Author Archives: Jon Pickles

About Jon Pickles

Jon has worked in Big Data, CRM and technology and specifically Travel, for the past 20 years. Fanatical about Customer Experience and how data can enhance the customer journey and improve service and conversion. An early adopter, Jon has been using mobile technology and social media since its launch and provides consultancy to enterprise travel companies on adopting new technologies to enhance their customers experience and maintain loyalty.

My 2018 Travel Bucket List

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Every year The Travel Corporation (TTC) publishes the top 10 bucket list.  The idea is to inspire our customers and prospects by showing them some of our wonderful experiences across a number of the TTC “Family of Brands”.  There are so many “authentic” experiences that we offer and so I hope my personal bucket list helps you to find yours.

Over the past year I have been privileged to travel around the world visiting some of the most amazing countries and cities where our business has offices.  Toronto, Los Angeles, London, Johannesburg, Singapore and Sydney.  I try and walk around these wonderful cities as much as possible so I can suck in the atmosphere, immerse myself in the culture and sample local delicacies such as Miso Black Cod at Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills,  Chilli crab at Jumbo Seafood Gallery in Singapore, Peameal Bacon Sandwiches at Paddington’s Pump in Toronto, and a Seafood Platter in Blue Fish on Sydney Harbour.  You meet so many fabulous people in these cities who are only too happy to talk to you and tell you the best places to go.  You just have to ask!

Looking forward to the rest of 2018 I think to myself “What do I need to see and experience in this precious world we live in?”.  Over the past few months I have been working closely with some of our smaller specialist brands (Adventure World, Evan Evans, Luxury Gold, Busabout, Inspiring Journeys), so my Bucket List this year features some the the wonderful experiences they have to offer.

1. Busabout Festival Experience – Lollapalooza Festival in Berlin

I live a few miles from the mystical town of Glastonbury in the depths of Somerset. Each year I cycle to the world famous Glastonbury Festival but this year is a fallow year so the festival is taking a break.  I love music and so what better than to take a ride on a Busabout Festival Experience.  For me the 4 day Lollapalooza Festival in Berlin, where once Nirvana took to the stage and then a trip to Berlin where Bowie and Eno started  their most famous Trilogy Low, Heroes and Lodger.

Lollapalooza Festival Berlin

Lollapalooza Festival Berlin

2. Insight Luxury Gold – Essence of India

Still on my Bucket List from 2015 I still need to visit India and the Taj Mahal.  I have always wanted to go to India with my wife, Louise,  to sample the sights, sounds and tastes of the earths most colourful country.  There is no finer way to experience India than taking the 8 day Essence of India and travel as a VIP with Luxury Gold.

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal

3. Adventure World – Whale Watching Experience

How about a 4 day Whale watching experience in Western Canada with Adventure World and discover the spectacular west coast scenery of Quadra Island, on this ideal combination of adventure, relaxation and wildlife viewing, where you can spot whales, seals, bears and abundant birdlife along the coast of British Columbia.  Wow!

Whale Watching off Quadra Island

Whale Watching off Quadra Island

4. Inspiring Journeys – The Endless Shores

One destination I haven’t experienced is New Zealand.  What better way to see it than on the 11 Day Inspiring Journeys – The Endless Shores.  This unspoilt land is revealed on this Inspiring Journey to some of New Zealand’s most mesmerising natural wonders, from the luminous glow of Waitomo to the fantasy-land of the Shire.

Cathedral Cove New Zealand

Cathedral Cove, New Zealand

5. Lion World – Victoria Falls

Next I want to join Lion World to experience one of the 7 natural wonders of the world Victoria Falls.  They say the ONLY way to see the falls is by Helicopter and this is part of Lion World’s magnificent tour.  You can also walk across the Victoria Falls Bridge and experience a touch of White Water Rafting followed by Traditional African fare at The Boma Restaurant.

