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TECHNOLOGY www.travelweeklyweb.com Riding the technology wave What's in store for travel businesses in 2014 By Rohizam Md Yusoff CEO & founder of SOTA Editorial Advisory Board Member, Technology It's an open secret that technology is transforming the travel industry landscape like never before. Take your pick from cloud computing, augmented reality, 3D interaction, mobile technology, social commerce, Big Data and what have you. The big boys with the necessary expertise and resources are able to keep their fingers on the pulse of this transformation and strategise accordingly. For most small and medium-sized travel industry players this mind-boggling mish-mash, more often than not, leads to technology overwhelm. The question uppermost in their minds is whether they need to embrace all these technological developments to remain competitive in the industry. A sensible approach would be to focus and study the ones that made an impact on the industry in 2013 and are expected to strengthen their foothold in 2014. Here then are the technology trends that small and medium industry players should pay heed to. Some travel organisations realising this, have jumped on the social media bandwagon and gone where the crowd is. A case in point is the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) which has come up with a Facebook game called Smile Land, to promote their Amazing Thailand brand and with the help of this social media strategy they have managed to create top-of-mind awareness among international visitors to Asia. TAT has also netted two spots for the Most Instagrammed Places of 2012. But then how can small industry players without the resources of a tourism body or travel supplier get their share of social engagement? Travel agents can start sharing concise and targeted information based on their niche experience and expertise via text messages, videos and images. With social engagement they should combine local expertise-offering localised services and share their travel expertise in the local language to engage segments of travellers who may not be on the radar of the big boys. Big data Mobile technology The modern day traveller's mantra is speed and convenience. Time was when websites equipped travellers with the necessary information to enhance their travel experience. These days savvy travellers think mobile apps when they want a solution to a particular travel problem. That explains the popularity of the mobile app like Yelp, which provides the traveller with user reviewsanything from hotels to airlines to restaurants and car rentals within a few taps of the finger to ease travel planning and make sensible travel decisions. The app has about 11 million devices accessing it monthly and 62% of the company's total traffic comes from mobile devices. While small and medium travel industry players may lack the resources to develop sophisticated mobile apps like the big boys, they could come up with simple apps that could solve simple but pressing travel problems in their niches. If mobile app isn't going to be part of their long-term investment plan, they should at least make their websites mobile-friendly, for a start, to cater to the continuous rise in mobile search activity among travellers. Romancing the social traveller Gone are the days when travellers update family and friends with travel postcards. These days travellers can give a play-by-play of their holiday and update friends and family by sharing photos on FB, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter which many in the industry call insta-travel. 10 | ■ TRAVELWEEKLY ASIA | DECEMBER 2013 Big travel industry players are beginning to look at accumulated online user behaviour data over the years to discover hidden consumer needs and wants and tailor their products and services accordingly. This demands extensive resources which may not be at the disposal of small and medium players. However, small players can tackle data on a smaller scale to help improve their marketing returns. They could study user clicktrends, bounce rates and even feedback from customers on social media platforms to create more targeted landing pages and improve conversion rates. Rather than being transaction-focused all the time, they should take data analysis seriously if they are going to connect effectively with the thousands of elusive customers in the virtual space. Action plan Big travel brands are going on overdrive when it comes to investing in technology to maximise marketing reach and profitability. As such the gap between these big players like online travel agents and the traditional brick-and-mortar business continues to widen. To avoid being left out in the digital race and ensure survival, small and medium travel businesses should change their mindsets and adopt technology without reservations. They should replace their existing business culture with the culture of innovation and continue to listen to the demands of the tech-savvy traveller. www.travelweeklyweb.com

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