Pay per click ‘a mystery’ to operators

Friday, 01 Mar, 2005 0

Operators are bamboozled by search engine optimisation tactics, and see the issue as the biggest hurdle to competing effectively online.

This is according to a survey released this week by the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA).

When asked what the biggest challenge to trading online was, members of ETOA overwhelming voted (more than 50%) for search engine optimisation.

Speaking to TravelMole at the ETOA annual Hoteliers Marketplace, executive director, Tom Jenkins said: “Operators don’t have enough money to spend on search engine optimisation, they don’t know how to do it and they don’t understand the technology – it’s still a young area.”

He added: “Consumers are also continuing to behave differently and the normal divisions between purchaser and supplier are becoming blurred.”

Speaking at a press conference at the event, Mr Jenkins said: “Hoteliers and operators don’t know how to get their product into the online marketplace and compete effectively online.”

But he added that some of his operator members were opting for a strategy of staying offline and continuing to distribute product solely through offline agents, hoping to build relations and loyalty with certain agencies.

However, while some of ETOA’s members continue to operate offline, Mr Jenkins says the proportion of the organisation’s online membership is growing to around a fifth of all members.

“It’s the fastest growing membership category – you look at the Marketplace meeting downstairs and you’ll find Expedia, Lastminute, Octopustravel and so on.”

The ETOA survey questioned 110 operators and 150 hoteliers.

Report by Ginny McGrath

Ginny McGrath

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