Victoria Falls Bridge

Victoria Falls Bridge

6. Uniworld River Cruise – Splendours of the Nile

Now for a spot of Luxury cruising along the Nile on the Uniworld Splendours of Egypt & the Nile.  I have always been fascinated by the Pyramids and ancient Egypt, the Pharaohs and how much the Ancient Egyptians contributed to civilisation as we know it.  How they built those ancient temples, worked with precious metals and kept Cats as pets believing the Cat to be sacred bringing good luck.

Splendours of Egypt & the Nile

Splendours of Egypt & the Nile

7. Evan Evans Tours – Historic Royal Palaces

I work in London 4 days a week and have visited most of it’s historical attractions but seemed to have missed out on the Historic Royal Palaces.   Evan Evans have a wonderful tour called Historic Royal Palaces where you can visit some of the most breathtaking locations in London, including Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, Whitehall’s Banqueting House, and the Tower of London.

Kensington Palace

London’s Kensington Palace

8. Trafalgar Tours – Land of the Incas

Still on my bucket list is Machu Picchu and what better way to experience this incredible Sacred Valley than on Trafalgar’s Land of the Incas tour takes in the incredible Sacred Valley of Machu Picchu.  When I get there I will take off my walking boots out of respect to the Inca who used to walk barefoot, because they wanted to be in touch with Mother Earth: the sacred ground.  I have heard that to visit Machu Picchu is one of the most amazing experiences of all time.

Machu Picchu

Land of the Incas, Machu Picchu

9. U by Uniworld / Summer Lodge

Innovation is at the heart of what we do at TTC.  This year a combined effort by Uniworld River Cruises and Contiki developed the amazing U by Uniworld cruise.  This amazing innovative new approach to river cruising for 21-45 year olds.  I’m not in the age band for U by Uniworld so my wife and I will take a short trip from our house in Somerset to Devon and enjoy a spa and tranquility of The Summer Lodge and send my daughter Beckie on this one.

U by Uniworld The B Ship

U by Uniworld The B Ship

10. Red Carnation Hotels – Ashford Castle & Lodge

And finally at number 10, and as 2018 draws to a close and we think of Christmas, I would love to take my girls to Red Carnation Hotel’s Ashford Castle. Where we can stay in one of the unique bedrooms enjoying a fabulous Gin & Tonic sitting by a roaring fire, walk the fabulous grounds, take a cruise  across the lake and ride a horse across the estate.  The magnificent five star Ashford Castle is set in 350 acres, on the picturesque shores of Lough Corrib, Ireland. Dating back to 1228 and now beautifully restored to it’s former glory.

ashford-castle-ireland

Ashford Castle, Ireland

Now it’s your turn.  Why not go to TTC and start preparing your bucket list and your perfect #ttctopten?

#travel #Contiki #ContikiUK #ContikiUSA #Trafalgar #AdventureWorld #InspiringJourneys #BusAbout #InsightLuxuryGold #GrandEuropean #ExperientialTravel #AuthenticTravel #LionWorldTravel #TTC #UniworldCruises #UbyUniworld #EvanEvansTours #ttctopten #ttctop10 #Red_Carnation #Summer_Lodge #AshfordCastle

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I may be a boomer but my life’s not over yet

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What happens when you reach your mid 50’s? I’ll tell you. You get emails from Saga Holidays, you get invited to cash in your Pension, you get funeral directors Marketing you, you get marketers sending you emails showing products that I’m simply not ready for. Listen I’m not ready to sign out just yet!

Millennials in marketing need to remember that once we were your age. I lived in a time before mobile phones and pc’s but I also lived through the development of the wonderful devices we have at our disposal today. I have bought every one of them: brick phones, Apple, BBC A and B, Motorola and Nokia. You name it, I’ve used it and I have loved each and every device. I have seen amazing things from the transition from face to face conversation (yeah where’s that gone) , to social networking on Facebook. I’ve probably had more experience than most millenials with devices so please, please stop thinking I am a techniphobic and please stop sending me emails that have large fonts, assuming I’m ready to retire, or worse die.  

I have much more life in me yet, I have learnt the art of conversation, chat up lines, confidence in front of others and a knowledge that spans decades of change. I’m quite interesting really. 

