Sourcing new routes to market, monetising social media and managing online reputation were topics tackled in a debate at Youhotels’ annual trip. Lee Hayhurst reports. What are the emerging routes to market? There is still not enough choice for firms when it comes to routes to market, the panel agreed. The group debated emerging means…

Sourcing new routes to market, monetising social media and managing online reputation were topics tackled in a debate at Youhotels’ annual trip. Lee Hayhurst reports.

What are the emerging routes to market?

There is still not enough choice for firms when it comes to routes to market, the panel agreed.

The group debated emerging means of distribution in a climate where some are being constrained, as with Teletext Holidays’ decision to work with only 15 advertisers, or are expensive, as with Google.

Tom O’Connor, head of sales at Travelzoo, which operates a media model and a daily deals site and is one of the new routes that has emerged over the past six years, said: “In the last year there has been an incredible amount of deals publishers and voucher businesses emerging.

“Next year, a lot of the wheat will be separated from the chaff. Competition is good in business because it creates innovation, but more companies will go bust.”

Fleetway e-commerce director James Clarke said although his firm worked with flash sale and deals sites he had concerns about them.

“The real problem is the flash sale sites are driving the consumer to believe they should only buy something if it’s heavily reduced – that’s not what the market needs.

“Now there are people who actively won’t buy something until they see it on Groupon.”

Steve Endacott, managing director of On Holiday Group, said what most flash sales sites don’t understand is that many travel firms are not asset holders and so do not have distressed stock.

“Groupon only works for an asset holder in distress. From an agent’s point of view you can’t go any higher than your commission.”

Rock Insurance managing director Antony Martin expects more discreet deals sites such as Voyage Privé to emerge. He said they suited travel because consumers sign up for added value rather than just the discount.

However, Cheevers said these sites always check the deal against the cheapest competitor in the market.

Another major issue was the risk they were accepting. Matthew Todd, sales director at Qwerty Travel, said: “You only get paid 14 days after the voucher is spent. It’s quite a big risk. Why should I trust Groupon with my money?”

Present clockwise from top left:

Steve Endacott, chief executive, On Holiday Group; Matt Cheevers, managing director, Youhotels; Tom O’Connor, head of sales, Travelzoo; Sarah Tunnah, supplier relations manager, On The Beach; Matthew Todd, sales director, Qwerty Travel; James Clarke, e-commerce director, Fleetway Travel; Antony Martin, managing director, Rock Insurance; Phil Norris, sales director, A2B Transfers

Managing your online reputation

Endacott said it was important for firms to manage their online reputation as Google set a high value on this sort of endorsement.

“If you rely on customers writing reviews you are more likely to get the bad ones. You have to ask to get positive reviews.”To encourage his customers to endorse his brand, Endacott launched Share and Earn, an incentive programme for people to distribute deals to friends via social networks.

When it comes to reviews of the product firms sell but don’t own, Endacott said it was better to aggregate what is already online.

However, Martin said there were concerns about review sites such as TripAdvisor. “People are starting to not believe it because there is so much on there and there has been so much bad press.”

O’Connor said: “We do at times rely on sites such as TripAdvisor. There are things going on with TripAdvisor that need to be addressed but the information is useful and people are making travel decisions based on it.”

The only way is Google

Google is an unavoidable giant, but firms should make sure they are not totally reliant on the search engine.Clarke said: “So many businesses think the only way is Google. Do not base your business on one channel. Fleetway would not suffer if Google closed tomorrow.”

But Endacott asked: “But how many of your suppliers are reliant on Google? You cannot do without it.” Martin said: “Some companies are really naive. They just put up an ad and get responses without really making sure it’s relevant.

“You can spend an absolute fortune and get nothing out of it.”

Panellists agreed SEO was the leading search strategy and there are a growing number of agencies earning a lot of money making it appear complicated.

“Some people spend £20,000 a month when a smaller [SEO] agency will get the same results, but from one you’d get a glossy presentation, from the other you’d get a few emails,” Martin said.

Travel innovation

There was also a lively debate about the level of innovation in travel.

Cheevers claimed there had been precious little since the advent of the low-cost carriers and dynamic packaging. Endacott disagreed, suggesting distribution and marketing innovation was constant.

Martin added: “It’s about evolution and revolution. Why keep reinventing the wheel if you do not have to?

“The sector does really well. Look at everything that’s going on in the world and it’s travel that always bounces back, and the reason is because it innovates.”