The challenges of the changing consumer best sums up the flavour of day three of the Travel Tech Show at World Travel Market, the largest travel tech event in the UK.

Hoteliers were provided with great insight from Maarten Plesman, vice president, EMEA for Revinate on reconsidering paid search in light of the dominance of the Priceline brands are in Europe and Expedia in the US.

“These players have such sophistication and scale that it is questionable that you can keep up with them.”

Plesman advised the audience to invest in the channels where hotels are being compared as that’s where the “game is played.”

He also told companies to consider their reputation in terms of images and reviews in comparison portals because it’s not all about price.

Plesman summarised by telling hoteliers to think about the guest experience as the whole journey and making sure they really understand customers by creating rich guest profiles.

Hotels are not the only ones challenged by changing consumer behaviour, destination marketing organisations are also having to deal with the digital traveller.

Leading a session with destination marketing organisations (DMOs), Nick Hall of Digital Tourism Think Tank highlighted the challenges of staying on top of tech savvy, connected consumers who come armed.

VisitDenmark UK director Dennis Englund said: “Staying relevant and top of mind is the biggest challenge. What made us successful five years ago does not apply so we need to rethink the approach.”

CapeTown Tourism executive marketing manager Velma Corcoran added that demonstrating value was also an issue when consumers look to sites such as TripAdvisor for credible information.

Funding continues to be challenging for DMOs in the world of Facebook likes and Tweets and how to value social media mentions.

However, some panellists were upbeat about the increasing amounts of data available and how it can be used demonstrate the value an organisation provides.

Facebook is one company with masses of data on consumer behaviour at its fingertips and inevitably a session with Lee McCabe, head of travel, education and consumer strategy services for the social network, was a huge crowd pleaser.

He was speaking at a WTM Travel Perspective session and pointed to the massive potential mobile presents marketers and the travel industry in general.

“The smartphone is the remote control of our lives. We use it for more and more – for travel to plan, book, validate decisions and talk to friends.”

McCabe touched on consumer trends such as the desire for connection, convenience and context.

He also shared some developments Facebook is working on with its Messenger service for Business as well as its M concierge service.

Virtual reality also came up with Facebook-owned Oculus Rift planning to release early next year which will be driven by apps.

“How people communicate is changing. Texting is decreasing and people are using images more and more as a form of communication. Now there’s video as well, which is why we developed the platform and before long virtual reality and augmented reality.”

Virtual reality was highlighted as a trend to watch by Richard Cope, senior trends consultant, Mintel, who presented TravelFutures.

Further areas to for the industry to watch include beacons in cities to guide visitors, also flagged in the WTM Global Trends Report, in association with Euromonitor International. – TradeArabia News Service