Summary Assignment

Jake Harr

ENG 162

Mr. Hricik

July 8, 2011

Social Media’s Effect on The Travel Industry (Long Summary)

Years from now, the current age we are living in now will be characterized as the “Information Age”, the revolution of our abilities to transfer information almost instantly all across the world will be the hallmark of this era. So it isn’t surprising that we’re seeing so many business models changing in order to adopt social media and information sharing via the internet and cloud computing. One industry that is undergoing the big change to social media information sharing is the travel industry. The article “Chewing (And Trimming) The Fat: Buyers Leverage Multifaceted Traveler Communications Programs” by Jay Campbell of BusinessTravelNews.com, tells us how the recent technological communications advances will affect the travel industry. Listed below is a summary of what Campbell writes in his article.

· Feedback via Social Media

· Utilizing Low Cost Assets

· Streamlining Communication

· Improving Logistics via Internet Mapping

Feedback via Social Media

Customers Heard Through Internet Mediums

· Now, more than ever, travel companies are using the internet to survey their clients in order to receive both positive and negative feedback.

· In 2010, United Airlines received feedback from their branch in San Francisco that many of their top clients were unhappy with the service they received.

· Thanks to the technological advances in their communications systems, UA was able to get the information swiftly and respond to it in a timely manner, improving their weaknesses quickly so that a similar situation wouldn’t occur in the future.

Faster Information Sharing

· Communication is so fast now that it allows the industry to be heard on a massive scale throughout the world.

· Managers within the travel industry can stay on top of the latest trends and topics via cloud computing and internet information mediums.

· Keeping up-to-date with the industry is key to your business surviving in a tough economic climate.

Travel Corporations Know Exactly What The Customer Wants

· Clients would like to know as much as possible about what exactly is going to happen in their travels.

· Clients like a lot of options so that they can know exactly what seat they will sit in, or what hotel room they will be staying in.

· Improvements in the communications field allow clients to know that information and make it readily available to them.

More Feedback Means More Personalization

· Above all else, the customer needs to be comfortable with their selection

· With so many options to choose from, “the customer is always right” suddenly becomes “the customer cannot be wrong”.

· With so much selection, any customer can find a nice fit with a certain trip or journey anywhere around the globe.

Utilizing Low Cost Assets

Many Social Media Tools Are Inexpensive

· Sites such as Facebook are free to use, and can even make you money.

· Surveying profiles on Facebook is free to users, and if you get enough traffic on your page, advertisers will pay you for your wall space.

· You can even target specific profiles with your page by browsing and suggesting your page to profiles that “like” similar pages.

Man V. Machine

· Simple computer programs can do the job of a human for 24/7 365 days a year, cutting costs by letting the computer get acquainted with prospective clients and then letting and actual representative step in after the introductory information has been acquired.

OBT’s And Lower Ticket Costs

· Online Booking Tools make the purchasing process more cost efficient for both the consumer and producer.

· Year over year cost per mile has dropped 7 percent in the travel industry said Genentech’s Steven Sitto.

· Tickets are available further in advance and can be purchased digitally, removing the need for paper and cutting costs.

Cheap Customer = Happy Customer

· If the customer is saving money on a trip, then they will be happy and have a higher chance of returning in the future.

Streamlining Communication

Mass Emails Are Obsolete

· Unspecific mass messages lead to large amounts of insignificant replies.

· Not a lot of people read the message if they know it is a mass email and just put it off to the side as if it isn’t important.

Sharing Information Through Webpages

· Information that is shared via webpages lets everyone who cares about the message know about it. No one who doesn’t want to read the message will have to if it is on a specific webpage. Interested clients will reply with personal messages as opposed to everyone on the message list replying.

Travel Corporations Are Now Utilizing Alert Messages

· Clients can subscribe to message alerts in order to be on top of the latest news in the travel industry. Text message and email alerts are rapidly gaining popularity.

· Travel industries offer alerts on the latest deals and trips to clients so that they can respond quickly and receive better deals.

Personalized Communication

· If the information is going out to only those who want to hear it, the travel industry can get a better grasp of who is listening.

· Demographics change over time, and by tracking who is listening to what they’re saying, the travel industry can keep up with who they should target.

Improving Logistics via Internet Mapping

Importance Of Personal Meetings

· One-on-one’s are the most expensive kinds of meetings, but they’re becoming decreasingly costly due to the improvements in technological communication

· Personal meetings allow the greatest exchange of information between the client and the travel agent.

Scheduling Appointments

· In the past, a client would schedule an appointment with an agent and then wait for a period of time. Days, sometimes weeks even passed before any communication would take place.

Spontaneous And More Frequent Meetings

· Now, via social media and cloud computing, meetings can occur more spontaneously and opening in schedules can be filled by clients or other travel associates

· At Harman Travel, department heads use internal group software’s to see where other employees are at all times so that meet-ups can occur more often. It allows work to be done that otherwise would go undone or even unnoticed. Sally Abella of Harman used the software to meet with associates in London spontaneously one day during a lunch break, she says “I called and got a few minutes with them to talk about the travel program.”

Clients Receive Information Quicker

· With all of these advancements in communications technology, the travel industry is now getting information to clients at a speed never before seen.

· Logistically, every meeting is planned with the efficiency of the company in mind and it allows the customer to:

· Save money

· Save time

· Save effort

Jake Harr

ENG 162

Mr. Hricik

July 8, 2011

Social Media’s Effect On The Travel Industry (Short Summary)

Years from now, the current age we are living in now will be characterized as the “Information Age”, the revolution of our abilities to transfer information almost instantly all across the world will be the hallmark of this era. So it isn’t surprising that we’re seeing so many business models changing in order to adopt social media and information sharing via the internet and cloud computing. One industry that is undergoing the big change to social media information sharing is the travel industry. The article “Chewing (And Trimming) The Fat: Buyers Leverage Multifaceted Traveler Communications Programs” by Jay Campbell of BusinessTravelNews.com, tells us how the recent technological communications advances will affect the travel industry.

Feedback Via Social Media

Nowadays customers in of the travel industry can be heard through internet mediums, especially social networking. Due to the use of social media in the travel industry, managers and agents can improve their businesses at a rate that has never been seen before. Travel companies now know exactly what their customers would like to have presented to them, and that is a major component to their success. This vast amount of customer feedback allows the company to become more customer-oriented.

Utilizing Low Cost Assets

The use of social media on the internet is very inexpensive, and in some cases free. In fact, sometimes you can get paid to use social media for your benefit via advertisements. Using simple computer programs to do the work of humans cuts costs by letting the programs run at all times, all year. OBT’s (Online Booking Tools) are becoming increasingly popular since they save the client and the company money. Higher efficiency and lower costs are both products of the OBT’s.

Streamlining Communication

Inefficient communication tactics such as mass emails and messages are now a thing of the past. Webpages allow the client to seek the information actively, so that they know what they’re looking for from the moment they click their mouse. Mobile and email alerts are now very popular too as the travel industry starts to streamline its communication techniques. Personalized communication is now here for the clients and it is a lot easier and less frustrating for everyone in the travel business.

Improving Logistics

Personal one on one meetings are the most effective, but also the most costly. They are becoming decreasingly so, though, with the recent advancements in communications technology. More spontaneous meetings can now occur between both the client and the agent, and the agent/manager and their associates. The bottom line is that now everyone is sharing information faster than ever, and it is making things a lot easier for all involved.