Sales and Marketing in Travel Asia Pacific SpecialOnline travel portals in Australia have been in news for their strong financial performances and even profit upgrades from time to time. Such intermediaries even say the uncertainties of soaring fuel prices, rising food costs and higher interest rates haven't affected them.

Published: 15 Jul 2008

Sales and Marketing in Travel Asia Pacific Special

Online travel portals in Australia have been in news for their strong financial performances and even profit upgrades from time to time. Such intermediaries even say the uncertainties of soaring fuel prices, rising food costs and higher interest rates haven't affected them.

In such competitive environment, which features quite a few established OTAs, Expedia believes it has successfully built its brand since its launch 30 months ago.

"Expedia has operated in Australia via the website, Expedia.com.au, since January 2006. From January through August 2006, Expedia.com.au was a "lite site" and offered only hotel product. In August 2006, Expedia.com.au became a full service site and began selling air, package, car and attraction product," says Russell Isaacson, Online Marketing Manager, Expedia Australia & New Zealand.

"Since its inception, Expedia.com.au has experienced tremendous growth in a notoriously competitive market. According to Hitwise, last month Expedia.com.au was ranked third by visits among Australian usage in the Travel - Agencies category of websites. In addition to experiencing continued growth in traffic, Expedia.com.au has also seen proportional growth in related metrics, such as transactions and gross bookings," added Isaacson, who is scheduled to speak during EyeforTravel's Sales and Marketing in Travel Asia Pacific 2008 conference, scheduled to take place in Sydney on 29-30 July.

On progress made by Expedia as a brand in markets like Australia and NZ, Isaacson told EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta, "I believe consumers in the region perceive Expedia as a fresh brand, straightforward, efficient and knowing. We pride ourselves on simplifying the travel marketplace for consumers, and we believe that value proposition resonates deeply with them."

"We've been fortunate to have considerable success in building our brand thus far in markets like Australia and New Zealand. For both countries we invested significantly in SEM, which is instrumental in building brand awareness."

"But we've also built the brand through less traditional methods. In Australia, for example, we embarked on Expedia's first sports sponsorship by becoming the ball sponsor and official travel agent of the Sydney Swans, the Australia Football League's Sydney team. This association has benefited our brand by providing valuable media exposure in relation to the Swans' iconic image. By linking to a household name like the Swans, we not only disseminate our brand to a highly desirable audience, but we also legitimise our brand to people who might not be familiar with us," he said.

Isaacson also spoke about some other initiatives related to brand building and product development. Here is what he had to say:

Communicating with consumer on many different relevant levels:

Russell Isaacson: Clearly you have to target the message in light of the audience and context. Context dictates relevance, so it's critical to identify the context correctly. In the case of email marketing, for example, the context is relatively intimate, so personalisation is important.

But intimacy of interaction is just one dimension that can define a context. Some other dimensions include purchase history (if any) and the activity surrounding the communication (e.g., searching via a search engine vs. listening to a radio spot).

On increasing awareness of product proposition across multiple channels:

Russell Isaacson: I think the key in increasing awareness across multiple channels in a new market is consistency of message. Because there are so many channels through which consumers can engage with our brand, all touch points must articulate our consistent value proposition in a consistent manner.

On priortising marketing mix:

Russell Isaacson: Prioritisation should flow from strategy. Without a sound strategy, one can't reasonably prioritise the distribution of scarce resources. Therefore we spend a lot of time honing our strategy and ensuring the marketing mix reflects that strategy in execution and results.

That said we also remain flexible and open to opportunities. The marketplace is dynamic, and sometimes we unexpectedly receive great promotional opportunities, which are perfect for our overall strategy.

On experimenting with new technology:

Russell Isaacson: I think it's important to engage consumers in the research and development process because ultimately consumers should benefit from innovations.

We actively involve consumers in our product development. For example, last year we ran a project to improve our hotel search page, and we initiated the project by commissioning a survey soliciting feedback from our consumers. We redesigned the page based on that feedback, and then ran an A-B test with the old and new design. The test revealed that consumers actually preferred the original design, so we kept the original design in place. In sum, we listen to our consumers and innovate accordingly.

Isaacson is scheduled to present during the EyeforTravel's Sales and Marketing in Travel Asia Pacific 2008 conference, scheduled to take place in Sydney on 29-30 July.

For more click here: http://events.eyefortravel.com/smapac/agenda.asp
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Contact Tom Ellum (+44 (0)207 375 7236/ tom@eyefortravel.com)