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Dreamers May Still Win the Day in Online Travel as Brands go 'Upper Funnel'.
By Yeoh Siew Hoon
Monday, 6th June 2016
 

Ten years ago, we struggled to get the word 'inspiration' mentioned at online travel conferences, everyone was more interested in clicks, conversions and transactions.

I remember a debate we had at the WIT Conference over “Inspiration vs Transaction” and the dreamers among us voted with our hearts but those who voted with their heads won the day.

So it was interesting that at Phocuswright Dublin I started hearing threads of conversations on stage around inspiration except of course they don’t call it that, they call it “upper funnel”.

“Upper funnel” is the part of the value chain where online travel companies have failed to monetise " ie make money from. No one wants to pay for content that helps them dream (Freud would have something to say about that) " and countless startups have tried and failed to crack this piece of travel dreaming and planning. Most of them with “Trip” in their name …

Over the last 10 years, profits have been made at the transaction piece " when we click and book. And these are profits not to be scoffed at "Booking.com makes nearly 1m transactions a day, one third on mobile and 1 in 5 are corporate bookers.

Peter Verhoeven: Ramen recommendations now part of the Booking.com repertoire

But even Booking.com is getting into the “upper funnel”. At Phocuswright, Peter Verhoeven, managing director, Europe, Middle East & Africa, talked about how the company was using content to inspire travellers and give them recommendations through its Destination Finder. He showed a video " Booking loves Ramen " of two friends on a quest to search for the best ramen.

Read the full story here.

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