Tips To Perfect Digital Strategy For Travel And Tourism Brands In India

The travel industry is changing fast as more and more consumers in India turn to digital to plan and book their travel. Think about a group of friends planning an adventure trip, a father trying to figure out a perfect family outing and a couple dreaming of their romantic weekend getaway – they all would approach travel differently. While some of them will book their travel through apps others might prefer mobile web. Considering Online Travel Agent (OTA) through Google search for bookings is also another option. 

According to Mary Meeker’s 2019 Internet Trends Report, India has an internet user base of 12 per cent of the world’s 3.8 billion internet users only second to China. So, what is the best way for travel and hospitality brands to target consumer in today’s fragmented digital landscape? What is the right platform to reach potential customers? And what is the right time to launch the digital campaign to tap significant market share? 

Let’s pull together the latest trends and look at how India’s travel and tourism industry can benefit from the evolving digital marketing landscape. 

Harness technology to select the right channel 
Travel brands must be present across the right channels at different stages of consumer purchase journey including dreaming, awareness, planning, and consideration. For instance, a large chunk of travellers in India prefers reading reviews and checking the travel destination videos via Google search and YouTube respectively during the decision stage. Therefore, implementing technology tools to identify the right channels at different customer journey is crucial for travel brands.

Use data-driven insights to identify consumer journey 
On average it takes around three weeks for Indians to plan a holiday. This means there is a brief window when consumers make purchase decisions and during this time brands can reach out to prospective travellers by using remarketing and increasing ad frequency.

Target mobile user base 
2018 saw 150 million smartphone shipments to India, and that number is expected to climb to at least 160 million this year. Low-cost mobiles and easy internet accessibility surely are the key factors that are making this change happen. Since people in India make use of mobile web and apps at a certain stage during planning their travel, it makes a lot of sense for brands to focus on creative app campaigns to encourage app downloads.

Prioritize personalization
All leading companies have personalization at the heart of their strategy. To make an offer more appealing to the target audience brands can strategize tailored campaigns according to the unique interest and requirement of the consumer. Basis user’s past search history, travel brands can nudge the consumer by sending notifications, offers, and upgrades.

Drawing experience from my past 13 years of the entrepreneurial journey, I can certainly say that the way people travel is constantly changing and for travel brands to tap a significant market share they need to deliver most relevant experiences to the travellers.