The travel industry is eagerly anticipating the release of
pent-up demand. But are we ready for the impending recovery?
The recent boost in searches and bookings reported by travel
marketers in the United Kingdom following its government’s road map
announcement is promising. Coronavirus vaccines continue to roll out, raising
hope for an economic rebound.
Not all travel companies will capture their fair share,
though. It won’t be for a lack of effort, staff or a faulty booking engine.
They just won’t have the relevant information required to reach travelers
changed by COVID19: first-party data.
First-party primer
First-party data is information a company receives directly
from consumer behavior: a review, call center conversation or website click.
The problem is that such first-party data is often scattered across the
organization and not actionable. Unless you have a fairly robust CRM process,
you likely rely on third-party data aggregated and provided by an external
source.
Subscribe to our newsletter below
Third-party data may come from a distribution channel,
partner or data aggregator. In digital marketing, it usually refers to the
cookies a marketer or ad-tech firm places in a user’s browser. You know those ads for that thing you bought
last month that follow you everywhere online? Third-party cookies make that
happen. The good news from a privacy/annoyance standpoint is they’re going
away. But from a marketing perspective, it’s a significant shift.
The perfect personalization storm
The 12-month near-total cessation of travel caused by
the pandemic obliterated a tried-and-true source of behavioral data: bookings.
Without recent historical data, recommendations from even the most
sophisticated artificial intelligence modeling will be outdated, a reflection
of our pre-COVID hand-shaking selves.
At the same time, consumer preferences have changed amid
broad societal and cultural dislocations that continue to evolve. More outdoor
escapes than city breaks. Takeout versus hang out. After viewing pictures of
pristine au naturel Venice canals, one might place more value on environmental
stewardship. It’s hard to decode all that from a persona based on a pre-pandemic
trip. That’s so 2019.
Don’t expect today’s tracking tools to help. Privacy
concerns raised by the Cambridge Analytica scandal and multiple high-profile
data breaches have government regulators scrutinizing the practices of big tech
firms like Google, Facebook and Apple. As a result, it’s no surprise Apple will
require explicit permission from users to track behavior in iOS 14.5 or that
Google will phase out third-party cookies in Chrome by 2022.
This perfect storm
of developments makes personalization significantly more challenging for everyone,
from global brands to independent operators. To ride the wave of recovery, we
need to listen and learn how traveler preferences are changing.
Tuning in to traveler tastes
As in any economic crisis, organizations with capital are
acquiring the companies, resources and customers to emerge stronger. They’re
ready to deploy marketing campaigns to capture the lion’s share when bookings
rebound. But the message must be relevant.

Without recent historical data, recommendations from even the most sophisticated AI modeling will be outdated.
Tedd Evers - TripTuner
Campaigns from global players can help reduce their reliance
upon Google, who may emerge even stronger after its recent anti-tracking moves.
Brand campaigns though, are inherently not targeted. Promotional offers fall
flat if safety concerns and changing individual tastes are ignored, like the
cautious non-traveler who’s suddenly ready to book having been vaccinated.
Travel marketers who have stayed in touch and listened to
customers even when they weren’t booking, have a head-start. One doesn’t need a
large budget to learn more about your customers. Surveys have been a
cost-effective method ever since Charles Booth interviewed London’s urban poor
in the 1880s.
Capturing demand at scale, however, requires a tech-enabled
listening that’s not limited to prior behavioral data. It has become a critical
area for innovation as third-party data sources dry up. Travelers should be
able to view relevant offers by indicating their nuanced preferences based on
how they are feeling now.
Call to action
Anyone who has sat in a meeting (er, Zoom) reviewing the
latest analytics knows the value of actionable insight. Start small, looking at
website search activity. It may not be statistically significant, but it can be
directionally informative. Segment customers into increasingly focused cohorts
- even if only from region to country to city - getting more personalized each
time.
When getting started, it’s OK to “do things that don’t
scale,” as Paul Graham, the founder of Airbnb accelerator Y Combinator once
counseled. If a cohort likes hiking, reflect that in email copy or imagery.
Mine your social channels for further insight.
Setting up ways to track direct interactions on your website
can ultimately lead to real-time personalization and less-intrusive
re-targeting. Those types of solutions can scale, preparing your business for
the inevitable return of travel demand - and you’ll be first to the party celebrating
the occasion.
About the author...
Tedd Evers is founder and CEO of
TripTuner.