All eyes were locked on Eric Zimmerman, director of Google Travel, when he commanded the stage at the WIT Conference 2016 in Singapore last week. But this wasn’t the same sort of attention usually paid to other speakers. An air of intrigue, anger and even a touch of intimidation floated in the room as he got up to reveal what Google has been working on in the travel space.
Google’s full entry into travel is undoubtedly a controversial one. Their power over search puts them in a pretty wonderful spot – casting their eyes on the inner wonderings of each internet user’s mind when they start planning a trip. I can see why it offers them almost supreme competitive advantage.
I can also see where the worry lies as travel companies glance at their own consumer data and wonder how they can maintain some level of advantage. However, fear and anger will almost certainly do very little to address the fact that companies may need to start rethinking their online strategy.
Google is powerful yes, but it is not Hobbes’ Leviathan and we are not all subject to a kind of oppressive, iron-fisted online rule because they are everyone’s first online resource. It is not an infallible company and its strategies are likely just as reliant on a test-fail-learn approach, like all others.
Where it excels, however, is in its consistent attempts to acknowledge and attempt to find solutions for any user’s daily needs, except now, this happens to encroach into the travel space.
But perhaps Eric Zimmerman said it best. Instead of focusing on the threat Google Travel might pose, the industry should be geared towards simply building great products for customers to use; products that act as solutions to the frustrating little issues we all face as global travellers.
“We’re very focused on a wide gamut of travel problems. Many of them overlap with things people [in the industry] are doing, but a lot of them aren’t. We’re really excited to connect with users to help them finish with their paths and move on to have a really nice trip; that’s what matters to us.”
Timothy Hughes of Agoda (left) in question time with Eric Zimmerman
Zimmerman’s focus on creating genuinely useful products is what will ultimately drive the travel-tech industry forward and though competition is inevitable, it should fundamentally be regarded as another means to advance travel as an industry.
While some murmured on Google’s moves as a way to enter the OTA space, Zimmerman said, “we’re not an OTA, we don’t want to be in that business… we don’t think that we’re the right entity for that… we have the search and the traffic capabilities but we’ve had those for years.”
Yet, in a sense, Google’s entry into travel bears no real difference to how the industry has developed as a result of the rise of technology. Apprehension has always followed any significant degree of change.
Rewind back to the day the first online travel agency was established and I wouldn’t be too surprised if hoteliers felt uneasy about the idea of giving a percentage of their revenue to other companies…
In fact, many hoteliers quite openly still feel just, if not more, apprehensive about their partnerships with OTAs today as they continue to drive direct. Yet, a difference lies in that the two understand how they are interdependent and how they are both capable of reaping greater profits with a little ‘give and take’.
In the same way OTAs entered the travel game, going online means consumers will now have greater avenues to figure out where they go and what they want to do when they travel.
If Google successfully creates a range of travel products that are truly beneficial and enjoyable for travellers to use, then it would be a great pity to dismiss the company’s progress in this realm, for fear of the threat they may or may not pose. The other wisdom we’ve heard on the WIT stage is, do what Google cannot do, because Google can’t do everything.
In a sentence, there will undoubtedly be times where we have to work with our enemies if we are to ensure the progress of the travel industry as a whole. Hell, even Republicans and Democrats have to hold hands sometimes to get anything serious done and the same principle applies here.
Whether Google’s powers are used for good or evil is yet to be seen, but the opportunities this type of technology presents simply cannot be ignored. If we remind ourselves, even for a second, that it is people that ultimately steer the Google ship… we will see that we are dealing with just another team of travel-passionate individuals.
Zimmerman said it himself, “[the team] have been in the travel industry for more than 15 years and one of the things that’s really great about working at Google and doing travel is the wonderful combination of being able to follow our passions and apply technology to it.”
