E-commerce — the future of the tourism industry
The concept of e-commerce is not alien to anyone. The sale of goods via the Internet has been an integral part of our common everyday life for the last two years. Many people first made a purchase in this form during the pandemic. Now that the restrictions have been lifted and we are in the process of creating a new normal, we are confident that e-commerce will be an important element in many aspects of it. It is no longer a concept that is associated only with the product, as well as with services and experiences — we are talking about tourism. Let's talk about this in more detail...
Trends and statistics
According to Google, the number of searches for travel keywords that include the words “today” and “today” has more than fivefold in the last five years, to 519%. This shockingly large number represents a visible trend of impulsive spending decisions in terms of leisure time.
What does this have to do with selling online? The relationship between them is direct. If the customer is not provided with a tool with which he can quickly and conveniently make a purchase regardless of the time or day of the week, he will give up on your side and look for a competitive solution. Such a customer will remember this situation and will most likely not return to your offer in the future.
Moreover, having online sales is also an opportunity for customers to check the availability of seats for a selected time or day.
It is also wrong to think that online sales or asynchronous service (e.g. chat) interfere with building relationships with customers, especially those who are potentially permanent. An online sales channel is a way to take the strain off attraction staff and focus on the customers who need the most attention and support.
A broader view of the needs of modern consumers from different age groups
For the past 10 years, the term “Millennials” has entered our everyday vocabulary, i.e. the generation of young people born at the turn of the millennium. Many jokes are associated with them about their behavior, way of thinking, perceiving the world and making decisions. Not so long ago, they were joined by a new generation, that is, “Generation Z” (Gen Z), which consists of even younger people, teenagers. A common element of these generations is the fact that they are people whose adolescence (in whole or in part) was associated with technological development: computers and telephones for many of them were not strange in their school and student years. They prefer other methods of communication than traditional phone calls, which are often the only possible way to make a reservation or purchase tickets in advance. People in these age groups prefer asynchronous forms of contact and online shopping, due to the anxiety caused by a direct telephone conversation.
Why take into account the specifics of these generations when building a brand strategy? It's worth thinking a little longer — both Millennials and a large part of Gen Z no longer belong to the category to which we assign them by default. Millennials, or people born in 1980-1994, are now 28-42 years old and are the main consumer group in most industries, and a large part of the representatives of Generation Z (1995-2010) are already studying and even working.
At the same time, we can also notice significant changes in the behavior of the so-called Silver Generation, that is, older generations, who are increasingly willing to use technology in everyday life.
Impact of the pandemic on trends and customer behavior of the tourism industry
Speaking of the economy, including the online sales segment, one of the biggest drivers of its development cannot be overlooked — of course, it is the Covid-19 pandemic. With a very long distance, this phenomenon can be described as happiness in a colossal misfortune. Without going into details of the tragedy that Covid turned out to be for the world — during this period, many people made a purchase online for the first time. In the first, critical months, we had the opportunity to observe how important the Internet is as a communication and sales channel, as it provides the possibility of placing orders remotely, as well as offering contactless delivery.
Long months of sitting at home forced us to change our approach to the organization of leisure time and to the consumer process. It was a time that showed how important new experiences and actively spent leisure time are. For this reason, we are currently following the change in budget management among Poles, who are spending more and more on attractions and entertainment.
Online sales in the tourism industry
As we have already presented above, technology enters our lives more and more with the availability of the traditional solution and technological alternative, consumers are increasingly choosing the latter.
Sales, experiences, education and even culture — digitization is already an integral part of them. Is it worth selling tickets for my attraction online? The answer is simple — YES.
Don't keep up with the competition — get ahead of them!
At Droplabs we have created a comprehensive online booking and sales tool for tourist attractions and we have been trusted by several hundred Polish facilities, including the Water Park in Krakow, the Tatra National Park, the Bochnia Salt Mine and the Chochołowskie Thermal Baths.