News in the tourism sector: conference at SITC

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Yesterday I had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Josep Francesc Valls , at the conference Online Marketing: News in the tourism sector , on the first day of the opening of the 19th edition of the International Tourism Fair of Catalonia .

Josep Francesc Valls , professor at ESADE, opened his talk by commenting on the growth and importance of online marketing (or e-commerce ) in a sector other than tourism: baby clothes. In the United States, online marketing of this type of items represented 25% of total sales in the United States, while the percentage was between 8-9% and in Spain it did not reach 2%. Valls said that these data are sufficient to demonstrate the obvious tendency towards growth in this type of channel and therefore the need to incorporate it into tourist sites.

The tourism marketing model in Spain, from 1960 to chinese overseas asia number data 2000, was led by Tour Operators (TTOO) , who acted as intermediaries between end consumers (national and foreign tourists) and service providers (hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, etc.). From 2000 onwards, and with the progressive increase in the use of the Internet as a channel for promotion, communication and, ultimately, distribution, reservations and sales, the initial model lost effectiveness and a new one began to be built.

Currently, this model is not static and global, since the change in conditions has been taking place with greater intensity since 2007 and the present is a period of transition. But why is the previous model no longer valid and is a change necessary? For several factors, including:

– Greater availability of information

– More informed and demanding consumers

– Greater supply

– Further development of each hotel’s own websites

Along with these model changes, it is necessary to incorporate changes in the marketing strategy :

– Modification and adaptation of the business model to new technologies

– Integration of all or most marketing channels into a single platform

– Reconquest of price, today displaced by low-cost services, price dispersion, revenue management and the global crisis

The change of model, which in turn requires a prior adaptation of the hotel strategy, is in response to the objective of achieving commercial independence to implement the appropriate pricing policies for each establishment and thus have greater power and control over them .

Valls concluded his talk by stating that although these changes are not short-term, it is necessary to begin adopting new technologies as soon as possible; a clear path to recovery for the hotel sector .