The Dutch Expo on Tourism , better known as the Vakantiebeurs, took place this week in the Jaarbeurs Utrecht . The first day was intended for professionals from the sector. Frank Oostdam, chairman of the ANVR, opened the first masterclass 'In touch with the future' with the announcement that the travel sector must learn to live with late bookers, a price war and a small decrease in turnover in 2012 (later that day also confirmed by NBTC-Nipo Research). But according to Oostdam, the sector must also shift its focus from transaction to interaction .
The ANVR will discuss this further in a report entitled 'Vision on Tourism 2025', which will be published in February.
Lifeline with the consumerHans Bouwknegt of the Academy for Digital Entertainment at belgium phone number list NHTV was able to give an inspiring speech about this . Bouwknegt poses the questions: what can you do with media if the consumer opens up to contact, and how do you create a constant lifeline with the consumer? This requires data, data to be able to act intuitively and respond to what the consumer really wants.
His conclusion for the travel industry: develop your own ecosystem with data and customer profiles and fill the customer journey with it. An ecosystem like Apple had with the developers of the very successful apps, or like Albert Heijn is going to do with its customers and the collected data on the bonus card. And, warns Bouwknegt: don't let it leak to the big parties outside the industry. Read: Google.