Consumers’ use of mobile platforms when making travel decisions is on the rise – big time. That growth, documented in a new consumer study by PhoCusWright, is just one more signal to travel agents that it’s time to figure out how to connect with clients via mobile – before, during and after their travels.
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The fast growth in consumer usage of mobile apps and websites to get travel information – specifically when selecting destinations – is one of the more striking findings in PhoCusWright’s Consumer Travel Report Third Edition, said director of research Carroll Rheem. The report, released earlier this month, is based on an online survey of more than 2,500 U.S. consumers.
For agents, the rise of mobile presents a new opportunity to reach consumers, Rheem told Travel Market Report. “The mobile interface could potentially create new touch points for the travel agent.
“And it’s not just not about the interactions travel agents already have with travelers. The real opportunity is to create new ones and imagining ways to help travelers through this new media.”
The big surge
Consumer use of mobile apps or websites to research their destination choices more than doubled in 2010 compared to the previous year. The raw numbers aren’t high, but they’re significant, Rheem said.
Last year, 13% of travelers chose mobile apps or websites as information sources in deciding where to go. Use of mobile outranked such traditional sources of information as printed articles, brochures, guidebooks and the advice of travel agents.
Travel Market Report asked Rheem to interpret these and other results of the PhoCusWright consumer study and to discuss the opportunities she sees for travel agents in the current marketplace.
What surprised you about consumers’ usage of mobile in the destination selection process?
Rheem: It’s not that it’s so high, but just how steeply that it’s growing – basically doubling in one year. It’s off a very small base, but nevertheless it’s not what you would think, because a mobile device is a bit awkward to use. It’s not that immersive experience that you would expect people would want when deciding where to go on vacation.
I would argue that they’re probably not deciding on big long-haul destinations, but closer to home, perhaps a drive market destination – the type of decision we would make a little bit closer in.
But seeing that uptake is an important indicator of how people are using mobile and just how pervasive it is.
What should leisure travel agents be thinking and doing about mobile?
Rheem: Travel agents have to be more like curators and experts, and that expertise needs to extend beyond pre-trip planning to be more about the entire trip – what tours they should take, what they should do in-destination.
That mobile interaction might not be with consumers pre-trip, when they’re thinking about a trip, but perhaps after they’ve arrived. There’s no reason why the relationship between the travel agent and the traveler needs to stop [after the booking]. Perhaps you become more like a concierge.
The mobile interface could potentially create new touch points for the travel agent. And it’s not just about the interactions travel agents already have with travelers. The real opportunity is to create new ones and imagining ways to help travelers through this new media.
You found that for travelers who searched online to select their destinations, use of OTAs declined considerably, while use of traveler review sites shot up. What does this tell you?
Rheem: Consumers are discovering and gravitating toward the sources of information that are more helpful. For example, if you look at the way that TripAdvisor is organized, they have nice little tidbits of information in there – things like transportation from the airport and other information that is so useful for travelers – whereas the OTAs are fundamentally about selling that component and aren’t focused on providing those tidbits.
You wrote that DMOs have to bring their messaging to the places online where travelers are making their decisions. What’s your advice for travel agents in this regard?
Rheem: The opportunity for agents is a bit different. The perspective from a travel agency point of view is how can they use social media to create new touch points.
There’s a crop of affluent younger travelers who have never used a travel agent. They’ve grown up on the Internet and now have reached a point in their lives where they have the means and the motive to take more expensive trips, farther away. And they could really use that agent expertise, but have never even had that interaction.
This younger affluent traveler might really find an agent’s services useful. But the question is, how do you reach them? Very often they are using online travel agencies. They’re using the sources they know. They’re using the sources they used when they were 22 years old and trying to go on spring break. But they’ve matured and their needs have matured.
What age group are you talking about?
Rheem: 25 to 34.
Do you have an answer to that question of how agents can appeal to this new crop of travelers?
Rheem: Social media is certainly an important avenue. In the world of user-generated content, there’s no reason why travel professionals can’t post there. On TripAdvisor, there’s no reason why travel agents can’t demonstrate their expertise or their advice about a destination or a property.
