What’s trending in travel and technology

Despite the holiday season being behind us now, the desire and need for travel is one that never ceases. The Travel and Tourism Industry is one that ticks over all year round, and with that, comes trends and opportunities.

We explore some emerging trends most likely to gain even more momentum over the course of this coming year within the industry.

Video content

Video has very quickly become Marketers preferred method when it comes to influencing travelers. Video content as the ability to immerse the user into an experience, which is exactly what travelling is about – an experience. Travel content has the ability to incorporate our sense of sight and hearing, by bringing to life the features of a destination. It has thus become one of the most effective forms of story telling in the digital marketing landscape.

Real-time online booking

Real-time booking gives you, the booking operator, the freedom to choose when and where you will offer specific reservations. At the same time, it enables consumers to book tours and reserve your services when it is convenient for them. They receive immediate confirmation of their reservation, hence, gets rid of the hassle of answering phone-in availability enquiries.

Use of mobile

Travel plans starts with a mobile device. Users are increasingly starting their travel searches on their mobile devices and finalising them either on the device also using some form of mobile payment method. Putting your customer first, means making sure your brand and service offering is accessible on mobile.

Social sharing

What would a holiday be without a snap of an iconic landmark and the very fitting ‘#travel’. Industry research shows that 52% of travellers said that social media influenced a change in their travel plans, while 80% are more likely to book a trip from a company ‘Liked’ by a friend.

Brands would need to pick up on this trend rather quickly, as it will very soon become the first, and potentially only touch point your customer may connect with you. Meeting your customer where they they prefer to connect, will give you one up on the convenience factor.

Virtual tours

Virtual Reality gives holidaymakers the possibility to ‘try before you buy’, in a way that was never possible. Giving your customer the option to virtually tour your establishment, or a specific destination, eliminates the unknown factor, and the fear of being terribly disappointed.

Realm Digital has extensive experience working with industry leaders, and we offer the following services to streamline your digital footprint:

– Responsive CMS Website
– 3rd Party Booking Integration, including NightsBridge, Innkeeper, Tripadvisor, Flight Booking, Car Hire and Google Maps
– Payment Gateways
– Route Planning including features like travel time and route calculation
– Facebook Applications
– Newsletter sends, including content creation and database management

Get in touch with us today by emailing info@realmdigital.co.za, we’d love to chat about how we can help you stay on trend in this fast-paced, ever-growing industry.