 Remember, I use my phone and iPad instead of paper, I still want to go on exciting holidays and experience amazing things, I have probably done many things you could only dream of. So next time you are marketing my generation please treat me with respect, don’t make assumptions that my generation is technically incompetent and past our sell by date. Who knows while you are sweating it out in the gym I just might be buying whatever it is you are selling: age has nothing to do with it! 

My Top Ten Travel Bucket List

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The Travel Corporation Top 10 Bucket list

The Travel Corporation Top 10 Bucket list

There are many things I have done in my life: working in a top London recording studio, creating two business startups, Banking and Investment, and travel technology.  Having worked in Travel Technology for 20 years you would imagine that I am well travelled.  Well because you work in it, it doesn’t mean you do it.  Many of my close friends think I have led a charmed life but although I have worked with some of the rock stars of the 70’s, enjoyed the fruits of banking in the 80’s and set up 2 travel software companies, I am still unfulfilled.

I was recently in the bar of one of The Travel Corporations wonderful Red Carnation Hotels in Guernsey (The Duke of Richmond) enjoying a conversation with my colleagues whilst imbibing probably the best Hendrick’s and Tonic you will find in any bar across the world.  Discussion moved to our Top Ten things we’d like to do before we die.  We were inspired by Contiki Holidays brand ambassadors “four regular guys” who call themselves The Buried Life.  We were laughing about some of their antics and great things they had done and then realised how great it would be to compile our own #ttctopten.  Well here are mine, enjoy:

Route 66

Route 66

1. Route 66 I have always wanted to ride a Harley Davidson all the way from Chicago to the west cost.  With this fabulous tour from Trafalgar you can enjoy the #TrafalgarInsider experience the best barbecue sauce from a local family and learn bocce.

India Imperial Rajasthan

India Imperial Rajasthan

2. I have always wanted to go to India to sample the sights, sounds and tastes of the earths most colourful country: India. Imperial Rajasthan with Insight Vacations is the only way to experience this wonderful country.

Ashford Castle

Ashford Castle

3. Where better to live like a King than Ireland’s Ashford Castle. Enjoy country sports and stay on one of the unique bedrooms enjoying a luxurious bath before dinner.  The magnificent five star Ashford Castle is set in 350 acres, on the picturesque shores of Lough Corrib. Dating back to 1228 and now beautifully restored to it’s former glory.

Splendors of Japan

Splendors of Japan

4. For me Japan is a must see.  I have only enjoyed reading about Japan and would love to experience Japan’s imperial palaces, mountainous national parks and thousands of shrines and temples.  Wander through the streets of Tokyo to feel the buzz of the city.  There is no better way to enjoy Japan than to hop on the Splendors of Japan from Trafalgar.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls

5. Next I want to join Lion World to experience the wonder which is Victoria Falls.  They say the ONLY way to see the falls is by Helicopter and this is part of Lion World’s magnificent tour.  A touch of White Water Rafting followed by Traditional African fare at The Boma Restaurant.

European Jewels

European Jewels

6. After completing the above 6 tours I can think of no better tour than Uniworld’s Luxury cruise  the European Jewels.  Embark on a history-steeped, perfectly paced European journey that takes you through four countries along three great rivers: the Danube, Main, and Rhine.

Timeless Wonders of Vietnam

Timeless Wonders of Vietnam

7. Once you have a taste for river cruising then why not experience the Timeless Wonders of Vietnam, Cambodia and the Mekong.  Imagine the 60’s as you amble up the Mekong past Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Phnom Penh, to the floating villages of the Mekong.  See the fascinating and terrifying remnants of the ravages of war, from the Cu Chi Tunnels in Ho Chi Minh City to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.  This is a MUST see for me.

8. Cold, clear and beautiful.  Next I want to see Classic Antarctica.  Once a place only intrepid explorers could go and now available to us all from the wonderful Adventure World.  Watch penguins, seals, whales and other wildlife in their natural habitat.

Land of the Incas

Land of the Incas

9. Trafalgar’s Land of the Incas tour takes in the incredible Sacred Valley of Machu Picchu.  Somewhere I have to have on my bucket list –  When I get there I will take off my walking boots out of respect to the Inca who used to walk barefoot, because they wanted to be in touch with Mother Earth: with the sacred ground.  I heard to visit Machu Picchu is one of the most amazing experiences of all time.

