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THE TRAVEL TECH SHOW AT WTM
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New marketing channels dominated day two of the Travel Tech Show at WTM London.
Established companies shared how they are managing to embrace digital and get to grips with technologies such as chatbots and virtual reality. Arnaud Masson, chief operating
officer of Voyages SNCF, speaking at the Genesys Digital Transformation Summit, stressed how important it is to listen to customers.
The company has a concept called the Love Team which is dedicated to listening to what customers want, gauging their feedback on its digital services and implementing new ideas. As a result the company has developed a chatbot on Facebook Messenger and is also looking at voice technology.
The impact of these emerging channels to market is also being felt by the hotel industry which is having to adopt digital practices across the stages of booking and staying in a hotel. Daniel Wishnia, GCH Hotels, said: “Customers expect you to be everywhere, on multi-devices. They won’t wait for more than 3 seconds, they want you to be there to assist them.”
He added that hotels had an opportunity to capture guests on their websites through better pricing, video and images but that the industry needs to change its thinking.
As established players get to grips
60 WTM Review 2016
with digital transformation, there is also pressure from new entrants. Hotel Bonanza, an online startup
offering hotels distribution for an 8% commission, is planning a soft launch early next year in the UK and Ireland followed by the rest of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada. Suzy Barber, co-founder of the startup said it was looking to establish a fairer and more transparent model. Other sessions throughout the day focused on engaging content and how it helps drive customers and conversion. Speaking at the Travel Perspective session – New Entrants and New Business Models – Saar Szekely, vice president, Feelter, helps brands gather mentions and conversations about them from across social media. It then integrates the most interesting content on to the brands’ websites. Szekely said that people share
differently now based on different media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – and that it is this sort of content that consumers trust because of its spontaneity.
Many travel companies have also
chosen to work with influencers in the shape of travel bloggers.
Tika Larasati, influencer marketing manager, Skyscanner, said its data shows there is potential to work with influencers but companies need to choose carefully.
She advised the audience to pick bloggers with knowledge of the subject matter, who had a loyal audience with a good engagement rate and that fits with the brand’s audience.
Larasati also highlighted the importance of putting metrics in place and analysing them to gauge how effective campaigns are. Jeremy Jauncey, the founder of Beautiful Destinations, is said to be the
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