Many marketers wish to learn the art of customer acquisition. This year, WIT Singapore held a panel discussion on ‘Travel Distribution, Reboot’ which focused majorly on how traditional global distribution systems are prominently positioning themselves in the market. The panellists of this discussion were: Albert Pozo, President, APAC, Amadeus; Martin Herbert, General Manager, Asia, Travelport; Roshan Mendis, SVP, Sabre.
The panelists of ‘Travel Distribution. Reboot’ session at WIT 2015
The panel discussion brought to light many essential factors for the marketers who attended this event:
#1- Customer Acquisition, Personalised Unique Experience and Travel Corner Platform
With the motive to attract ‘powerful’ travellers, the need of ‘powerful’ data was brought to the forefront. ‘Powerful’ travellers are the ones who are better connected, informed and experienced in the world of travel. On the other side, the focus of global companies should be customer acquisition while giving a personalised experience to the customers. This is mostly forgotten by businesses in the cut-throat competition in the market. Global distribution system should be converted into a ‘Travel Corner Platform’ that provides richer and diversified content on their fingertips of the users. Taking this into account, Travelport has allowed airline companies to merchandise and sell their products while helping them expand in different sectors like hospitality.
#2- Disruption in corporate travel
While leisure travel space is mostly disrupted, corporate travel is falling in the same category too. In the corporate market, there are many discrepancies. Often there are issues of cost and control between businesses. Then, there are business travellers who have different tastes and preferences- few of them wish to travel in the business style while others want to enjoy the facilities of both leisure and business travel. To counter this irregularity, technology providers can produce sophisticated search and control platforms and use business analytical tools to attain the best results.
#3- Significance of localization & development of advanced technology
Many global companies realise that localisation is inevitable. For this form of development, restructuring of businesses is deemed necessary. Recognising the needs and demands of clients/customers is highly essential for businesses to deliver better products and obtain profits. With the improvement in the quality of products, advanced user-friendly technologies should be developed that help the suppliers to make differentiated offerings for the customers.
#4- Travellers’ feedback in company policies
Travellers’ feedback can really help travel brands to grow and expand. The panellists in the discussion pointed out that adoption of travel feedbacks must be made mandatory and should be included in the company policies. If the company listens to their travellers, their compliance will be higher. This self-regulatory system will increase travellers’ satisfaction for the brand.
#5- Disruption in the Travel and Transportation Distribution System
Be it GDS, Metasearch, corporate travel agencies, the barriers to enter into this market are low. With richer content in GDS, new companies have come into existence. The corporate space is vast and there is room for more players who wish to establish businesses and try out different things.
You can find more stories from WIT Singapore 2015 and other events held during TravelRave here.