Contiki Australia

Contiki Australia

10. Ok so I know I am past 35 and too old for a Contiki Holiday. But this one is for my 18 year old daughter Becky, and seeing her enjoy this through the eyes of social media will make me very happy. What better trip than to Australia.  Becky will have #NOREGRETS when she stays in nothing but comfort & style – no exceptions. With centrally located hotels, WIFI as standard, breakfast daily and unique Special Stays like sleeping in a swag under the stars on Kings Creek Station or kicking back in a Whitsundays Island resort, Becky is guaranteed that extra wow factor!

Chesterfield Palm Beach

Red Carnation’s wonderful Chesterfield Palm Beach

11. With a past life in rock music my top ten can surely go to “11” and so when my #TTCTopTen is over I want to chill out at the amazing Chesterfield Palm Beach. Enjoy the Designer Boutiques in Worth Avenue and sample wines from the Bouchard Finalyson winery, makers of some of South Africa’s most distinguished wines, and take a transfer in the Rolls Royce to my next experience wherever that might be.

Go on, what’s on your bucket list – why not find your perfect #ttctopten ?

Me and my Mac

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Me and my Mac – this is not an advert, but a reality

The best PC ever

My MacBook Pro 13″

So, there I was travelling to Athens, Istanbul then back to Athens.  I had various devices with me: My iPhone 5s, A Moto G running Android, iPad Mini and my trusty Mac Book Pro 13″.  With varying degrees of internet access and high roaming charges, I soon ran down my mobile phone batteries.  The iPad, a brilliant device, just wasn’t up to the heavy music and video-laden PowerPoint I was editing for three presentations, 4 workshops and music downloads over ten days.

Each day I would revert to my Mac book Pro.  Sliding it form my trusty TUMI bag I rarely had to recharge it from the nightly charge (sometimes not even charging nightly), I placed it on the desk, flipped the lid and instant access.  Easily vamping onto the hotel or bars free Wi-Fi I was soon up and running, tweeting, Facebook posts, updating my blog, all whilst my Windows using colleagues struggled to lock into the Wi-Fi signal, let alone get their presentations working.

You see, the MacBook Pro is simply a brilliant device.  Expensive, yes, but the productivity increase you get for using it over a Windows PC is at least 50% more.  Recently I took delivery of a Windows Tablet that our IT team was dishing out to our Australian Sales teams.  I had to test some software.  First off I set up my various accounts: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail, iCloud etc.  The I needed to download Google Chrome.  Once I managed to maintain a stable wi-fi signal (the Tablet kept dropping it) I downloaded Chrome and fired it up.  To my amazement it started and post my first search popped up many spam windows offering me discounted goods, various tablets and enough gambling sites to drown my finances.  I then went in search of Adaware to remove the hijacking sites form my browser.     During the download, which took an hour, I received more and more adds and enough pop-up windows to bury the one window I needed to see.  Within seconds of getting this tablet onto the net I was plagued by spam and ad sites.

Back to my Mac:  No matter where I am, no matter what I am doing, no spam, no ad-sites, no crap.

With it’s great illuminated keyboard (the eyes aren’t what they used to be),  the retina display, the whisper quiet operation (the Toshiba Tablet has the loudest fan I have ever heard), and flash disk, this is definitely the best laptop around.  A productivity inflating wonder there is nothing to touch it available today.  If you just want to get on and work seamlessly and not be hampered by a trashy interface (Windows 8), connect seamlessly to any wi-fi network and stay there, simply work on your laptop, then the Apple MacBook Pro 13 is the one to get  PERIOD!

London my favourite city

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So, here I am , wandering the streets of central London perfectly at home in my favourite city. I have been working here full time for 6 months but over the years have lived and worked here, regularly conducted business here, and enjoyed weekends away here.

London is a vibrant City with a great mix of people and a cosmopolitan feel. On a balmy hot summers evening like tonight, people spill out of bars soaking up the sun and enjoying a cool beer while engaging in conversation. It’s on evenings like this that you realise how full of people London is.

