A bit of sound advice for ambitious travel companies: consider podcasting.
According to a recent Nielson/Netratings survey quoted in Netimperative last month, more than four in five of all British internet users aged over 50 have visited a travel site in the last year, with 1.5 million of them booking online during September.
Alex Burmaster, European Internet analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings said: “The figures for the online travel sector continue to impress but what screams out is the staggering percentage of over 50’s who go online for travel. This not only has far-reaching implications for the Internet as a whole but confirms beyond doubt that the web is not just a young person’s tool.”
And that has what to do with podcasting?
Well, at least one survey this year suggested podcasts are being embraced more enthusiastically by the over 45’s than by any other age group. It didn’t say what they were listening to, but the chances are it wasn’t Lil Kim (well at least, not all of them).
Virgin Atlantic led the way with its podcast tours of New York (and have since added six other cities) but with a little imagination, travel companies can come up with any number of ways to deliver value to their clients wrapped up in an MP3 file.
How about atmospheric restaurant recommendations describing the best places to eat at your destination or a brief introduction to local music? or night sounds from a jungle safari (a lot of white noise from crickets probably)? Or how about the jolly captain of your cruise ship describing his ports of call?
They all could work but I really like the idea of a series of short podcasts featuring travel recommendations from your most enthusiastic and loyal customers.
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