Since its development, Internet has contributed
a lot to the tourism sector. In fact it has never been so easy to plan a trip,
get information about a destination or to share experiences. Many new
companies, such as Kayak have emerged in the tourism industry to help travelers
in their booking process.
Source:
Travopia.com
The impacts on the tourism industry
The above graph shows that Google is now present
at each stage of the travelling process, from dreaming, planning, booking and
experiencing to sharing.
With the development of those new and varied tools,
competition in the E-tourism industry is becoming stronger. Indeed, travel
websites such as Expedia are in direct competition with Google. Travel
comparators will most probably
face hard times in the coming years because it is less costly for suppliers
such as hotels to be on Google comparators than on online travel agencies.
However, Google
Flight Search for example, is not as powerful as its
competitors yet (Experian Hitwise study). Indeed, in September 2012, in the
United States, it managed only 1.4% of the visits on all travel comparators websites
whereas Kayak was managing 61%.
Moreover, search engines with a travel service
such as Yahoo Travel and Bing Travel would suffer a lot from the launch of
Google Travel. DMOs also would be impacted as they would have more difficulties
to stand up from the others and be visible. Brazil Ministry of Tourism has been
proactive and has created, in partnership with Google, the channel Visit Brazil
on Youtube. Users can watch hundreds of videos and
places of interest are automatically indicated on Google Maps .
Besides, Google Panda & Penguin modified its
algorithms which had terrible consequences for many travel websites. Finally, Douglas
Anmuth, analyst from Barclays Capital stated that Google will launch soon the
payment by click for airlines companies on Flight Search and for hotels on Hotel
Finder. If this does happen, it would revolutionize the industry.
The professionals of the sectors view the
evolution of Google in the tourism industry with suspicion and fear. Indeed it
develops a strategy that includes tools which allow to obtain all the
information needed to monitor, track, sell and predict the evolution of the
touristic activities.
Moreover Google strategy is not clearly displayed. We believe this is only the beginning.
They are going to go much deeper in travel industry and might pose serious
threat to existence of some travel companies. Even if the giant did not attack the online
booking sites yet it appears that the American has all the tools to build a
comprehensive travel site from the platform to booking. At the same time Google
provides different applications and working tools, which could help the sector
and enhance the visibility of some companies. Only time will tell but for now
Google offers as many opportunities as potential threats.
Coralie DEGUERVILLE, Alyssa KIEFFER, Lou MICHEL
- Pictures
from:
- - http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/googles-hotel-finder-brings-life-to/
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