Wandering the familiar streets of Soho where I first walked in 1978 when I was 18, I notice much has changed, yet much has remained the same. Seedy signs in doorways and phone booths, the smell of Chinese food and red coloured chickens hanging in the windows of the many Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. Much more commercial than it was in the 70’s I remember wandering down to Chinatown on a Sunday afternoon trying to buy some beer or lager for a variety of rock and pop stars who were recording, now famous albums, at Trident Studios where I worked just off Wardour Street. Now stripped of its notoriety Trident Studios hosted such luminaries as David Bowie, Elton John, Marc Bolan, the house band Queen, Genesis, Phil Collins and Rod Stewart among others.

Living now as I do during the week, in South Kensington, I find Soho an amazing starting point for a quick drink, before embarking on the long but feature rich walk back to South Ken. A quick visit to Sister Ray record shop on Berwick Street then passing Liberties store with it’s Tudor black and white façade and across Regent Street. Stopping in Heddon Street to see the Plaque where Bowie once stood at a phone box for the cover of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars, and then a short hop to the Apple store on Regent Street. A quick play with the iPads, iPhones and various accessories I move on down to Piccadilly Circus and past the brightly lit advertising hoards and on past the Statue of Eros where I remember many an old 60’s movie with opening credits and a shot of old british cars, red double decker busses and black London cabs going round and round the statue.

From here I wander down to Trafalgar Square looking up at the statue of Nelson proudly surveying the surrounding scene high above on Nelsons column now guarded by not four, but three lions and a green chicken.

This is an amazing place and I have only touched the very surface of the centre of this wonderful City. Watch this space as I continue my travels to Covent Garden, The Famous Strand, The Houses of Parliament, St Pauls and so much more.

My favourite city? Not arf!

Google

Is Google the new Travel Meta Search?

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Do metasearch companies have a future, and if so, what is it, asks travel technology, CRM and social media consultant Jon Pickles

The recent announcement by Michael O’Leary that “there are some very exciting developments with Google where we have been working with them on sharing the pricing”, and that “it will blow comparison sites like Skyscanner out of the water”, hints that Google is looking to get into flight metasearch in a big way.

I have always maintained that at some point in the near future consumers will start their holiday search direct from the Google search box – if they don’t do so already.

Once Google provides a meta-like result set showing the cheapest fares, hotels and extras, the metasearch companies will be redundant. Google are already doing this in the US.

1

I know that Mr O’Leary is known for making bold claims, but he would not have mentioned the detail about the Google search were there not an element of truth in it.

It wasn’t long before confirmation came with news that Ryanair was participating with Google on Flight Search. Try google.co.uk/flights.

Google has a Travel team in the UK. They are not just there to help travel companies, or are they?

What I love about Google’s Flight Search is that as soon as you choose a departure city you then see a map of all destinations that departure airport services – a really nice, clean interface, uncluttered by the confusing array of advertorial baggage the metasearch sites have to show in order to monetise them.

Compare Google Flight Search and Skyscanner from a user perspective and see what you think?

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Take a look at Google’s Travel insurance comparison site. You can search for travel insurance across multiple suppliers (40).

It’s got a clean, easy-to-use interface and provides a comprehensive list of results. You can select one or more for comparison, and when ready to buy you are redirected to the insurance provider’s web site.

When you simply search for “Travel Insurance” in Google you get a prominent ad for Google insurance search below paid ads like this. Is this impartial?

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Last year I needed to book a hotel stay in London for the World Travel Market. I wanted the hotel to be in Soho, London, because although I had meetings at WTM, the evening events were in the City.

I was sitting at my office desk and had my desktop in front of me. Rather than using my favourite hotel booking app, Booking.com, on my iPhone, I opened the Chrome web browser (another Google product) and typed “Hotels in Soho” into Google search.

Within minutes I had inadvertently stumbled upon Google’s hotel comparison site and made a booking. It’s fast, it satisfied my need and, well, it worked. I didn’t have to remember a metasearch URL, I just used my default browser.

