Are we ready for Travel 2.0 ?
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Travel planning and booking on the web are among the most popular online activities and online travel sales are growing at an explosive rate in India.Online travel in India is expected to double by 2008, reaching a value of $2 billion. Some 65 per cent of the online travel market will then be controlled by websites that facilitate travel and accommodation bookings, such as MakeMyTrip.com, Yatra.com and Travelguru.com.
Travel 2.0 is not just a hip word, it is something that is actually happening and will bring changes to the online travel industry.I think travel 2.0 should lead towards making the Internet as the primary information source for booking a holiday for people. Furthermore, we should see that web 2.0 like functionalities will help influence the selection process of users.For example, reading online reviews by other users to narrow down their choices.Reviews can highly influence their choices and give the most objective view.
The shift to travel 2.0 will offer new means of planning and booking a dream holiday.
Travel 2.0 centralizes sharing digital content in numerous ways and gives a user more control.According to me, 3 major changes or improvements or i should say new things which we can see in coming days in terms of travel 2.0 are :
USER GENERATED CONTENT (UGC)
Sharing user generated content is not a new concept but combining user generated content to a conventional holiday booking website is.A user will experience more freedom of choice by receiving user-generated information and commercial information like reviews, photo’s and video’s on holiday locations made by other users. Now a user can read/watch how others experienced the accommodation and holiday which helps him/her in making a decision.
COMPARISON
Travel 2.0 tries to improve search ability by comparison services. Using mash up technology a holiday seeker is enabled to search multiple databases or websites instead of only one. They predict the best time to buy your airline ticket (not to confuse with the best flight). Airlines have dominated prices over the years; they in fact adjust prices regularly according to demand, time and season. With these new services we have some extra control on booking a cheaper flight.
But, the wait is for a website that
- compares holidays across all suppliers.
- compares air, bus, taxi and railway fares for a particular destination, I haven’t been able to find one yet.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Communities are the word on the web 2.0 buzz. While traveling we connect with fellow travelers, meeting people who like the same activities and we form groups. Travel is in fact an ideal industry for communities to be formed. Imagine connecting people with the same interests and hobbies. This would give user a great reference on where to go, what to see and maybe even find a travel companion.
Group Trips (making the pre-holiday experience more fun)- Through mash up technology the formed group can plan, discuss their trip, send invites and let the members communicate with each other. This would give a group trip an early start and hopes to make the pre-holiday experience more fun. I expect to see more of these small communities will form the bases on pre-holiday experience, the holiday it self and the after experiences.
Through mash up technologies the possibilities are endless. For instance one can think of many interesting future services, like proximity broadcasting, real time gps-tracking/recording and much more. A Holliday will become more digitalized than you think.
To summarize the user gets a more central position, has the ability to create a dream trip and uses information from others and also contributes to this information. Currently we see primarily changes in the booking and selection processes, but that is just the beginning of this voyage.
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It is good to see such a site that can compare fares,hotels. I m waiting for such a site.
I think the power of travel 2.0 lies in the fact that it enables users to communicate.Among the most popular,I believe, would definitely be User Generated Content,Contextual advertising and behavioural targeting.I think the focus outside India is definitely on these three areas.Imagine reading an online news article on Hawaii and having an ad on hawaii being featured..definitely improves chances of a conversion.Behavioural targeting …well the chances for that is even higher…However UGC is what travel’s all about and I foresee more review sites coming up in the future or sites like cleartrip and Makemytrip.com going the tripadvisor way
What are the chances that someone on this blog been on Caribbean vacations in the DR.
I am sooo tired of online ticketing agencies calling themselves Travel portals! Hopefully someone comes up with some really fresh ideas & innovative thinking.
Good article !
It’ll be interesting to see how the online travel space hots up and we get to see consolidation + m& a