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A new survey from Travel Technology Europe reveals that many hotel and travel companies want to embrace greater personalisation in their marketing but are being held back by data accuracy issues. Over half (51%) of respondents reported getting accurate customer data to be a challenge.
What challenges do you face in personalisation? 51%
- Having accurate customer data 44%
- Getting the right mix of marketing and IT 44%
- Identifying customers at the right times 35%
- Building links between products 32%
- Privacy and compliance challenges 15%
- Overcoming company silos 5%
Don’t face any challenges
The rapid growth in marketing technology solutions and the merging of marketing and IT skills appears to be a further challenge for four in ten (44%) hotel and travel companies as they struggle to get the right mix of marketing and IT. Four in ten (44%) hotel and travel companies are also struggling to identify customers at the right times.
Richard Baker, head of sales and marketing, Inspiretec and speaker at Travel Technology Europe commented: “At its best personalisation drives loyalty and keeps customers coming back for more, at its worst personalisation is intrusive and damaging to the bottom line. To get it right personalisation requires a careful blend of IT and marketing skills to make sure that the data is accurate but that the human touch is still there. At Travel Technology Europe I’ll be revealing the findings of an Inspiretec study that highlights best practices to help companies reach their goal of delivering personalised customer experiences.”
GDPR and personalisation concerns
With the GDPR deadline fast approaching a third (31%) of hotel and travel companies are also struggling with privacy and compliance challenges around personalisation.
Paul Stephen, CEO Sagittarius and speaker at Travel Technology Europe commented: “There is a nervousness amongst many travel and hotel companies when it comes to GDPR and personalisation. But the two are not mutually exclusive. If companies can successfully implement GDPR then naturally this will lead to more accurate data, which in turn will help companies personalise and target their marketing more effectively.”
Measuring social media impact a challenge
Another marketing challenge that hotel and travel companies face appears to be measuring the impact of content marketing. With more and more travel companies investing in content marketing, many are dissatisfied with how they track the impact of their content marketing, including social media. Over a quarter (27%) of respondents said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with how they track the impact of their content marketing with a further 34% saying they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
David Chapple, event director, Travel Technology Europe, commented: “A lot of time and energy goes into creating great content for digital marketing but many travel companies are unsure of how best to measure the value they are getting from it. Content marketing doesn’t always lead to direct sales so it requires its own tracking techniques and tools. We will be hearing from the experts at Travel Technology about how you move from a “spray and pray” approach to having discernible metrics that demonstrate that your content strategy is working.”
Over 27 marketing exhibitors will be at Travel Technology Europe with more than 15 speaking sessions dedicated to hotel and travel marketing. Speaking sessions and huddles on marketing technology at Travel Technology Europe will include:
- No leisurely feat: how to design and deliver effective content, 21 February at 14:40 – 15:20
- Keynote: The personal touch: what personalisation really means in travel, 21 February at 11:15 – 12:15
- Personalise This: How Europe’s hotels can regain ownership of their guests, 21 February at 11:15 – 11:45
- Tech Huddle: Why GDPR is good for personalisation in the travel industry and how you can get prepared, 21 February at 15:30 – 16:15
- Redesigning your mobile strategy – preparing for the next iteration of mobile 22 February at 14:40 – 15:20
135 travel buyers took part in the Travel Technology Europe annual survey in December 2017. 66% of respondents worked in the UK, 20% in continental Europe and the 14% were from outside Europe.
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