WIT and Wisdom

by Yeoh Siew hoon

So I’ve just wrapped up my two-day conference, WIT-Web In Travel, and I still can’t believe it’s over.

Thing is, when you’ve been preparing for an event for most of the year, it becomes a part of you, so much so that you wonder what you’re going to do with your life, now that it is over.

Get a life, I hear you say.

Okay, I will but before I do that, let me share with you the things I learnt at the event.

1. The Future Consumer is aware, confused, information-bloated, demanding, fickle, smart, empowered, connected, in control, curious, resourceful, well-researched, savvy, impatient, discriminating, mobile, discerning, capricious, dogmatic …

2. To reach them, we need to revolutionise our way of thinking and our way of doing business. In the debate “Revolution vs Evolution”, the revolutionaries won – adapting and doing things slowly ain’t going to cut the mustard anymore because the customer is changing so fast and new technology and software are just going to accelerate the rate of change.

3. Stay attuned to trends and know the difference between a trend and a fad. A trend is something that results in a shift in human values. The Me Generation is a trend – I want it and I want it now is the result of today’s world of instant information, anytime, anywhere, anyhow. Hello Kitty (I think) is a fad.

4. American trend gurus tend to equate globalisation with Americanisation, but beware applying the one-trend-fits-all-cultures rule. Take a global trend and apply a local twist when going into different markets. Compare the look and feel of Trip Advisor with Indian social networking travel site, oktatabyebye.

5. Travel distribution will continue to be multi-channel because the consumer wants it all – they want to search on meta-search sites such as Skyscanner, Bezurk or Qunar; they want the choice that Online Travel Agencies such as Zuji/Travelocity offer; they want to network with friends and read reviews on social networking sites; and the travel industry wants the multi-choice offered by the GDSes which power distribution. (Peter Smith, vice president-ecommerce, Amadeus Asia, won this debate by showing delegates the promised land of the GDS.)

6. The meetings industry has to redefine itself or else it could end up dead meat. Already, the face-to-face meetings industry, which the MICE industry pigeonholes itself as, is being given a new term by those in the virtual world – Meatings. “If we are not careful, we could end up being disparaged,” says Anthony Judge who says the physical meetings format has not changed since whenever, while the whole world of communications has.

7. CEOs are as human as you and I. For John Davis, chairman and CEO of Pegasus Solutions, and Don Birch, president and CEO of Abacus International, the hardest thing they have to do is to let people go. It’s something they lose sleep over, they say.

8. Inspiration wins over transaction because it takes inspiration to get customers to transact. At least, that was the outcome of the Transaction vs Inspiration debate which saw John Northen inspire delegates enough to vote for him. Interestingly enough, in the audience with the CEOs session, Pegasus’ John Davis, when asked where Pegasus would be in three years’ time, said the company would move from a transaction business model to one of consultancy. Yes, the man who is at the forefront of hotel distribution and technology is also betting his dollar on inspiration.

9. Customers will still buy based on brands and price, yet increasingly friends will have a greater influence on buying behaviour. The power of blogging and reviews cannot be underestimated, as Mr Brown, Singapore’s most prolific blogger, demonstrated in the debate on “Brands Vs Price Vs Friends”. Word of mouth has become instant and all-pervasive. Again, social networking rears its all-inclusive head.

10. Out of the ashes of a planet that’s hotting up and struggling with climate change will arise “The Good Traveller”, believes Richard Bangs, himself an adventurer with purpose. That’s a traveller who will travel with purpose and a sense of doing good by making the right choices about what he buys, where he travels to and what he does while on his journeys.

There’s more, of course, which I will share over the next few weeks on the website, www.thetransitcafe.com/wit.

For now, excuse me while I go get a life beyond WIT.

Catch more of Yeoh Siew Hoon every week at The Transit Cafe