Online Travel & Tourism companies are expected to spend large sums of money on advertising.
Expedia.com that made an entry in India with its ‘Big Daddy of Online travel’ campaign had spent 25 Corers on ad-budget last year. This year it has set aside Rs. 60 Crores. Expedia has just commenced a new campaign that focuses on its comprehensive service offerings – ‘One word for travel’ While cash-rich Yatra.com has earmarked Rs. 30 Crores for its advertising, it has gone ahead & hired ZenithOptimedia as a media planning and buying agency. The agency will handle the ad-slot buying & placing mechanisms.
These high budget ad campaigns work ever? Yes, according to Expedia India Marketing Head Manmeet Ahluwalia, “After we announced the official launch of Expedia in India last year backed by the campaign, the total revenue has increased by around 200 per cent in 2011 compared to 2010”. However, the figures for both the years were not confirmed by the firm.
Expedia has tie-ups with over 145,000 hotels & 480 airlines. It also has over 5000 holiday packages for Indians alone!. We guess, Expedia who bought TravelGuru, wants to repeat its last year’s performance of enhancing sales. Meanwhile, Yatra’s primary purpose seems to be increasing its brand image, “Yatra.com is looking at an approximate marketing budget of Rs 30 Crores for the year to bring forth a strong and pervasive brand communication plan” revealed the statement.
The online travel & tourism is already cluttered as many companies are switching operations online owing to the ease & reach. Hence, it is vital to be recognized as a brand. Yatra’s game-plan seems headed in a slow & steady path towards communicating the brand image & then enhancing the sales through exceptional customer experience. Meanwhile, despite the competition, service providers do have hoards of customers to satisfy.
Do you plan your travel using such sites? What’s your experience?
