are themes of London event. By Lee Hayhurst and Jennifer Morris


‘Sharing data must be done in a controlled way’


The sharing of customer data between rival companies promises to make marketing more targeted but must be controlled, a panel session at the Travolution Summit heard.


Debating the use of data in


travel and whether companies are too protective, Sojern commercial director Russell Young said: “Some companies take a conservative approach and try to keep hold of what they see as the crown jewels. But data is powerful only if you know how to deal with it.” Young said Sojern, a ‘big data’


marketing platform allowing customer types to be identified and targeted, has a “number of partners” that are open to sharing their data. They use this to derive insight


into customer intention to automate and make marketing more efficient. “There’s clearly a benefit to them in doing so,” said Young.


“If a hotel group wants to


promote its loyalty card, it would want to ensure it’s not delivering that message to users who already have the card. “These sort of things can be


achieved by sharing data in advance of launching any activity. Sharing is fine, as long as it’s within a controlled environment.” Andy Washington, Expedia UK’s managing director, said despite its size, the global OTA represented only 4% of the travel market. “We’ve only scratched the


surface in terms of the data, insight and information out there,” he said. Andreas Adrian, group market


RUSSELL YOUNG: ‘Data is powerful only if you know how to deal with it’


director at eDreams Odigeo, said the OTA shared data for advertising, but added: “We always need more data, but we must be protective, so it does not become a commodity.” Alessandra Di Lorenzo, commercial director at eBay, said it keeps its data in-house, but uses it to help advertisers target the right people at the right time. She said changes to European


regulations would mean customers becoming more empowered over the use of their data.


A quarter of reviews in travel cited as fake


Authenticated-reviews platform Feefo estimates £3.6 billion is being spent by UK travel consumers after reading fake reviews. The firm is working with the Competitions and Markets Authority on an investigation into fake reviews in the UK. It has found that UK consumers spend £14.4 billion annually on travel after reading reviews – and 25% of reviews in the industry are considered to be fake. Matt Eames, Feefo’s chief commercial officer, said fake reviews were an increasing


problem, with 83% of holiday shoppers’ decisions said to be influenced by reviews. “Both positive and negative


Matt Eames


reviews can be good for business,” said Eames. “They [consumers who see them] will also convert 67% more highly than the average consumer.


“Companies spend billions on


reputation management, when they could be getting their customers to do


their work for them.” 10 December 2015 travelweekly.co.uk 71


“We always need more data, but we must be protective, so it doesn’t become a commodity”


Travolution Summit workshop


Clients value firms that understand their needs


Marketing experts from Epsilon offered advice on how firms can exploit the entire customer journey from pre-booking to post-travel, and use data to personalise their service. Adeline Segaux, Epsilon travel account director, said: “Three out of four people feel frustrated when the content they see is not relevant to them. People feel a great company is one that has the ability to understand their needs.”


International businesses require a quick website


Any travel firms that operate internationally must make sure that their websites are operating at maximum possible efficiency, according to David McNeil, solution engineer at CDNetworks. He said reducing the distance that information had to travel could do this. Research has shown a three-second page-load time cut customer satisfaction by 50%.


Content should not be seen as an afterthought


Content should be regarded as a discipline in itself, rather than an afterthought, as it increases conversion. Dan Miles, business development director at Melt Content, said: “It is good content that will bring customers in, across devices. Often, there are too many irrelevant or badly optimised pages, or not enough.”


Dan Miles


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