That the tourism and travel market is dynamic, and it taps new trends very quickly, has been cemented after the pandemic withdrew its aftershocks. Many countries are now developing measures to build a more resilient tourism economy post-COVID-19. These include preparing plans to support the sustainable recovery of tourism, promoting the digital transition and moving to a greener tourism system, and rethinking tourism for the future.

TravHQ, in association with OTM, curates a dialogue exchange on similar themes at the OTM Forum 2022. In conversation with Daksh Sharma, Managing Partner at TravHQ and Iffort, are renowned figures in the travel and marketing sector. On Day 2 of the Forum, two panels discuss two very intriguing topics – first, ‘How to win the Next Billion Indian Travellers’ and second, ‘Hello New World: Digital Marketing for Travel Brands in an era of Change’. On board are speakers from biggies like Twitter, SaffronStays, Thomas Cook, Adani Group, TBO.com, and EcoRentaCar.

OTM Forum Day 2, Panel 1: ‘How to win the Next Billion Indian Travellers’

Mr. Nitin Sethi, a product of the University of Pennsylvania, has 21 years of work experience in Digital Transformation, Product Design & User Experience. Currently, he is leading Digital Transformation for Adani Group. He specializes in leading multi-functional teams and establishing the best user experience practices and processes in organizations. He has built robust monetizable products for the biggest Internet companies in India. He has great experience in handling large global platforms. Mr. Nitin has expertise in fields like Digital Transformation, Design Thinking, D2C Platforms, User Experience & Design Strategy, Information Architecture & Interaction Design, Online Consumer Experiences for web and mobile platforms, New Media/ Mobile UX, Building/Leading teams in different verticals, Managing ROI, Competitive Analysis, Creative Duties/ Leadership, Project Conceptualization, Evaluation, Planning, and Execution. 

Mr. Ankush Nijhawan, Co-founder of TravelBoutiqueOnline TBO.com and Managing Director at Nijhawan Group is a graduate of Boston and he majored in Marketing and Psychology. Today Ankush is thriving with his strategic vision and direction to the Nijhawan Group to be a leader in the travel industry. He was chosen by CNBC as a Young Turk for revolutionizing the travel trade through his B2B travel portal. Ankush today by far is one of the most successful youngsters in the travel trade. In 2021, Mr. Ankush was appointed as Chairperson of the FICCI Outbound Tourism Sub Committee. 

Mr. Aditya Loomba is Director at ECO Rent A Car, Europcar India (Global Ground Transportation services – Chauffeur Driven & Self Drive). ECO is proud to be the winner of the prestigious national award, given by the President of India, as the best chauffeur-driven Ground Transportation company. 

OTM Forum Day 2, Panel 2: ‘Hello New World: Digital Marketing for Travel Brands in an era of Change’

Devendra Parulekar is the founder of SaffronStays, a hospitality collective that has an inventory of beautiful private homes and villas in various locations. An entrepreneur, a visionary, a dreamer, and driven by a larger purpose – Devendra wants to change the way Indians holiday and celebrate their special occasions with their loved ones in a private vacation home. 

Ms. Neha Sharma Katyal leads Twitter’s regional business in India. She is a seasoned commercial and digital marketing executive with a proven track record in leading high-growth businesses and cultivating top-performing teams. 14+ years of experience amassed at Twitter, Star Sports, Disney+ Hotstar, BBC Worldwide, and Network18 group, managing large teams across diverse cultural contexts. Held roles in growth strategy, customer marketing, revenue creation, and general management while working alongside global leadership councils & India leadership teams.

Mr. Neeraj Singh Dev is heading the e-Business channel, and product marketing for India, Asia, the Middle East, and CIS country outbound holidays for Thomas cook India Ltd & SOTC Travel Ltd. He has experience across travel functions of mid-size and large-size travel management companies in offline as well as online environments. He is currently a part of the leadership team at Thomas cook India.

The post OTM and TravHQ together delve into decoding the post-pandemic travel market appeared first on TravHQ.

