Frank Belzer is a board member of the Grand Canyon Resort Corp., as well as the chief sales and marketing officer at Icon Park. He speaks at travel trade conferences.
Inflation, the Russian attack on Ukraine, and soaring fuel costs are some of the unexpected challenges our industry has encountered as it tries to recover from the losses it has suffered.
Uncertainty is unavoidable, but we want to know how consumer behavior has changed so that we can adjust our businesses accordingly.
As my peers in the travel and tourism space increasingly rely on websites to set their marketing plans and strategies, I am dismayed. I believe they're looking at a source that only reveals a small part of the story.
There is something missing. According to research provided to me by clients, destinations and attractions can get up to 80% of their business through third-party providers. This is a business that isn't visible to the average person.
Word of mouth is one of the most powerful influences on travel decisions and can drive business up or down dramatically.
The experience of one of my clients is an example of how reliance on digital data can lead to astray.
Customers were disproportionately within a certain age range and resided in certain geographic regions when using data from the client's website. They preferred certain features of their destination over others. It appeared to be the type of data that could be used to develop a successful marketing plan. The data did not reflect all of their bookings. We found a different and often conflicting set of data points when we factored in data from their call center and third party booking sources.
It would be great if we could combine and analyze multiple data fragments with the help of analytic tools. Even with reliable data from multiple channels, one still needs to get out from behind a computer screen and speak to employees, listen to consumers and widen the net for insight.
Experience and reason must be taken into account. The best decisions will be made by those who combine, according to Randy Styles, an associate vice president for analytic and institutional research at Grinnell College in Colorado.
To understand and navigate our way forward, we need to go much deeper into our customers' preferences. Tempting as it may be, we cannot outsourcing this to a third party without having humans interpret the final meaning of the pattern.
There is an important piece of the puzzle that is web analytic. Learning how to factor the intelligence they give into our larger analyses is an important part of making better decisions. A hybrid approach to problem-solving is important. Our only path to smooth our recovery is through this path.
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