Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is organising, Tourism & Travel Tech Conference 2019 on 06 March 2019 in New Delhi. The conference will chart the roadmap on how tech can be used to maximize the potential of this sector. The discussions are expected to set a series of recommendations on policies and innovative measures that India needs to implement to develop a competitive and sustainable tourism sector making it a major contributor to strategies aimed towards inclusive and sustainable growth.

The event is an ideal opportunity to meet & network with your existing and potential industry peers. Prominent names include leadership representation from MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Ixigo, Indigo Airlines.

For more details, please visit http://traveltech.iamai.in/.

The post IAMAI is back with this year’s edition of Tourism & TravelTech Conference appeared first on TravHQ.

We have just come back from two exciting days of learning new things and meeting interesting people at the eTailing and Travel Commerce Conference. Renowned industry leaders shared their experiences of building their businesses, experts from different domains discussed the hottest trends and some new innovative startups also came into light. It surely was a great event for all travel marketers and industry analysts to discuss key challenges our industry faces.

Here is an overview of the major points that emerged:

1. Experiential tours and P2P services will grow

According to Dr. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, we will see a strong growth in the number of people looking for bespoke tours. Technology will help fuel the growth and give more opportunities to smaller players. P2P services like Airbnb are expected to grow as well.

Businesses catering to defined niche like student travellers or solo female travellers will have a lot of scope in the future. A representative of a major OTA emphasised that brands like them won’t consider offering services for a specific group. It isn’t possible at their scale and the segment can be better served by small businesses specifically doing the same, so that is a space new players can explore.

Dr. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism addressing the audience

2. Weak players will fade away

Mr. G. Shankaran Nair, President and Chief Strategy Officer, Servion Global Solutions said that the model on which ecommerce companies are operating isn’t a sustainable one. Price is the only differentiating factor between many of them. Competing in a rapidly evolving market only on the basis of price won’t work for long and will lead to a shakedown wiping out the weak players from the market.

3. Selling packages isn’t the best idea

Of course it will be a different story for a businesses like TravelTriangle or WeAreHolidays that specialise in selling packages but the major OTAs aren’t keen to do the same. According to them, it is better to simplify the booking process and let the customer take care of things. Screen sizes and attention spans are going down and it might not be a very good idea to present a complicated itinerary.

4. Scalable technology is necessary for global expansion

Expedia is present across a dozen of countries and according to Mr. Madhur Arora, Head of e-Commerce Business, India and Thailand, Expedia manages to serve all the countries from one location. Having a scalable product allows the brand to quickly start operating in new market rather than having to start fresh.

5. ROI on Social Media is a tough nut to crack

During a discussion about how social media drives digital conversations in the hospitality industry, Mr. Hari Nair, Founder & CEO, HolidayIQ suggested that it is best to use social media to inspire people to travel. The inspiration might not have an immediate impact but it will eventually turn into a conversion for the brand. Brands aren’t able to see any significant return on their social media efforts because there is a huge gap between the time a brand takes to inspire a traveller and the time when he or she actually books with them. It is possible that a booking is coming through social media but the credit is going to another channel.

The eTailing and Travel Commerce Conference was surely a great experience for us. Did you attend the event? We would love to hear your feedback.

Update: You can see pictures from the event on TravHQ Facebook page

The post 5 things we learned at eTailing & Travel Commerce Conference appeared first on TravHQ.

The much awaited 2-day eTailing and Travel Commerce Conference summit by IAMAI gets underway tomorrow at Hotel Lalit in New Delhi. With a cracking line-up of speakers & panel discussions on some burning topics in the travel industry, the summit holds tremendous promise for all travel marketers, analysts and media fraternity.

TravHQ is the official media supporter for the event and our team will be bringing you the latest news on both days. With less than 24 hours to go for the Conference, here are some key sessions that you should definitely watch-out:

• Our Tourism Ministry has been quite active on the digital front and had launched an Incredible India mobile app last year. Considering that the Incredible India campaign has been offline for quite sometime now, the inaugural session by Guest of Honour, Shri Suman Billa, Jt. Secretary, Ministry of Tourism should give insights into government’s latest initiatives to promote India as a tourist destination

• The morning plenary session, Impact of Travel Market Places for The Online Travel Market boasts of a fantastic line-up of panelists including Sankalp Agarwal, Chief Executive Office of Travel Triangle, Aloke Bajpai, CEO and Co-founder, ixigo, Yogendra Vasupal, Founder and CEO, Stayzilla Deepak Wadhwa, Co-founder, WeAreHolidays. The discussion would focus on building trust & customer retention in the highly challenging online travel space led by instant gratifications.
• For those who love to track emerging travel-startups, the session on Social Travel-How New Age Start-Ups Are Redefining The Travel Industry? is a must attend. The session has Gautam Shewakramani, Founder & CEO, AudioCompass, Paavan Nanda, Co-founder, Zostel & Chitra Gurnani, Co-Founder, Thrillophilia Adventure Tours and Ish Jindal, Co-founder, Padhaaro as panelists.
• We also have a session on Global Expansion In Travel And Hospitality Industry – An Appetite For Growth.
• On Day 2, the session on Social Media Driving Digital Conversations In Tourism And Hospitality Industry will capture the latest trends on how OTAs, online market places and hotels are using Social Media to attract & engage the customers.

That’s not all! Speakers from leading OTAs, Yatra & Cleartrip would be sharing the experience of their respective journeys in the competitive travel landscape. Overall, the summit is a must attend for those who want to stay updated with the latest trends in “Travel & Hospitality” industry.

If you are a Travel brand and have a story to share with us, get in touch with our team at the summit. You can give us a shout-out on our Twitter handle or write at info@travhq.com.

The post eTailing and Travel Commerce Conference Starts Tomorrow, What to Expect appeared first on TravHQ.

eCommerce is growing at a crazy pace all over the world and there are new businesses coming up in the space every day. The primary contributors are Travel, Hospitality, eTail & Classifieds and newer technologies, growing users and new investments are further catalyzing the process. Not only the newer players but the established offline businesses are taking the online route. This makes it important for the professionals to keep track of the latest industry trends and practices.

Internet and Mobile Association of India is hosting eTailing and Travel Commerce Conference on 23^rd and 24^th of July. The two day summit will include addresses by veterans from the industry who will talk about common issues faced by the industry. The list of speakers includes some prominent names from the ecommerce business. Not only will they discuss the problems but also talk about trends that could turn things around in future.

The participants will get the chance to network and partner with other businesses and meet renowned online retailers. The conference is on 23^rd and 24^th of July at The Lalit Hotel, New Delhi. You can find more details about the conference and the speakers on IAMAI’s website. To register for the event you can follow this link. You can also catch the activities on social media by following the hashtag #GrowEcom.

The post IAMAI hosting eTailing and Travel Commerce Conference appeared first on TravHQ.