We have a plethora of options for search but in the English and other Latin languages, the term “Google it” has become as synonymous as “Kleenex”. Perhaps more so.
While the average American uses about 50 Lbs of tissue paper a year, we say the words of the leading search brand and enter a browser search an average of 75 times a day! As PhocusWire has just reported https://www.phocuswire.com/Google-and-metasearch-2017 Google is making huge inroads in travel.
As we enter the era of Siri, Cortana, Alexa as well as Google – we just make assumptions that this resource of search is – well – just always there.
Think too about our behaviour in travel search. We are so impatient that we can’t and don’t want to wait for the answers. We have come to value speed over quality of the search result. We have traded instant gratification for truth and trust.
There are numerous statistics that show how much shaving seconds off the time taken to accomplish search will result in better vendor benefits.
We treat search in travel the same way as we do other product categories. Should we?
If I search in Alibaba or Amazon and see something I like, there is a high probability that the result is correct and the price is accurate.
Not so in travel.
In travel, we get lots of misleading results. And when the offered results are not available, we’re led to believe we did something wrong or we weren’t fast enough in making the purchase decision.
As part of our monitoring search in airlines and hotels for the past 15 years, our studies show that travel results are inaccurate approximately 20% of the time. This is based on taking the result of the offer all the way through to the purchase.
Interestingly the results are more frequently accurate the lower the price.
So is there a better way? Yes there is.
I would like to propose a simple 3 point programme.
- All search and vendor offers should be clearly identified as such AND those which are not offers should be clearly identified as not being an offer but an indicative price.
- The construction of the offer and what is included should be clearly identified and the explanation should be in laymen’s terms.
- All travel vendor’s guarantees on price and availability should be honoured or a fine be paid to the consumer for the misleading statements.
It won’t be entirely easy – policies and processes will need to change. Contracts will need to be updated. Terms and Conditions of sale will need to be revised. There is an example that really works.
The monitoring of Resolution 261/2004 has created a cottage industry to ensure that airlines behave themselves, with regard to ontime performance. In our view, real teeth will end some of these behaviours. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_5.6.2.html .
So, it’s not impossible. All it would take is for the big four travel search vendors – Kayak, Trivago, Skyscanner and Google – to take the lead.
If they do, then I for one will provide verified results to the search function.
Here’s to Better Travel.
