5/09
Can you be On and Off?
More and more research tells us that travel consumers are not happy with their experiences online.
An article in the New York Times ran with the headline ‘Worst Part of a Trip May Be Booking It On the Web‘ and EyeForTravel quoted Henry H. Harteveldt, the Forrester travel analyst as saying, “Consumers see other websites becoming easier to use — retail websites, banking websites, media websites. But travel is treading water as a category. There are very few travel companies that are really looking to improve the planning and booking process.”
Why is the travel industry so behind? One of the largest industry’s in the world, and one of the most active online, cannot keep the consumer happy.
I believe one of the fundamental problems lies in how travel is distributed. There are so many different mediums that it makes it extremely difficult to bring everything together. Reservation software does not allow us to customize and develop the users’ experience. Online travel consumers are frustrated by lack of customization, transparency, flexibility and more. This frustration has led them to become more traditional in their approach and look offline to brick-and-mortar travel agents.
But why can’t we do both? Why can’t a great Online Travel Agency also employ qualified travel professionals that can resolve what consumers cannot online? I asked Martin Kuplens-Ewart, Manager of Online and Interactive at TargetVacations.ca why he thinks consumers are frustrated with booking travel online:
- Pricing (taxes in, taxes out, local charges) and Terminology (room categories, inclusive features) is unclear
- Not knowing whether they can trust a destination to be good
- The tools that exist to find out about a destination (review sites) are over-saturated with data and don’t make it easy to process – reviews seem to be in a giant swimming pool of randomness
Travel professionals are becoming more relevant as we move forward. That is a good thing, but the industry has to work hard to upgrade itself.
There is no reason why online agents (technology and distribution) and offline agents (travel professionals) cannot bridge the divide and once again make this industry a leader.
Related posts:
I think most people just want to know that they are getting the best deal possible. There are so many variables that come into play when purchasing a ticket — sometimes just changing the date by one day can change the price by hundreds of dollars. Some people like the flexibility of playing around with these variables online and finding the best deal. Others get frustrated and just want someone else to do the legwork for them. The only time I find myself getting frustrated when booking online is if the ticket I’ve spent hours finding is not available for purchase because its been sold out. I don’t understand how that works, which is why I would then call the agency to help me figure it out. From my own experience, though, online travel agencies have come a long way in making people feel confident to book online.