So, we have to ask if metasearch companies have a future, and if so, what is it? I think that Google sees many opportunities in this space – after all, fast search is Google’s core strength.

Originally posted in Travolution: click here

Inspired: The brochure is dead, long live the tablet

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Inspired: The brochure is dead, long live the tablet

“In this article I, imagine a world without brochures”

Inspire me

Inspire me

Arguably there are 5 stages to online holiday booking.  Dreaming, Researching, Booking, Experience and finally Sharing.  With the plethora of tablet and fablet devices hitting the high street and a device on most peoples Christmas list does the online experience really support this process?

It was 1998 when I first entered the Travel technology market.  I spent many an hour discussing the demise of the traditional brochure.  An expensive and time consuming production which would end up in Travel Agents or be sent to thousands of potential customers.  We really believed back then that the brochure could be transferred to CD/DVD and using electronic media we could extend the “Magazine” experience to a PC.  Imagine clicking through thumbnail images and reading reams of copy interspersed with the odd panoramic image or video of the potential destination.  How wrong we were.  No one wanted to replace the magazine experience by loading up a CD and basically reading the brochure electronically.  The Dream/inspiration phase was still supported by consumers (dreamers) picking up a brochure and thumbing through it’s contents whilst relaxed at home.

Fast forward to 2013.  It’s taken nearly 15 years for a device to finally become so mainstream that it might actually challenge the traditional brochure: the tablet.  Using apps such as Flipboard (www.flipboard.com) we can quickly see how content can be transformed into an inspiring magazine, beautifully laid out onto flip-able virtual pages with delectable fonts and supportive white space.    This Christmas is the first year that consumers are most likely to the holiday search looking for inspiration using their tablets.  They will be looking for imagery that inspires, turning their dreams into reality?  Or will they?  How many of the OTA’s provide inspiration from their home pages?  What the consumer will most likely find is a tablet unfriendly search box where they are forced to put in dates, destinations and click the search button.  They will then be presented with uninspiring thumbnails and way too much text to consume.  All topped off with an overly large font showing price per pax!

Think about socialising.  In clubs pubs and restaurants people chat about experiences.  They constantly socialise on social sites about their holidays, their desires and post holiday images using Instagram, facebook and twitter.  Soon they will post their images to Pinterest creating a travel board that will be re-pinned time and time again as like-minded consumers find inspiration in those images and experiences.

Inspiration is the key.  Traditional search cost and book seemingly ignores the dreaming and inspirational part of the consumer journey.  The social aspect is dabbled with but not understood and so tour operators only achieve a small percentage of likes finding it difficult to create and generate social conversation by thinking of this phase and posting relevant, inspiring imagery on their social pages.

So what do OTA’s need to do?  They need to embrace the phases of holiday booking.  Ditch the search cost and book process of old and inspire, converse and start the buzz.  Focus on tablet first to provide an online inspirational magazine where the consumer can browse through inspiring images.  Inspiration that is relevant to the viewer where they login using social log in, where they can post their favourite images using any of the social media apps.

Come on Travel, 15 years on lets get inspired!

Article originally published on Travolution.com December 10, 2013.

Mapple

Has Apple become Microsoft

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It wasn’t that long ago when you could guarantee that your Mac, iPad and iPhone would never crash, never get a virus and allow you to do what you needed to do and not worry about the tech. On the other hand, Microsoft based PC’s would constantly crash, be forever downloading updates, and you’d spend more time sorting an issue than being productive.

Fast forward to now. It’s very rare that I switch on a Mac device and it doesn’t start downloading updates to the OS, iTunes or one of the many apps I have installed (last count 27 apps updated since 7 Dec). On top of this OS Mavericks seems to have slowed my 2 year old iMac to a crawl and this morning iOS7 on my iPad crashed and rebooted twice. It seems to me that the consumer is fast becoming the BETA tester. At least @Priceline had the decency to badge their latest APP a BETA. I know it’s not Apples fault entirely but they are guilty of releasing updates to apps that clearly have had little end-user testing , to eager end users who accept that updates are a way of life.

