Travel companies must engage women customers
December 29, 2005
For a while now I have been explaining to travel clients how social media, in particular blogs, can help to engage women customers and drive business.
We already know women spend more time and are more meticulous at researching travel destinations before they buy (women are also by far the main purchasers of travel).
Now, a new study by the Pew Internet project provides a snapshot of how men and women currently use the internet. Among the conclusions:
Women are more likely to see the vast array of online information as a
“glut” and to penetrate deeper into areas where they have
the greatest interest, including health and religion. Women tend to
treat information gathering online as a more textured and interactive
process – one that includes gathering and exchanging information
through support groups and personal email exchanges.
More than ever I am convinced that travel companies should a) offer a multitude of useful resources for clients to research their trips online and b) provide a social aspect where clients can exchange questions and information with each other and with travel staff.
The companies which will lose out are those still wedded to an old Web1.0-style brochure site.
via BBC and via Phillipe Borremans