Tours and activities: the next frontier for airlines?

Do airlines want to enter the tours and activities game?

On the list of priorities, airlines are interested in selling their core product - flights - first and foremost, says Tamas Hanyi, general manager, APAC region, at Finnair.

Speaking on a panel on airline distribution at the WebInTravel conference yesterday, Hanyi says Finnair’s key outcome is taking back control of inventory, “on any channel at any price, and we’d like to increase our ancillary revenue. Put the customers in control so that we can send out personalized messages and offers,” he says.

Michael Newcombe, co-founder of Traversel, says he hasn’t witnessed any airline doing a good job yet with in-destination, but that opens an opportunity for his company, which provides a blockchain solution for distribution. “It’s a collaboration between multiple different parties, but I don’t think anyone’s done it particularly well.”

“Destination marketing for an airline is tricky,” Hanyi says.

The tours and activities perspective 

Some echoed the sentiment on a later panel on tours and activities. “There’s a big opportunity, but it’s difficult for airlines to figure out how to close that deal,” says Jeff Lewis, vice president of technology, strategic initiatives at TripAdvisor.

Graham Hills, chief commercial officer at BeMyGuest, says for airlines, it’s a reengagement effort. “When you upgrade your flight, etc., that’s part of the transaction. With flights, there’s more lead time. I think [tours and activities] is an opportunity, and I think airlines will look increasingly at the opportunity, but it’s not without its challenges.”

On the supplier end, however, Zishan Amir, general manager of Mega Adventure Group, says the company has seen success with working with airlines. “We’ve seen an increasing number of people coming to us from this area.”

“We sell into that space as well,” says Mark Rizzuto, CEO of tours and activities aggregator Livn, “But I’m going to argue airlines are more interested in their core product. Very few see it more visionary than that, but it’s starting to move a little more aggressively.”