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European tour operators continue to face financial hardship, thanks to competition from online travel agencies and supplier-direct sales. But efforts to improve their product mix and flexibility, differentiate themselves through customer service, and update their business models may yet keep tour operators in the game.
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Simply advertising to the masses is no longer enough - companies must identify specific audiences of potential customers. This article examines the trends driving behavioral targeting and the implications of delivering relevant content on loyalty and conversion in travel.
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PhoCusWright's European Consumer Travel Report Third Edition explores consumer travel trends in three major European markets: France, Germany and the U.K. The study outlines year-over-year changes in leisure travel incidence, trip frequency and duration, travel expenditure, international travel and travel product purchases. Analysis provides an in-depth look at the use of online and offline channels during three stages of the travel planning process - destination selection, shopping and booking - and examines travel-related engagement via the mobile web and social networks.
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Cloud computing is becoming pervasive as a way to enable ubiquitous, on-demand access to a shared pool of resources. This analysis takes a look at how cloud computing works and the opportunities it presents for travel businesses to reduce cost and create value.
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Despite the rapid rise of online travel and the influx of new travel services, the travel process remains inefficient and often frustrating for travelers. By increasing providers' understanding of travelers' needs and behaviors, semantic technologies hold the promise to make trip shopping easier.
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"Big Data" is currently one of the fastest growing and most talked about technology trends. Along with Cloud Computing, Big Data is often considered a key capability for travel companies to gain/sustain competitive advantage. This Analysis looks at how Big Data is defined, the tools that make Big Data effective, examples of Big Data that provide business value both within and outside the travel industry, and future opportunities to leverage value from Big Data.
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China is home to one of the world's fastest growing airline markets. Yet this heaving market remains largely closed to companies that provide distribution technology to airlines around the world, due to regulations that give monopoly control to TravelSky, the state-controlled enterprise. This Analysis looks at the current state of airline distribution and supporting technology in China, with a focus on the likelihood and potential implications of changes to the regulatory environment.
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General search engines like Google have become so ubiquitous that many users would be lost without them. In the travel category, top brands compete fiercely for general search traffic, despite their well-established names and websites. This report examines the role of general search engines in the travel planning process, and includes an overview of travelers' search engine usage by brand, motives for using search, travel products searched for and more.
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Global distribution systems (GDSs) represent a major piece of airline transactions and a vast majority of travel agency flight, hotel and car rental transactions. But the travel agency landscape has evolved significantly, and the GDS no longer always takes center stage when agents book. This analysis examines how travel agents research and book travel products, the role of the GDS and how this varies by agency type.
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Ancillary services have proven to be an enormous new source of higher-margin revenue for airlines, and a useful tool for distinguishing their website offerings from intermediary points of sale. Airlines' efforts to unbundle their content took a new direction in 2009, when they began using XML as a basis for data exchange. This analysis focuses on the latest developments in the airline-ancillaries landscape, revealing the current status and outlook for the near future.
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