An explosion in the amount of data available about internet users online has led to big data being high on the agenda at ITB Berlin 2014 with a number of sessions dedicated to the topic and how it can be used by businesses.
"The way we're using data today is much more intelligent,"
Tony D'Astolfo, managing director of travel research firm PhoCusWright, told 4Hoteliers.com. "If you think about it as a supplier, you can get a lot more information about someone. You can start looking at where they're going, what they're searching for and what they're looking for and you can start to determine certain patterns about them and market to them differently."
All through the conference, delegates heard that big data has huge potential and properly analysed can be used in targeted marketing to reach out to the right customer at the right time through the monitoring of booking windows, influencing pricing management systems and forecast demand.
User-generated data through reviews and social media are also changing the way hotels and travel destinations are operating paving the way toward review-based pricing and peer-to-peer advertising.
"Big data is playing a huge role as we continue to refine it and leverage it to create business intelligence that will allow people in the tourism ecosystem to get smarter about who they market to," said D'Astolfo.
"We are also starting to see who the influencers are, so within a Twitter community there are people who are more influential than others. All of a sudden companies are beginning to realize that not everybody's voice is the same and so we're starting to analyse and react to that," he added.
Still, as more and more information becomes available and more opportunities open up, there are also challenges that come along with that in terms of how to analyse such a plethora of data, and how such monitoring can be used.
"The data is a big issue for hotels and not just hotels, but for a lot of different areas where you get confronted with the internet and social media data and then making intelligent decisions out of that,"
Fabian Specht, managing director Europe Middle East Africa at revenue management firm IDeaS, told 4Hoteliers.com.
"In general it's the uncertainty on a global scale, with the markets and how they develop. If someone sneezes in Japan today it has an effect on somebody in Finland."
However, there are also possible governmental regulatory issues that could come with big data and its use for marketing.
"Where does the line stop and how do you prevent [marketing] from becoming intrusive and going over the line in terms of government mandate and/or just a personal preference of, 'I just don't want to be marketed to in this way'," said D'Astolfo.
"Companies have to be smart. Obviously there's the opt-in method and some other ways, but I think we are starting to see that this will be a challenge and so suppliers have to be willing to draw the line," he added.
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Louise Osborne is a correspondent and editor based in Berlin, Germany. She began her career working at regional newspapers in the UK and now works with journalists across the globe as part of international journalism organization, Associated Reporters Abroad (ARA). Living abroad for the second time, she continues to be fascinated by places both near and far, and boards a plane eagerly, as often as she can.
Besides the ITB Berlin 2014 live coverage, Louise also writes a weekly exclusive column for 4Hoteliers.com
