Making Technology your Friend, Not the Enemy Advanced Workshop 2

Importance of technology in today’s travel industry Presented by Luke Jones Tourism Australia

It’s a Wild Wild Web…  Travel accounts for 44% of US e-commerce sales (2003)  In 2003, 42 million Americans booked travel on the internet (+ 8% on 2002) - 75% book Airfare - 71% book Accom (57% in 2002) - 43% book Car  $2,600 spent per pax online (+ 12% on 2002) No physical product to ship No physical product to ship Pricing is dynamic and complex Pricing is dynamic and complex Consumers don’t expect to see goods before purchase Consumers don’t expect to see goods before purchase But what about Australia?

Sources Used for Australian Trip Planning When you started to make your plans to visit Australia, how did you first go about researching your options? Source: Tourism Australia PAX Study APR 2004

What Internet Travel website did you use most in planning this trip? (unprompted) Web sites Used for Australian Trip Planning Source: Tourism Australia PAX Study APR 2004

Purchase Channel for Main Flight Although, you may have used many resources for information about your trip, when you actually booked this flight did you: ? Internet (23%) Travel Agent (49%) Tour Operator (17%) Direct (11%) Source: Tourism Australia PAX Study APR 2004

Purchase Channel for Tours or Activities Have you booked any tours or activities that you will do during your stay in Australia? If “Yes,”: How did you book those? Travel Agent (52%) Internet (11%) Tour Operator (36%) Direct (2%) Source: Tourism Australia PAX Study APR 2004

What Does this mean for Aussie Specialists?  Consumers are increasingly internet savvy when first planning trip, but rely heavily on travel agents to realize and book vacation experience  Australia remains a complex purchase decision for consumers – ideal destination for ASPs to add value as travel experts  ASPs need to fully integrate web into marketing program: - identify and capture planners on your site - clearly communicate your value-add as an ASP - lead them down the path of conversion with you

Tracking Consumer Activity on Your Site  Hits vs. Page Views  Newsletter sign-ups  Unique 800 numbers  User surveys  URL re-directs

Internet Leads are High Converters MWD (Part 1) HYE (Part 1) HYE (Part 2) TV Newspaper/Mag. Internet Direct Mail Base: Converted to Australia

Key elements to make your site work for you Presented by Steve Kernaghan Tourism Australia

= Response =

Create a Response Engine 1.Customer Experience 2.Customer Service

Customer Experience Make a good first impression

Customer Experience Content - WIIFM? a.Lookers – content that helps them dream about traveling to Australia

Customer Experience Content - WIIFM? a.Lookers – content that helps them dream about traveling to Australia b.Bookers – content that helps facilitate response

Customer Service Once interested, then give a CTA a.Lookers: –General inquiries –Request brochure –Phone for info – opt-in –refer a friend b.Bookers: –General inquiries –Specific Offers

Customer Service CRM – Work those leads! marketing Auto-reply Phone system

Marketing your site to your customer base and finding new ones! Presented by Jean Sprague

Marketing your site to your customers and finding new ones! Website – the right choice for you? Search Engines Database Marketing Affiliate Marketing

Q&A