There are lots of ways of reaching out to travelers or demonstrating expertise. It’s a matter of thinking through and walking through the consumer’s path. So put yourself in the shoes of, say, a 33-year- old professional. What websites are they likely to go to? How might you reach them in the places they might be interacting?
For agents, the rise of mobile presents a new opportunity to reach consumers, Rheem told Travel Market Report. “The mobile interface could potentially create new touch points for the travel agent.
“And it’s not just not about the interactions travel agents already have with travelers. The real opportunity is to create new ones and imagining ways to help travelers through this new media.”
The big surge
Consumer use of mobile apps or websites to research their destination choices more than doubled in 2010 compared to the previous year. The raw numbers aren’t high, but they’re significant, Rheem said.
Last year, 13% of travelers chose mobile apps or websites as information sources in deciding where to go. Use of mobile outranked such traditional sources of information as printed articles, brochures, guidebooks and the advice of travel agents.
Travel Market Report asked Rheem to interpret these and other results of the PhoCusWright consumer study and to discuss the opportunities she sees for travel agents in the current marketplace.
What surprised you about consumers’ usage of mobile in the destination selection process?
Rheem: It’s not that it’s so high, but just how steeply that it’s growing – basically doubling in one year. It’s off a very small base, but nevertheless it’s not what you would think, because a mobile device is a bit awkward to use. It’s not that immersive experience that you would expect people would want when deciding where to go on vacation.
I would argue that they’re probably not deciding on big long-haul destinations, but closer to home, perhaps a drive market destination – the type of decision we would make a little bit closer in.
But seeing that uptake is an important indicator of how people are using mobile and just how pervasive it is.
What should leisure travel agents be thinking and doing about mobile?
Rheem: Travel agents have to be more like curators and experts, and that expertise needs to extend beyond pre-trip planning to be more about the entire trip – what tours they should take, what they should do in-destination.
That mobile interaction might not be with consumers pre-trip, when they’re thinking about a trip, but perhaps after they’ve arrived. There’s no reason why the relationship between the travel agent and the traveler needs to stop [after the booking]. Perhaps you become more like a concierge.
The mobile interface could potentially create new touch points for the travel agent. And it’s not just about the interactions travel agents already have with travelers. The real opportunity is to create new ones and imagining ways to help travelers through this new media.
You found that for travelers who searched online to select their destinations, use of OTAs declined considerably, while use of traveler review sites shot up. What does this tell you?
Rheem: Consumers are discovering and gravitating toward the sources of information that are more helpful. For example, if you look at the way that TripAdvisor is organized, they have nice little tidbits of information in there – things like transportation from the airport and other information that is so useful for travelers – whereas the OTAs are fundamentally about selling that component and aren’t focused on providing those tidbits.
You wrote that DMOs have to bring their messaging to the places online where travelers are making their decisions. What’s your advice for travel agents in this regard?
Rheem: The opportunity for agents is a bit different. The perspective from a travel agency point of view is how can they use social media to create new touch points.
There’s a crop of affluent younger travelers who have never used a travel agent. They’ve grown up on the Internet and now have reached a point in their lives where they have the means and the motive to take more expensive trips, farther away. And they could really use that agent expertise, but have never even had that interaction.
This younger affluent traveler might really find an agent’s services useful. But the question is, how do you reach them? Very often they are using online travel agencies. They’re using the sources they know. They’re using the sources they used when they were 22 years old and trying to go on spring break. But they’ve matured and their needs have matured.
What age group are you talking about?
Rheem: 25 to 34.
Do you have an answer to that question of how agents can appeal to this new crop of travelers?
Rheem: Social media is certainly an important avenue. In the world of user-generated content, there’s no reason why travel professionals can’t post there. On TripAdvisor, there’s no reason why travel agents can’t demonstrate their expertise or their advice about a destination or a property.
There are lots of ways of reaching out to travelers or demonstrating expertise. It’s a matter of thinking through and walking through the consumer’s path. So put yourself in the shoes of, say, a 33-year- old professional. What websites are they likely to go to? How might you reach them in the places they might be interacting?
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