A few years ago my husband and I pulled off the road just outside of Pittsburgh, PA to ask directions from a gas
station attendant. After we told him
where we wanted to go, he pressed his lips and rubbed his chin and then
pronounced: “Youens can’t get there from
here.”
More often than not I've found that searching and shopping for leisure travel experiences on the Internet feels like a "you can't get there from here" experience.
To the casual observer, the “on-line” travel business is booming. Since 2006 more than half of all travel sales
transactions take place on-line.
But within the revenue growth statistics are a few trends
worth noting: In the past year according
to both Forrester Research and PhoCusWright, the percentage of internet users
booking travel on-line has dropped between 6-9%. This is during the same period when other
e-commerce markets were growing customers. Another study shows potential travelers returning to travel agents to
help them with travel plans.
The good news and the bad news: The Internet has put too
much of the world at our fingertips. For
both consumers and sellers of travel there is a void that new technology has
yet to fill. Advertisers can’t find
their ideal customer and consumers can’t find the match that fits their
preferences.
There is no easy way to filter and personalize search and information. An Internet travel shopping experience has
become a virtual “paper chase” through a maze of websites. The result for the
traveler looking for personalized travel solutions is frustration and more
often than not compromise and disappointment. The result for sellers large and small is that they can’t reach their
ideal customer or fully grab the long-tail.
Now add the promise of mobile technology into the tour and
travel experience.
Mobile technology would seem to be a natural fit for tour
and travel. After all, the very act of
traveling away from home implies “mobility”. What better way to connect to the world around you than through your
personal mobile device?
We believe that the convergence of internet and mobile
technologies with new media holds the key to opening up new worlds of discovery
and adventure for travelers. With the
growing use of G3 mobile devices, the technology exists to be able to transform
the travel experience. But the mobile
ecosystem as it exists today creates sizeable barriers.
Now all we need to do is figure out a way to get there from
here.
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