“As for the next stage in meta-search, companies in Europe are also struggling for an answer. Kayak has moved to a transaction model with its announcement that it will take bookings on mobile this year but Seaney as well as Gareth Williams, CEO of SkyScanner, are not convinced that's the answer for them.”
Yeoh Siew Hoon
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Be there to catch the first waveBy Yeoh Siew Hoon So I popped into Eye for Travel in Singapore, bumped into some friendly faces and caught up on all the news. Seems there is some optimism out there despite the gloom and doom in the financial markets. A few told me they were beginning to see some ripples of activity. A major airline is thinking of building a new website. A recruitment firm says it is beginning to get requests for job placements. I don’t know if that’s more wishful thinking than reality but since I tend to veer towards optimism, I will agree with them. Personally, I am seeing ripples of activity out there and I think it is important to make sure you are at the edge closest to the ripple so that you catch the first wave, when it comes. I am encountering two types of people in this current climate. One camp is out there doing things and the other still seems to be frozen in the headlights. The thing about being frozen in the headlights though is if you don’t move, you end up as roadkill. Robbie Cooke, CEO of Wotif Group, is one of those out there. On a quick trip through a few South-east Asian countries, he and his team are meeting suppliers and solidifying relationships and he and I caught up over coffee, where I was updated on all his plans to grow his business. (See related article) Fritz Demopoulos, CEO of Qunar, was also very upbeat about the search business in China. Much as he hates the word “tipping point”, he says the current times may have pushed China’s online market towards it with more Chinese consumers migrating online to search for the best deals. I also met a couple of friends who have been made redundant. One got a fair payout and fortunately landed another job almost immediately. The other is still looking. The good news is, there are companies out there looking for talent and so far, most of the requests that have come my way are for sales, branding and marketing roles. Which I think is a positive sign that the industry sees this as the time to put the right branding, sales and marketing bricks in place. Patrick Andres, managing director of SynXis Asia Pacific, who conducted a workshop on “Strategies for growing your business through more effective electronic distribution” had some sound advice. He said this was the time to re-evaluate everything you are doing – what are your goals? what is your budget? – and that it was not about finding new money but redirecting funds and minimising costs. “These are excellent times to make the investment in an integrated solution. You now have the time to sit and stare at your CRM strategy, for example. Before you know it, you will be too busy to look at it,” he said. Three phrases stuck in my mind from his presentation – these times called for “disciplined thinking”, there was “no room or tolerance for careless efforts” and “money is too precious”. Way to go, Patrick. 
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Tough Love. What an awesome, compelling and brave theme for a conference. WIT 2009 is going to be great. In reading Siew Hoon's latest blog post - I agree, there are ripples of activity.
In times like these our industry has unique opportunities through solidarity, advocacy, thought leadership and common purpose to tackle issues that we might not otherwise focus on...when filling seats, beds, cars, trains, etc. is easy.
When you couple the power that could come from the instinct we all have to survive during tough times, and the tactically brilliant ways we do that around the globe - it gives way to a chance to be truly strategic -together.
Thus, we have a forum like WIT to do that. Issues such as making travel actually smarter, easier, more comfortable and rewarding call for better enterprise thinking and solution plays that work across travel services/product suppliers - upstream/downstream for the customer.
Our desire to stimulate demand versus compete for a shrinking base of available business could be a call to unite versus retreat. Innovating together is possible without losing differentiation. Insight is valuable, without feeling as if we are sharing secrets. Technology standards can be achieved without creating a political mess. We can listen to each others customers, without saying "they are mine". This might all sound easy from my "soap box stand".
But, as Siew Hoon says - you can see the ripples of activity, and much of it is around these things. That is psomising. The added challenge will be, that as soon as we see indicators that the flood of travelers are returning, everyone doesn't abandon the common opportunities that ultimately will prepare us for the next down cycle (which will happen).
There aren't many industry forums where we can gather and challenge each other, think through the hard stuff and hear the call to action for TOUGH LOVE. So, bravo to WIT and partners ITB Asia and PhoCusWright.
Let's hold each other accountable to arrive this year and dig deep and hard for the things that make all of our businesses stronger and smarter - my guess is that it could make a big difference in the age-old debate of: "can we really stimulate demand together", or is it just up to the tactically brilliant to weather the storm alone and come out of it without progress in our industry?