Once again I find that my tech is starting to get in the way of productivity. Now my most reliable of devices (my trusty iPad) has started to crash and lock up just when I need it.

We are in a world now where immediacy is key. The pressure on software developers and tech companies to deliver new things and fast, is reducing the user test time that was probably three or four times longer than it is now. It’s refreshing to see that Google has reduced the footprint of it’s latest Android release (KitKat) so that it can run on older android devices. There is now an opportunity and Google are taking it, to steal Apples flame and as it is doing, release affordable, high quality devices and a robust platform on which users can enjoy higher levels of productivity. Now we just need better battery life!

A roundup of this weeks travel technology events

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Personalization gone mad

Personalizaton must be relevant

Ever since 2008 I have been banging on about personalization and how it can be used to impact sales and better still “customer engagement”.  Earlier this week I attended the most excellent Travolution Summit in the exclusive and rather nice, GRANGE ST.PAULS HOTEL.  I was on a panel entitled “From a one-night-stand to a steady relationship” along with Vic Darvey, Managing director new business, travelsupermarket.com and Dirk Guenther, Sabre director, Air shopping and decision support.  Chaired by Travolution editor Lee Hayhurst (@leehayhurst) we discussed personalisation and how personalisation would be a key driver for OTA’s moving forward and also the impact of mobile on the travel market (a precis of the discussions key messages can be found here).  We also discussed the barriers to personalisation and how you need to build it into the core of your technology.  I argued that travel companies did not do a great job of getting the customer interaction right.  Vic Darvey said that legacy technology and lack of innovation from travel technology suppliers, made this extremely difficult without building from the ground up to get personal.  Whilst I agreed that there was a lack of innovation with the travel tech companies, its more of an outside in approach where you can harness the big data out there and just enable your inner sanctum to react to it. Vic Darvey’s views are expanded in an article on travolution.com.

Much was discussed at the Travolution Summit but the key take-aways were personalisation, trust, mobile first and customer engagement.  To summarise the summit messages:

  • Disruption: something that comes along to disrupt the norm.  Think mobile apps such as Uber, Hailo and twitter.
  • Personalization: to be a player travel companies are going to have to get better at using customer data and return more relevant search results offers and prices.
  • Mobile first: Travel companies should have a mobile first strategy.  This means think mobile deployment before you worry about the web and call centre strategy;
  • Trust: it’s all very well pushing offers and relevancy to customers but you don’t want to scare the crap out of them.  You need to win their trust and make sure they see your company as a welcoming friend rather than a spammer;
  • Customer engagement: Customers are happy to give travel companies their data BUT they want something in return.  Relevant and well targeted offers, with perfect timing, are the ones that will keep the customer happy and buying.  (Read my previous blog article “This time it’s personal”)
Mobile Strategy

Do we have a mobile strategy?

Later this week we had the Phocuswright Conference which although I didn’t attend (it was in Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood) watched avidly using the online stream from the centre stage.  It was great to see the Innovation Awards going to some companies who are really trying to improve the customer experience.  However, I didn’t really hear about anything this year to disrupt the industry.  Interestingly the UK and USA are in sync as the themes from Travolution Summit were again echoed across the pond.  So, high on the agenda were Disruption, Personalization, Trust, Mobile first and customer engagement.  Two presentations of particular note were TripAdvisor’s CEO Stephen Kaufer (@kaufer) and Sam Lessin (@lessin), Facebook’s Director of Product Management.  Both spoke of the “in-destination” or as Trip Advisor call it “in trip” experience and how mobile and personalization were going to “rock” the travellers experience.

A great week for Travel and Technology and so great to think I was talking about personalisation well before it eventually started being discussed at the two biggest Travel Technology events on the calendar, “now where’s that patent?”

Look out for my next blog on Meta Search: “Will Google be the new holiday meta search?”

This time it’s personal. Why personalisation is important to the travel market.

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personalisation

This time it’s personal

“I give you everything, yet you give me nothing.” – this might sound like a song title, or an argument you have had with a partner, yet it’s how I feel every time I get an email marketing communication.

