Lonely Planet, the largest travel guide book publisher in the world, continues to be on top of a traveller’s mind for over four decades. This year, Lonely Planet had launched an Instagram like app called Trips on the App store. The free app allows users to share their travel experiences with their friends. Last year, Lonely Planet had launched ‘Guides’ Travel App on iOS & Android platforms. The city guide app was essentially designed to help users plan trips and learn about worldwide destinations. Mobile continues to be a strong focus for brand’s global growth strategy.

We spoke to Sesh Seshadri, the general manager and Director of Lonely Planet in India and talked to him about the company’s journey in India, destinations trends for 2018 and more.

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As the industry shifts to mobile and media consumption patterns change, media companies are the first to adapt to the change. They have to stay ahead of the curve as it is crucial for them to ensure their content reaches where their audience are. Lonely Planet is one of the biggest names in travel publishing and the brand has been following the trends closely. In fact it is one of the first media brands to get onboard the recently announced Google Assistant to help Google answer travel related queries. With the evolution of new media platforms, travel brands are exploring them to market their products better. During the recently concluded TiE Travel Marketing Summit, Naveen Seshadri, COO, Lonely Planet engaged in a discussion with Daksh Sharma, Founding Partner, TravHQ to shed some light on the new trends that are emerging in travel marketing and how Lonely Planet is adapting to this shift. Here are the key highlights of the session:

(L to R) Daksh Sharma and Naveen Seshadri

Inspire the right way

The very first point Naveen highlighted is rather obvious yet often overlooked by brands. For most of the travel brands, a very important part of the marketing strategy is to educate and inspire travellers. However, they are not looking for the obvious destinations anymore. The content on your social platforms should go beyond that and educate people about something new which could be of more interest to them.

Build your own community

While the ceiling is dropping on travel publishing, Lonely Planet has found room for itself by constantly experimenting and with the brand value. There is a significant increase in number of self publishers or bloggers on different platforms which offers collaboration opportunities for brands to leverage the reach and provide content. However, brands also have to consider the fact that they might not be loyal to one brand. Which is why brands should look at building their own communities or work on a hybrid model with them so that they don’t keep hopping brands and lose relevance.

Smartly package quality

The internet is flooded with listicles. “10 things to do when you visit Mumbai” is the kind of content audience love, probably because it is easier to skim through text content that is divided in smaller parts. However, this format spoils rich, well researched content. Publishers should look at striking a balance between such instantly consumable content and deep, research driven content. Along with text, videos offer a great way to pack more information in an easily consumable format and brands should experiment with videos if they aren’t already.

Don’t try to boil the ocean

While it is good to set optimistic goals, it is never a good idea to invest heavily in advertising in early days. Trying to outspend OTAs and metasearch services won’t yield anything fruitful. The best approach is to define your niche and selectively target the set of audience with a certain degree of personalisation. This will not only increase conversions but also drive loyalty to some extent. With a small set of well targeted audience, you will be able to better match the expectations and thus leave a better impression.

Structure well

We have seen travel startups often find smart use of data and technology to create amazing products. However, in a bid to lead on the technology front, some fail to spend enough time on the user experience. Make sure that you are putting efforts on fine tuning the interface and offering a good user experience (Read how BlaBlaCar is doing it). Only then the users you have acquired with your marketing efforts will stick around.

If you are planning to add videos to your marketing plan for 2017, here are some tips for you from the experts.

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Over the past few years, we have seen many new businesses change how we travel. New products and services have disrupted some of the biggest players in this huge industry. Change is inevitable and it is crucial for brands to adapt and stay aligned with the trends. We have also seen an increase in number of resources available online, whether blogs or planning services, that would help a traveller plan better. A large fraction of these services are available for free and often have to fight each other for the attention of travellers. Despite this, Lonely Planet, the largest travel guide book publisher in the world, continues to be on top of a traveller’s mind for over four decades. The key? Identifying the needs of modern traveller and delivering them the same.

