So what do you say – is the internet the future of travel?
As much as I believe in the net, I’m not convinced it is – and for a country as beset with problems as ours, it might even be a deterrent.
I was mulling on this today when one of the industry newsletters arrived and pointed me to three different articles that all backed up my developing train of thought – which finally gelled after a chance conversation with an inbound operator.
First – those articles.
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Mark Juddery asked “Booking a holiday: online or travel agent?” – and noted that, while a quarter of all travel bookings worldwide were made on the net, there was also a growing trend back to the travel agent.
For me, these were the pertinent paragraphs:
“A recent Jigsaw Research-Google Travel Study suggests that, however they are reserved, 77 per cent of all trips booked in Australia are at least researched online.
“But another study by the US-based Forrester Research sends another message: a small but growing number of travellers are losing interest in travel sites. The study surveyed 4,634 adults, all of whom use travel sites. Only 46 per cent of respondents say they enjoy booking travel online – down from 53 per cent in 2007.”
In the second article I came across Chris Brogan, who blogged about “The Audacity Of Free.” And here the pertinent paragraphs were:
“When you run conferences, everyone wants in for free. It’s understandable. Times are tough and people don’t have as much money. I’m running Inbound Marketing Summit in a few days, and it’s not free.
“Free can be a wonderful thing, and there are some really great things that are (and should be) free. But free is a choice, and it’s not your buyers who decide this, no matter what we like to think in social media kumbaya-ville. Free is beautiful, and costs are part of life.” (This goes to the question of travel agents’ fees. Stick with me, I have a point I’m making here).
Then in Travel Research Online, Chuck Flagg asked, “You want me to give away what?”
“We need to do a better job in communicating the value we offer our clients when we quote our fee. We all got into this business because we LOVE to travel and nearly all of us love to talk. We are story tellers, and in 2010, we should be weaving stories of our travels in as many avenues we can to our clients directly in person or through email; through group presentations; writing in our blogs, Facebook updates or tweets.”
And finally my inbound pal, Robin Mountain (no, really), who runs Ntaba Tours in the USA together with his wife, Stella, said that the biggest constraint they face is the fear that his clients have of Africa in general, and, in our case, of South Africa in particular.
It is, he said, the fact that he is a South African, and speaks with our flat South African accent, that makes the difference for his guests.
In short, they trust him.
“We don’t sell travel in general – we promote only Africa, because that’s where my speciality lies,” he said, quoting the oft-used marketing truism that “People buy from people.”
And that’s when I had my penny-dropping moment: what South African inbound tourism needs are champions and ambassadors – not marketing strategies and PowerPoint presentations. Because, let’s face it, this is Africa – a continent that certainly has a reputation for being, um, unpredictable? – and, as Rob said, “people in the USA want to know that we’ll take them there and, more importantly, that we’ll bring them home again.”
But Rob didn’t get his experience – snap! – just like that. It’s cost him years, dollars, and plenty of rands, and he needs to recoup that investment – which he does by selling his tours. It’s the same for travel agents, of course, and the trend towards paying for specialist time is a positive one, because the world tends to treat free stuff with a certain contempt – so if buyers are paying to be told to go on this safari or stay in that hotel, the chances seem greater that they’ll take the advice.
Rob brought me back to the fact that, in the end, tourism is all about personal networks – perhaps more so than in any other industry today.
“I’m sure there’s room for a lot more people like me when it comes to marketing South Africa,” he said. “Just look at the hunters, who make the effort to come to the shows here in the USA, and to interact with their clients and potential clients.
“It works for them.
“For us, it’s all about allaying people’s fears. I mean, I even had one guest who brought cans of Bully Beef on tour, because she didn’t know if she was going to be properly fed while she was in Africa.
“That’s why the Americans love their cruise liners: because they know what they’re going to get.”
Networking, he said, was his biggest information-gathering tool, but nothing was more important than site visits and the intimate knowledge of the products they impart.