I am a consumer.  I am in charge of my data.  I decide who has my data.  I take time to set up my likes etc on Facebook and I often log into sites using Facebook login instead of creating yet another anonymous email/username login.  I give companies my data so that they can use it to personalise my experience.  So why on earth don’t they use it?  I keep getting emails from travel companies offering me generic holidays and destinations, tagged with “discount”, “free children” and so on.  If they used my data they could see that clearly I have not booked a holiday with them for a long time, that I don’t ever respond to these mailings, and often don’t even click them.  Yet week after week (and I can tell you the days and times I will get each operators marketing emails) the emails come through only to be destined for the trash bin.

Travel companies should take a leaf out of Amazons book.  The Amazon marketing emails are the ones I most click on.  Not only do they get the timing just right, they have the knack of making the whole buying experience so simple that I often forget I have even made a purchase: only to receive the always welcome Amazon packaging through my door when I didn’t even expect it.  Amazon get my business because what they offer me is very relevant to me.  However, even Amazon is starting to lose a grip on the personalisation they started.  Take this example:

I use Amazon frequently, and anyone with a simple bit of data mining would realise that my last 10 purchases have all been music on vinyl (albums or LP’s to you and me).  Yet how many offers do I get daily trying to sell me the “latest electronic goods” or “Try these CD’s” or DVD’s, both of which I no longer buy.  Its as if the marketing algorithms and personalisation engine has gone wrong somewhere.  Perhaps they should add “music media format = vinyl” to their engine.  or maybe they are falling back on their “people who buy X, might also buy Y” algorithm?

In the not to distant, future, data protection will afford consumers more control over their own data.  Companies will need to be far more data-aware or risk being sued if they don’t realise this.  It won’t be a case of an unsubscribe – companies will need to provide full access to the customers data through a dashboard where the customer can pull or edit their data whenever they wish.  The consumer is becoming the “savvy consumer” (well, we are savvy, aren’t we?) and won’t take prisoners.  Companies who get it wrong will most likely lose that customer.  How many times have you purchased something, only to find it has dropped in price the next week?  There’s another personalisation engine rule: “Do not send to a customer who has just purchased”.  Have the marketing team not heard of the marketing pool?  As marketers they should have done but maybe they have become too reliant on the, now outdated, marketing tools they use?

Tesco do a great job of consumer loyalty with their Tesco loyalty card.  Consumers unknowingly give them access to purchases through the loyalty card swipe and Tesco respond with money off vouchers for the things you have in your weekly shopping basket, or clever relevant alternatives.

Travel Companies hold some very powerful data and should start to use it to their advantage.  Unlike retailers such as Tesco and Mothercare, anyone who travels has to provide their full details to the operator prior to departure.  Offline retailers such as Tesco and Mothercare will sell you something without any knowledge of who you are which is why they have to use loyalty cards.  The travel company, on the other hand, has all your information before you even travel with them.  For any holiday we have to provide our name and address and other contact details before we can travel. How powerful is that? Additionally, the travel company can make it easier for the consumer to post reviews, photos, blogs through Trip Advisor, Facebook and Twitter.  The savvy travel company can then get permission to use the consumer data (likes and dislikes) and also what the consumers friends like.  Consider the additional personal data that Facebook and twitter provide and also two new direct methods of engagement.  Couple this with access to the consumer through mobile and the tech savvy travel company can be permanently connected to the consumer using their social accounts – It has been said that with mobile, 23% of users check their accounts five times or more every day (buffer.com).  Whilst you shouldn’t expect instant returns using social media you should start using it to build your brand awareness and to deliver targeted offers.  Don’t be fooled into thinking that social is just for the young the fastest growing demographic on twitter is the 55-64 year age bracket.

So come on travel companies.  Make your customer engagement personal.  Understand your customer likes and turn your offers into bookings, and stop sending those broadcast emails out every Friday at 16:00!  Make it easy for customers to use their social networks for feedback and they will give you everything you want, but only if they feel that giving you that information will be of direct value to them.  If not, sit back and watch your customers disappear.

This article was originally published as a guest post on the Travolution website here.