travel tech insights

This week I was on a software provider's website and read this description of an ERP product feature, “With FeatureABC, the accuracy, the reliability and the availability of information are improved so management can make better strategic decisions more quickly. Consolidation is beneficial in many processes in an agency.”

At first, I found myself thinking, “What are they talking about? What does this mashup of adjectives even mean?” Then I thought, “How many people in the travel industry even know what reports they need, much less what reasonable expectations should be for their reporting tools and database?”

or how to bring back the joy in the travel agency

Think about the travel industry: is one of the most dynamic and segmented industries. As a player in this industry, there are lots of things that you need to think about: GDS commissions, hotel banks, markups, reseller networks, accuracy of the content and many more. And you don't just need to know about them now and then. You need to pay very close attention to what's happening in your market because the travel market is extremely dynamic. 

Considering all of these, many of the players in the travel industry have lost their focus. They have forgotten who they are talking with, and what is their main target: The customer.

The travel business is hard. It sells a high-priced, discretionary item at a time when every region of the global economy is growing slowly – if at all. The travel industry is facing its own particular challenges – consolidation, intense competition, eroding margins and high customer expectations.  Of course there are bright spots, particularly in the way technology is making people so much more aware of the delights and truly unique experiences travel has to offer. Travel may be a discretionary expense, but it also provides the customer with – literally – a way to leave their worries behind and step into an entirely different world. 

Is anyone in the industry paying attention to the topic of travel agency cost control? It doesn’t seem like it. There are articles on travel trends, mobile apps, emerging destinations and changing markets – but not much on the subject of how to improve travel agency profitability. So perhaps this is the right time to share thoughts and hopefully start some conversations on effective ways to control costs.

It’s tempting to look back on 2015 for clues of what lies ahead for the travel industry in 2016, and there is some value in that approach.  Certainly technology will continue to impact how people purchase and experience travel; distribution channels will continue to evolve and the industry as a whole will continue to grow. But there’s a limit to what clues from the prior year can tell us and also a point at which trying to read tea leaves  from the past amounts to a distraction more than anything else.