Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry
The travel and tourism sector was one of the very first industries to adopt digital marketing strategies. This early adoption has also allowed the industry to stay on top of the latest digital marketing trends. Mainly owing to the reason that this industry primarily sells experiences. The increasing number of mobile users, lowering prices of digital marketing services and rising effectiveness of social media strategies are a few of the multitude of reasons which has led to the widespread adoption of digital marketing strategies by the travel and tourism industry.
Earlier, most consumers of the travel and tourism sectors browsed destinations and booked their itineraries through online mediums using desktops and personal computers. But now, the industry has gradually but rapidly witnessed a shift from desktops to mobile devices. Not just the hospitality industry, but digital consumption as a whole has experienced this transition. Digital consumption today is startlingly different than how it was even just a few years ago. As such, there are modern-world start-ups coming up in the already highly saturated travel and tourism sector which are mobile-only. The entire industry is going mobile, quite literally.
However, a large percentage of bookings today are still carried out traditionally using physical means despite all the research and the resulting final decision being made using online channels. Surely, the ability to book online could significantly boost sales. The biggest benefit of online booking would perhaps be bookings made by last-minute travellers who book a hotel for the same day. This subset accounts for roughly 60 per cent of all travellers.
Even though most of the travel and tourism sector has moved online, it’s important to note that the transition has been direct and bland with nothing new or different being offered by tour operators and travel agencies. Online has provided a very convenient platform for trying out new innovative strategies for little to no cost. Travel and tourism brands need to look into leveraging online mediums and perfecting innovative digital marketing strategies to offer consumers something new and different from traditional travelling experiences.
Many brands also make the mistake of advertising and creating a presence on every social media site out there. This could really hurt a well laid out digital marketing strategy. Brands don’t realise that they’re undermining their own efforts. The key is to identify the sites with the users matching a brand’s target audience and then effectively use that platform to mitigate consumer interest. It’s much simpler and far more effective.
Advantages of Digital Marketing for Travel and Tourism Industry
Digital marketing is undoubtedly the prime driver of travel and tourism today. For instance, everybody uses internet to research upon the place where they intend to visit. According to recent study, 95% of the customers read reviews before booking online. Be it to search for best deals on airfare or hotels, things to do in a destination, best time to visit or find read the reviews – Internet has been their source of information. There is an abundant scope for digital marketing in travel and tourism industry. Some are listed below:
- Digital marketing, unlike traditional marketing gives opportunities for customers to ask questions or queries. Whereas traditional marketing such as print ads, TV ads and billboards are unidirectional. Hence, digital marketing provides personalized experience to the customers.
- Digital marketing on social media create platforms for user interactions and feedbacks. Tourists share positive or negative reviews based on their travel experiences. Hence, digital marketing is based on relationships, rather than on transactions.
- Digital marketing on social media can keep your customers engaged. Further, tactics such as influencer reviews, interesting informational posts and sharing wonderful images shall hook the travel enthusiasts on your page. This attracts potential customers too, who will prefer to make a travel deal with you later.
- Digital marketing helps to place your travel agency on the top of search engine results. Users are inclined to make a deal by visiting those travel websites that are appear in the top of search results. Digital marketing tool like SEO increases your brand reputation.
- Digital marketing provides the opportunity to continuously market your travel and tourism packages 24×7, unlike newspapers and TV, which are constrained through space and duration. Thus, it is possible to reach out to billions of travellers worldwide through digital marketing. Digital marketing is particularly beneficial for travel and tourism sector to attract tourists globally.
- Digital marketing helps to develop brand awareness by having a strong presence on social media. Also, online conversations enable the marketers to identify the current travel & tourism trends, analyse customer behaviour, enhance their travel experiences and extend the scope for continuous improvement.
Our Digital Marketing services for the Travel and Tourism Industry
Adsyndicate and our in-house digital marketing experts ADCODE are long time experts in all virtues of digital marketing be it SEO, CRO, lead generation, website management or social media management. Our in-house media production team ADSTUDIO works in conjunction with our other departments to create immersive videos and eye-capturing photos which can be constructively used as part of a well-crafted digital marketing strategy.
The primary reason brands in the travel and tourism sector are so successful at adapting digital marketing strategies is because they thoroughly peruse how people interact with surrounding environments while travelling. These insights help them recognize existing customer needs and give travellers the required drive to create the “wow” effect with minimal effort and ensure repeat business. Let us do the same for you. You can thank us later. Contact Us today!
About Adsyndicate
AdSyndicate is ranked among the most preferred Digital Marketing Agency in India. With a wonderful team of dreamers, achievers, believers, innovators and endowed individuals, we have been winning hearts and writing successful stories in the Advertising and Marketing domains since 25 years.