonesia, for example."

Mr Khosrowshahi also mentioned in the same interview that rate parity agreements are going to be much less important in future. The era of ad hoc prices, products, promotions and distribution platforms, ie personalised marketing, appears to be quickly approaching."