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The tourist of 2022 is more far-sighted and less risky than before the pandemic

tourism is back after the pandemic and has returned with certain changes driven by new technologies. The tourism tours, attractions and activities (TAA) market is rapidly evolving with the aim of creating more unique and complete experiences for increasingly digital consumers. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a digital revolution in a sector in which, although some of its relevant players such as hotels and airlines had already embarked on their path towards greater digitization, it has been accelerated in certain processes.

According to him study titled “Do you already offer experiences” of NTT DATA, in collaboration with Globick, this acceleration is mainly due to a change in consumer behavior.

The mobile devices they have become the most used device, sometimes the only one, to interact with tourism companies. The pandemic has also had a notable influence on this change in behaviour. Due to capacity restrictions, consumers have changed their booking strategy, going from doing everything at the last second to Plan it with more time.

According to NTT DATA, the percentage of consumers who leave their decision to the last minute has dropped from 38% in 2019 to 14% in 2021. In fact, 46% buy their tickets a week or more in advance, all this according to Arival data. As a consequence of this, the use of digital channels for these reservations has skyrocketed, with 47% of consumers obtaining their tickets online, either via computer or smartphone, compared to 28% in 2019.

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Travel companies that want to take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior must make it easier to search, book and confirm products in real time at the destination. This is where the OTAs (Online Travel Agency) have a certain advantage.

A consistent, integrated and accessible experience

One of the main factors is to offer the right products depending on the target audiences to which each tourist company is directed, thus personalizing the offer and facilitating the search also by the clients themselves. Travel companies must also ensure that all third party TAA products sold through their website are equally easy to research, understand and book, even if the content is provided by third parties.

Personalized product recommendations far outnumber generic ones. If a consumer clicks on just one personalized recommendation, the conversion rate increases from 1% to 4%. There are even sophisticated algorithms that make personalized and effective recommendations, which end up reducing search time and increasing sales.

Javier Martí, partner responsible for hospitality, travel & leisure at NTT DATA Europe & LATAM highlights that “As in the case of flight and hotel distribution, a new generation of players will bring connectivity and integration to the industry to unlock the potential of the TAA business.«.

For his part, Xavier Boixeda, CEO of Globick comments that “the sector of destination activities – the third largest within tourism – must become a central element within the offer of online and offline travel agents, and can also be incorporated by accommodation providers and tour operators. transport. It is an expanding market in a very important digitization process and it is at a clear moment in which whoever treats it as a central product and not as an accessory to the trip, can capture a lot of highly profitable value”.

Another factor to take into account is undoubtedly establishing a partnership with intermediaries that are specifically specialized in the TAA market and can facilitate access to the best products on the market under the best possible conditions. Brands that want to successfully sell TAA products must ensure that the booking flow, customer service, and entire approach to selling these products is branded, integrated, and consistent.

In short, selling TAA products gives travel brands multiple opportunities to build customer loyalty, offering them a unique experience before, during and after the trip. This experience needs to be fully integrated and on-brand to consumers and have a technology platform that facilitates direct access to inventory from multiple TAA carriers.

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