“I’ve found that many South African product owners are greedy from the start, but there are others – particularly people like Bushmanskloof, the Twelve Apostles, and Buffelsdrift, near Oudtshoorn, who really know how to develop relationships with their suppliers, and those are the properties I’ll support every time.”
And so, to the question I posed at the start – is the internet the future of travel? – I’m beginning to believe that the answer is: “No.”
The future of travel is, as it always has been, a mix of professionalism (for which people are – surprise! surprise! – prepared to pay), and one-one-one human interaction.
And that can’t be a bad thing at all, can it?
Now – go away on holiday. It’s in the economy’s best interests.
Stumble It!
2 users commented in " Is The Internet The Future Of Travel? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackHi Martin,
Thank you so much for this article. It reflects exactly what I’ve been experiencing over the last 5 years, since starting my company in 2004. The internet is a jungle and to get decent advice is very hard to find. The traveler needs people on the ground, travel ambassadors, people enthusiastic about the destination and willing to share honest and true information and advice. My clientele is mostly from The Netherlands and 99,9% comes to me via word-of-mouth which is still, obviously, the best advertising. My clients love the fact that I live in South Africa and that they can ask me questions online and I keep them updated about things happening on the ground. Yes, the internet is a tool we can use but it can never replace personal interaction with your clients or suppliers, it helps you and makes things easier and faster. People that book over the internet on these booking sites might get cheaper deals but I’m not looking for clients that want a cheap deal. I’m looking for clients that want an AWESOME experience in this beautiful country, that makes them come back many more times and tells all their friends and family how it REALLY is and how Africa, once in your system, will stay there forever. Anyway, you can see I’m passionate about what I do.
And yes, I do think we need to move toward being more travel consultants, tour designers, travel advisers so that we can actually charge for the knowledge that we’ve build up over the years and the time that we spend advising our clients. Why is it that when I hire an interior decorator that I pay her for her time AND she gets commissions from all the suppliers? Why do we in the tourism industry have to be happy with just commissions? It would be great if we could steer away from that ‘attitude’ and take ourselves very serious but the market might not be ready for that yet. Would love to hear from other passionate tour designers what they think of this. Have another great day in Africa, Jessy
Hello Martin
Interesting article that you write about the Internet and the future of travel. I believe the issue here is that too many people have been sold on the idea that by using the Internet you can by-pass all travel agents and tour operators and organise your own holiday on the cheap.
Clearly that is true in some cases, however in others it leads to very poor experiences for the traveller. I occasionally meet people who have paid deposits for accommodation and when they arrive, guess what? the accommodation does not exist. Its regrettable that there are people out there who use the internet as a means of ripping off tourists and making a fast buck.
However, that’s not to say that every tourist is ripped off, especially if you consider the many millions of self made tours that are undertaken every year, mostly to everyones satisfaction. So I think some balance is required in this matter before its concluded that the Internet is fast becoming redundant as a means of making your own travel arrangements.
Every day in the Umhlanga Tourism Office overseas tourists arrive looking for information on local tours and accommodation. The great majority say that they have made their own arrangements very successfully and are pleased to be here.
The “problems” with self made Internet holidays seem to stem from unrealistic expectations and the inability or inexperience of tourists to make a few simple checks with what they are booking. The few complaints received in our tourism office are that the tourist has been sold accommodation that does not match up to the descriptions of the establishment on the Internet. But when you talk to the tourist in more detail, its often a case of trying to do too much on the cheap and not staying at graded establishments, which of course are more expensive, so the tourists avoid them and then complain about standards.
Personally, I believe that the Internet is here to stay for the mass travel market and will become more powerful. However, it’s only a tool and not the all seeing all embracing means of organising travel, and like all tools, it’s only as good as the person using it.
Best regards to everyone and lets hope that 2010 brings all of us in South Africa great success with the Fifa Soccer World Cup. There are just 142 days left to kick off.
Peter Rose
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