Mobile is key to reach out to luxury travellers
A PANEL of marketing experts agreed luxury travel sellers ignore mobile commerce at their peril. Jon Paget, social media and online
PR manager for Specialist Holidays Group, said: “It’s not unusual for 25% of luxury website visitors to be browsing on a mobile device, and figures show that mobile is going to outstrip desktop browsing in the next 18 months.” This was driven home by statistics showing that more than half of the 825 million active Facebook users each month do so via a mobile device. Delegates also heard how there was a growing need for upscale firms to invest in digital activity. Jonny Bealby, founder of Wild
Frontiers, also highlighted the power of mobile devices for travellers to communicate their experiences “live” from their trips, which can then be highlighted in marketing messages. “Reading a blog posted from the Congo river may not push someone
Digital session, from left: TTG’s April Hutchinson; Ana Roxburgh, Thelma & Louise; Lewis Shields, Flagship Consulting; Steve Keenan, Travelperspective; and Jon Paget, Specialist Holidays Group
to book that particular tour immediately, but the aspirational nature of it can encourage them to book their first walking tour of Turkey, for example,” said Bealby. Steve Keenan, co-founder of digital consultancy Travelperspective, advised luxury operators to focus on making their site mobile-friendly before branching out into apps that too often replicate rather than add value to a brand’s online offering. InterContinental Hotels Group’s vice-president commercial, Glenn
Carroll, explained how the hotel brand’s app was designed to offer “in-the-know” tips before arrival by allowing users to screenshare with the concierge, for example. And with 2012 pipped to be the year
of wave-and-pay technology, delegates heard how consumer confidence in “contactless” payments is only going to grow. Caroline Stanbury, founder of
Gift-Library.com, said: “There is no limit to how much people will spend online.”
■See tweets on the event, p22
PARTNERSHIPS
‘Think big’ and partner iconic brands
TRAVEL FIRMS need to stop thinking of themselves as second rate in comparison with iconic brands such as Bentley and Rolex, according to branding expert Danny Crowe of Friday Travel. He stressed the usefulness of
partnerships between luxury brands in boosting customer retention and advised travel companies to think big. “Remember, travel is a leading commodity and one of the most-read elements in the Aston Martin- owners’ magazine. Think beyond bumper-sticker endorsements to shared events, setting up a desk in a car dealership or taking over a shop window, as Orient Express did at Printemps in Paris,” he said. Crowe also advised partnering with a winery and sending bottles of wine to your best clients so your company becomes the topic of dinner party conversation, or with an established blogging site, such as
VelvetEscape.com.
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TIME FOR A TRIP: Lucky ttgluxury Seminar attendees (from left) Rupert Longsdon of OS Private Travel and Oxford Ski; Carolyn Lodge of Carolyn Lodge Travel; Neil Dobbs of Travel Gallery; and Jenny Page of Boutixury (second from right) won free stays at InterContinental hotels in London, Vienna, Cannes and Paris in the prize draw at the Cookbook Cafe. They are pictured with Glenn Carroll, vice-president commercial IHG (far right), and ttgluxury’sApril Hutchinson.
01.03.2012 19
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