Sesh Seshadri, Director, Lonely Planet India

The Lonely Planet guidebooks and web channels continue to inspire a large number of travellers, educate them and help them plan their trips better. We recently got a chance to catch up with Lonely Planet India Director, Mr. Sesh Seshadri over a cup of coffee at their office in Gurgaon to learn more about how the brand continues to expand its footprint in India and the changes he predicts for travel industry. Sesh comes with decades of experience in publishing industry and is always eager to explore how new technologies can be leveraged to deliver relevant content to benefit the travellers. Here is an edited excerpt from the conversation:

How has the travel content changed over the past few years?

We come from a background of producing guides for the past 40+ years and that was probably the beginning of Lonely Planet- helping the traveller enjoy the experience, discover destinations, put together itineraries- this is where it all began. With the advent of technology, there is a lot more content available on the internet but I think the market is still not mature enough to understand the difference between content and curated content. From LP’s perspective, I would say we still have that huge advantage of providing curated content and if you look at any of our books, you will see that we write about things we have experienced and a traveller should know. That is why there is a definite LP voice.

Talking about the changes, I would say there is lot more content available now and it is difficult for the traveller to identify the right sources. That is where the branded content definitely comes into play. I don’t mean to demean anyone. All I want to convey is that our purpose is very clear, it is to help the travellers get the right information that would help with their travel experience.

What technologies do you see finding place in travel?

Recently I was part of a conference where we talked about location based services. That seems to be one of the key factors coming into travel space and I see that is definitely going to find a place in other industries as well. In travel I think location based services are going to play a definitive role in enhancing user experience. Many new models have emerged in travel industry.

Technology is helping solve lot of problems and we will continue to see that. You don’t have to haggle for cabs anymore or make calls to book one. Technology will be a great enabler in travel. It won’t replace anything but is going to improve a lot of things.

Publishing online is much easier now and we have seen many sources offer travel inspiration. How has this affected Lonely Planet?

From the first impressions, it hasn’t affected us at all. I think people must understand that they are both here to stay and complement each other. It isn’t an “either-or” situation. There will be technology and online media but there will still be printed content. The proportions may change over time but neither one of them is going away. There are some people who want to be engaged with technology and then there are some people who want to be engaged otherwise and that number will keep both opportunities alive.

For me, technology is not disturbing the delivery of content but is helping the delivery of content. Having said that, a large fraction of the content available online is crowdsourced. The validity of that content comes in question and that is a challenge. If my neighbour is recommending some activity, I will count on that because I know someone trustworthy has experienced that. But if hundreds of unknown people are telling me about the same activity, how can I know if that isn’t an advertorial?

Do you think the same holds true for trip planning startups?

In some markets, it is important to offer itinerary based travel options. For instance in India, offering itinerary based travel which includes the best places and activities to experience at a destination is much more successful. The key factors being time, budget and experience. This definitely works well for a good number of travellers. However, the new generation traveller is not looking for such an experience. They are looking to experience things that not many people choose and are willing to explore less explored places. It is difficult to put the kind of travellers in a small number of categories. We at Lonely Planet also focus on helping the second kind of traveller.

What is coming next for Lonely Planet India?

We are already doing a lot of interesting new things. If you head to our website, you will see that we have launched specific guides in the form of apps for around 38 cities and we are giving them absolutely free of cost. The whole idea is to bring in engagement, help more travellers and provide relevant information to them. You can expect to see more technology driven content coming from us in the near future. However, that doesn’t mean the guidebooks are going away. Guidebooks will continue to be at the centre of our model but we will try to add more value by leveraging technology.

Some of the upcoming titles under Lonely Planet Kids

We are focussing on specific segments of travellers as well. For instance we are now publishing Lonely Planet Kids and we have got some fantastic titles under that segment. We are also publishing a lot of gift books which are travel related. There is an appetite for things beyond the guide while staying within the travel portfolio and you will see relevant products coming from Lonely Planet India.

Sesh has previously supported us in our events by sharing his knowledge during various panel discussions. Now we are bringing back the events on an even bigger scale. Sign up for the upcoming Startup Knockdown+.

If you are looking for some inspiration or ideas for your next trip, you can head to the Lonely Planet India website.

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The FICCI auditorium witnessed the Travel and Hospitality Tech Conclave 2016 fold with a huge round of applause from the leaders and participating organizations from the travel and technology sector. The two-day event saw some stirring discussions and prime concerns being debated upon. The panel discussion on the nuances of Content Marketing was exhilarating and the mojos had some key points to give away.

