Search engine giants Yahoo! and Google have made an impassioned plea to travel companies to embrace so-called ‘social media’ with their websites. Using tools such as photo-sharing service Flickr and blogs can help travel agents and tour operators connect to a consumer base increasingly wanting to share travel experiences, said Yahoo! Search Marketing category development…
Travel sites urged to push social media tools
Search engine giants Yahoo! and Google have made an impassioned plea to travel companies to embrace so-called ‘social media’ with their websites.
Using tools such as photo-sharing service Flickr and blogs can help travel agents and tour operators connect to a consumer base increasingly wanting to share travel experiences, said Yahoo! Search Marketing category development manager, Nick Jones.
There is a great opportunity at the moment for travel companies to start using some form of social connection with customers, Jones said.
“Allow user reviews onto your sites is a good way to keep going forward as people like to read other people’s opinions.”
Jones said travel companies should not be suspicious about opening up their products to criticism in the form of reviews.
“This is not something to be scared of but something to be embraced,” he added.
Meanwhile Esteban Walther, head of travel for Google Europe, said products such its hugely popular Google Earth and Google Maps, also seen as social media tools, could benefit to travel companies operating city break products or packages to beachfront destinations.
Tour operators such as TUI have recently used Google Earth to show consumers where products such as hotels are located in a highly interactive and visually rich way, Walther added.
