Two Years Later, Are Web Booking Engines Delivering ROI
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Loading ...The online travel space in Canada is very different then the U.S. In Canada, for example, vacation packages are readily available for distribution through travel agencies thanks to companies like Softvoyage and Accovia. These packages are supplied by large tour operators like Sunquest, Air Canada Vacations, Contiki, and others who use the Softvoyage or Accovia back office systems to manage their inventory. In the U.S. packages are generally dynamically created during the online booking process by combining scheduled fares and hotels using engines like Expedia’s or Travelocity’s dynamic packaging tools.
Many Canadian travel agencies eager to sell high margin packages embraced the Softvoyage B2C product and it’s $60K+ price tag as a way to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Some even shelled out $120K+ to include GDS flights, hotels, and car on top of the package engine in the hopes of becoming a one stop shop for travelers. But has the investment delivered the ROI expected by many of these agencies? For some, the investment has pushed the agency into new national markets. Escapes.ca for example now sells more travel to markets in Eastern Canada then anywhere else. Three years ago, the likelihood of a Western Canadian agency having success in an Eastern market was low. Another example is FlightCentre.ca which, four years ago, didn’t even have a web presence, but in a few short years has turned its e-commerce site into one of the most popular online travel sites in Canada with an Alexa ranking in Canada of 1,405. For many, the investment has not been as profitable. Why is this the case? Because for the ones who were not as successful, a focus on online marketing and a commitment to using online search and sales strategies were not part of the overall plan.
The success of sites like Escapes.ca and FlightCentre.ca underscore the importance of using both online and traditional advertising methods to increase brand awareness. Two years later, the results are in and for those companies who focused on a long term combination of technology and marketing the future looks good.
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