The panel included Sesh Seshadri, Director at Lonely Planet India; Aashish Chopra, Head Content Marketing at ixigo; Bhawna Grover, Head of Content at Goibibo and Dolly Bhasin, MD, SPH Consultancy & Eservices Pvt. Ltd. They gave insights on how content can be leveraged to promote brand name in the travel sector.

1-The art of storytelling

From a traveller’s perspective, everything comes down to destination. If the destination is worth it, he would undergo umpteen amounts of discomfort to get there. Similarly, if the content narrates the reality; the stark truth, so much so that if the experience gathered by just reading the content is enough an inspiration to pack your bags, then the mission has been accomplished.

Trying to sell the product isn’t the way to go. Curated content is a destination for the traveller. If they don’t relate to the brand, they would not opt it out. Selling dreams, experiences and adventures should be the core focus of the travel brands. And only good deliverable content could make it happen.

2-Attention of the consumer is all you have

Content marketing is a growth hack in this age. Travel brands should experiment and go beyond the usual marketing strategy. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are huge and chaotic. Driving the right content and the traction that it should attract seems like an uphill task on these social media platforms. However, if one captures the attention of the consumer, some hope of getting that content through him looks certain.

Share-worthy content is the prime key rather than consumable content in driving campaigns forward. Real-time engagement with contextual content can easily grab the eyeballs of users on social media and do wonders for brands. Brands need to keep on experimenting with the tonality, theme and format of the content to connect with their consumers. Though in some instances like with videos, the ratio of failures would be on a higher side, with only 2 out of 10 videos getting valuable returns to a travel brand.

3-The power of user generated content

The content shouldn’t be hammered. Let users be the end provider of the content because that’s where we want the impact to happen. And by this travel brands can deliver engaging content that creates likeability and brand image. The visual content drives maximum amount of traction in the hospitality sector.

Images are very powerful sources to draw attention. The contributed images play a major role here because that’s how the reality is perceived. Hence, meta search engines like Tripadvisor and GoIbibo let users contribute visually curated content. The way forward is to get the community to participate.

4-The emerging trends on new platforms

The right kind of content gets the right kind of traction on a right platform. That being said, the social media has expanded its reach to the millennial. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are not the sole propagating areas and travel brands should go beyond just them. The new emerging platforms that are unheard of as means to expand the brands reach could include Wikipedia and TED.

TED is a rather interactive platform where innovation meets expansion. A particular product or a campaign could draw n-number of views on TED given its marketing strategy focuses on the innovation and experience.

5-Popular formats to be applied

The marketers talked about how not just purist content should be the only focus in driving traveller’s imagination. They talked how infographics, GIFs and vine videos could provide engaging content as they drew the attention of the viewer. Thumbnail image in a video plays a great role in catching the attention of a user. Square video formats have to be propelled forward in an m-commerce platform dominated space if the brands want the content to go viral. Being said this; the attention span in a chaotic space is very less which lays emphasis on streaming captivating content in first 2-3 seconds. Else, the marketer loses the viewer.

We will be coming up with updates of interesting discussions that took place at FICCI Conclave. Stay tuned!

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Day 1 of OTM Mumbai kicked off with an interesting panel discussion on ‘Leveraging content to inspire travellers’. The panel featured Sesh Seshadri, Director of Lonely Planet India, Lata Subramanian, Ex-CMO, Sterling, Prashanth Rao Aroor, CEO, IntelliStay Hotels Private Limited and Hanisha Lalwani, Multi-property Communications and Marketing Manager, Marriot International and was moderated by Daksh Sharma, Founding Partner at TravHQ.

Content plays a very important role in inspiring the travellers and promoting travel brands. The panelists shared their learnings and observations on the content marketing trends and here are the key takeaways from the discussion:

Stop selling through content

One thing you will notice about any ad or campaign that goes viral is that it isn’t focused on selling. The objective should be to inspire the travellers and if you have done it right, they will come back to you to buy. Instead of trying to sell directly, brands should focus on informing, educating and entertaining their audience. Sharing her opinion on the same, Lata Subramanian said that the brand needs to impress the travellers with their knowledge about the destination which will make the travellers prefer them over any other brand.

