In today’s competitive market, S Puvaneswary explains why staying relevant and embracing change are the keys to profitability in the travel business world
Blockbuster, Kodak and Atari have a common theme. From greatness they fell into oblivion simply because they had failed to keep up with market trends.
On the other hand, a brand like Lego, which started during the Great Depression in the mid-1930s, has constantly reinvented itself in the face of change and stayed powerfully relevant, pointed out Michael McQueen, bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Relevance.
In the 1980s, faced with competition from digital video games, Lego built its own branded video games. A few years later, it developed the hugely popular multiplayer online game called Lego Universe which allowed children from around the world to play with each other in a virtual Lego world. Even more recently, the company created smartphone apps that allowed users to build Lego shapes on their mobile device.
Lego’s success story shows the importance of embracing change and staying relevant, an example that travel agencies can learn from to maintain profitability in the age of competition.
“There is no one big strategy, initiative or technology that gives successful retailers a competitive edge,” said Amanda Stevens, keynote speaker at the Travelport Live Asia-Pacific conference held in Seoul in June.
Stevens, a retail marketing expert and author of Retail Revival, added: “It was the little things done over time, harnessed by cumulative effect. In other words, they focused on the little things that mattered to customers.”
Concurred David Hassan, chief information officer of Sydney-based Helloword: “Positive interaction with customers and building rapport is more important than hard sell.”
He cited the example of how a travel consultant in his company sold a A$50,000 (US$38,553) honeymoon holiday and threw in travel insurance for free, a gesture that made the customer happy because it showed the consultant had gone the extra mile.
“Thus, the customer started marketing our company to her friends and you know how powerful word-of-mouth marketing can be,” said Hassan.
He added: “We have rolled out a Hello You programme that stresses not on hard selling, but building relationships with consumers and having conversations with them to build commonality.”
Swift solutions for business travellers
Busy and time-poor corporate travellers look for quick solutions and an agency that has recognised the importance of agility in doing business is Future.Travel, an OTA based in Vietnam.
David Watson, general manager of Future.Travel, said: “Corporate travellers demand speed and the SMEs want to make their own bookings.”
From August 1, Future.Travel will enable online login for its business clients where they can access agreed fares, hotel choices and car hires for their business trips. Clients’ travel policies and customer profiles will be loaded into the system and the travel planner or the corporate travellers can make a booking themselves on the portal.
“If something goes wrong, we are there to assist because we monitor the bookings. Every time a booking is made, we are on top of it. The client does not have to talk to us, but we are monitoring and ready to assist 24/7,” said Watson.
Future.Travel targets SMEs with 100 employees or less. Having gone live in February, it helps users save time as they can make comparisons of three different airline options by simply checking what they want, before this is presented on one page for easy review. Options can also be sent out via email.
CEO
Zuji Singapore
Adding warmth to a cold front
Meanwhile, Zuji Singapore has built its brand loyalty and customer base by focusing on customer engagement and personalisation.
Its CEO, Chua Hui Wan, said: “OTAs are traditionally seen to be very cold as there is no face-to-face contact with the client. However, we strive to engage our customers who cannot physically see us, and personalise our offerings through our four weekly EDMs.”
The last three searches the customer made will appear in the EDM. If the customer has made flight bookings with Zuji Singapore, the OTA will then suggest hotels in that destination to the customer via the EDM.
The OTA has also built its brand image through CSR programmes. A programme currently running is the School Pocket Money Fund, where a donation of S$0.50 is made for every Zuji Singapore Facebook page Like during the ongoing campaign period until November 1, 2015. Meanwhile, S$2.50 is donated for every online booking made through MasterCard.
This article was first published in TTG Asia, August 7, 2015 issue, on page 4. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe
