There was an interesting article in last week’s LA Times discussing various tactics to evaluate the quality of an online travel agent. The suggestions ranged from the obvious (Google the name of the company and the word fraud) to the inconvenient (find a phone number for the website owner using www.whois.net and call them).
Are these really our best options? Actually, yes. I just spent some time on TripAdvisor, and there aren’t many reviews of travel agents or tour providers and the TripAdvisor interface doesn’t really lend itself to finding reviews of providers. I certainly can’t think of any foolproof tactics to understand the quality of an operation.
I see this as a big problem (i.e. opportunity) for the adventure travel industry. Customers are going to be hesitant to book a trip online because they don’t have any reassurance they are going to get what is promised. Companies like AdventureCentral, TourCMS, AdventureLink etc. are well positioned to provide valuable customer feedback on the various tour operators, but I think a startup could also be profitable as a “TripAdvisor of tour operators and travel agencies”.
A 2008 comscore study indicates that a a majority of travelers search for trips using generic terms rather than company/brand specific terms. This means that most travelers aren’t looking for a specific tour operator – they’re looking for a specific trip. Their search would be a lot more fruitful if they could easily check the references of the various operators they are considering.
Even with the advent of the internet and the open flow on information. Travelers must still exert the same effort in researching about their vacation plans. Unless, they have a trusted travel agent already.
Russell
http://www.e-philippines.com.ph
By: Russell Ri on October 21, 2008
at 2:51 am
Hey Tyson,
Thanks for the mention.
This indeed is a big question. Should we police our customers (the tour operators) or should we supply them software and let them do what they like.
Do microsoft care what documents you write with MS-Word? No. If you write a Holywood blockbuster – do Microsoft get a % – No.
However, areas where we police our customers include:
* Not sending email spam
* PCI compliance
Mainly however this is because we have a centralised system – so both would use our own “kit” not that of the adventure tour operators – hence it is in our interest to police our customers in these areas.
Areas where we don’t police our customers include
* Compliance with various trading standards
* Compliance with legal / financial obligations
With TourCMS (that you kindly mentioned) we don’t take a % or “per booking” fee either – again because this would tie us in with our customers’ businesses. Much better to work on a “software sales” basis (when working with smaller companies)
Happy for you to ask me further questions on this
Cheers. Alex
ps – I like your blog Tyson. Can you think of how I could promote your blog on my own blog?
By: Alex Bainbridge on October 24, 2008
at 7:32 pm