Format plays a major role

Opinions vary when it comes to the best format for sharing content shared by brand. While videos are a great way to send the message across, low internet speeds in India could pose a challenge with this media. It is important to choose the right format for the message that a brand wants to send across and according to Hanisha, they should keep experimenting with new form like gif animations and cinemagraphs.

Personalised content works wonders

Personalisation goes a long way in leaving a deep impact on the audience. It is important to ensure that your communication doesn’t target very wide audience and you should try to narrow it down to specific segment. During the discussion, Prashanth shared how the hotel engaged with the audience by inviting them to pick the uniform for Mango staff and how the brand plans to put the customer in centre for the future campaigns as well.

Audience can spot sponsored content

Some experts share the opinion that travel blogging is heading towards saturation. While it is a good idea for businesses to sponsor good content creators, the audience can differentiate between editorial and sponsored stories. According to Sesh Seshadri, brands should choose quality of content over the quantity of followers of the influencer they are associating with.

Our team will be hosting another panel discussion tomorrow (Feb 20, 2016) on “Leveraging online influencer relationships in travel & tourism”. Join us at OTM Mumbai tomorrow at 1300 hours. You can find details about the speakers here.

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If travel is your religion, then you will surely know the tricks of travelling smart and light! Whether you know how to pack everything in a backpack or how not to forget your chargers in hotels, a large number of travellers can find good use of your tricks. Focusing on this essential aspect of travel, Lonely Planet India and Opera came up with an interesting contest called ‘#TravelJugaad’.

This contest started on 4^th November and will continue till 24^th November, 2015. As the name suggests, travellers will have to share their travel jugaads or quirky travel hacks they have discovered to take part in the contest.

Mr. Sesh Seshadri, Director, Lonely Planet India

Talking about this campaign, Mr. Sesh Seshadri, Director of Lonely Planet India, said, “Lonely Planet in association with Opera Mini has commenced an interesting contest for travellers and photographers titled “Travel Jugaad”. Travellers are more and more digitally engaged and this contest encourages them to share their best travel hacks or jugaads, write about them and share pictures. It is our endeavour at Lonely Planet  to continuously engage with travellers via innovative online campaigns. We are very hopeful to achieve higher engagement and success.”

People love to tell stories and share their experiences when they travel but internet connectivity is a challenge. This is where Opera comes in. Opera Mini can be an interesting travel hack as it optimises data use and through the contest, they are getting people to talk about all the tools and tricks for travel.

Mrunmaiy Abroal, Director of Communications – South Asia, Opera Software

Commenting on the objective of this campaign and the association with Lonely Planet India, Mrunmaiy Abroal, Director of Communications – South Asia, Opera Software, said, “The #TravelJugaad campaign is a fun way of learning about hacks that can help travelers make the most out of their journeys. Staying connected when on the go or sharing holiday pictures with friends on social media has become as important as enjoying every minute of your travel. That’s where the Opera Mini browser fits in. We call it ‘the perfect jugaad to go online‘ because it shrinks web pages to as little as 1/10 of their original – leading to faster browsing, saving precious mobile data and helping you to stay connected even in the remotest location.

Lonely Planet India was an obvious choice for us to conduct this innovative jugaads campaign and reach out to travel enthusiasts in the country. By the end of it, I’m sure that we all will benefit from the travel jugaads submitted by participants.”

Participating in #TravelJugaad contest is quite simple. The participants have to enter their details on the contest website and share the description or/and image of their travel jugaads. To earn more points they can vote for the best #TravelJugaad, submit their #TravelJugaad Facebook photos, sign up for Lonely Planet newsletter and retweet @OperaIndia on Twitter. For more details of this contest, check out this webpage.

They have already received a good number of entries.

The winners will be selected by judges from Lonely Planet who will review all the eligible entries. The entries will be judged on the creativity, quality & relevance of the description and included media.

The prizes:

To read about the terms and conditions of the #TravelJugaad contest click here.

For all pro-travellers, #TravelJugaad is an ideal platform to share their travel hacks with rest of the community. While participants will get rewarded for their jugaads, it will be great to see a curation of some of the top travel jugaads. So if you do have a jugaad to share, give this contest a shot.

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