Renowned company – and rightly so for being the world’s largest women’s media brand – Cosmopolitan has expanded into the travel business. Cosmopolitan is one of the most powerful and recognized brands in the world. It’s the biggest young women’s magazine media brand in the UK and has now decided to penetrate into the travel industry with its travel booking service CosmoTrips. 

“Travel like an editor” is the catchphrase that CosmoTrips is riding on. Open to travellers in the U.S, this venture of Cosmopolitan delivers a unique opportunity for the brand’s Gen Z and millennial audience to “travel like an editor” through instantly bookable, curated vacation experiences in top cities across the U.S. Currently the offering features an assortment of two and three-day itineraries in New York, Austin, Charleston, and West Hollywood. It will soon expand to curating itineraries for New Orleans, Miami, and Las Vegas in the coming months.

After more than 2 years of stillness, the travel industry has returned to the advertising market with a bang. Over the past year, Cosmo has invested in travel coverage, delivering more content than ever, including travel features in every print issue. With the launch of CosmoTrips, Cosmopolitan is dedicating its 5th issue to travel enthusiasts. This issue will be exploring the hottest places to travel right now, the best places to stay, where to dine, what to wear, and things to check out while you’re there. The issue will also include a unique CosmoTrips feature spotlighting the four launch destinations.

Inside the CosmoTrips itineraries

Each itinerary offers the best places to stay, eat, and play—plus exclusive perks and insider access—all vetted by the Cosmo editorial team and secured in collaboration with experience provider Travel Curious.

“CosmoTrips travel packages are specifically curated for this demographic, vetted by our editors, and include perks and surprise and delight moments, many of which are exclusive to our offering. Cosmo is such a trusted resource on so many aspects of their lives; creating a travel experience they will love, making it easy to book, and guaranteeing them a fun time was a natural brand extension for us”, says Nancy Berger – Publishing Director and Chief Revenue Officer of Hearst Youth + Wellness Group.

“Our editors love to travel—and so does our audience. CosmoTrips not only takes out the stress of planning their next vacation but travelers are guaranteed an experience that passes our editors’ pickiness test, all without lifting a finger,” said Jessica Giles, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan. “With the coolest destinations, chicest restaurants, and the secret spots only locals know about, these are the extremely curated trips that our audience deserves.”

Travel now, pay later!

The heightened focus on travel has also unlocked new advertising partnerships with tourism agencies, hotels, and other mainstays of the hospitality industry, including Air New Zealand and Texas Tourism. Launch sponsors for CosmoTrips include Bloomingdale’s and Klarna. Klarna serves as the official “travel now, pay later” partner, making it easy for consumers to budget their travel plans. The payment platform is fully integrated into the CosmoTrips booking website, and CosmoTrips will be featured in a variety of premium placement formats across Klarna’s app and website as well as promoted through Klarna’s influencer network.

Booking an experience with CosmoTrips?

If you’re interested in a sample itinerary, Cosmo put together a review of what you would be seeing and doing in New York City. You can book your trip right at CosmoTrips’s website, and two-night stays start at $349 per person, with double occupancy. Three-nighters are as low as $449 per person and require three people to book.

It is interesting that Cosmopolitan, a magazine known for its articles like “What zodiac sign are you most compatible with” and “How to make your man crazy about you” has ventured into a very very new space and created CosmoTrips. What CosmoTrips offers is not your typical tour but, for somebody who is looking for inexpensive lodging and a bit of guidance in terms of what to do, it could turn out to be perfect.

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A leading digital marketing solutions facilitator for the travel industry, Sojern, has announced its expansion into the South African market. This expansion is being undertaken so as to capitalize on the rising tourism post the pandemic. 

The travel industry suffered a setback after Covid-19 rocked the world. But with travel and tourism picking up pace after the ripples of the Omicron variant began to fade away. 

So what role exactly is Sojern playing in the South African travel industry? Let us have a look. 

Tourism recovery research

Sojern Insights has been the mettle behind tourism recovery research. It has worked in association with biggies like UN World Organization, The Pacific Asia Travel Association, and Skift Research. Sojern chalks out weekly self-serve travel insights to help different pillars in the travel sector. Hotels, tourist attractions, tourism boards, and flight booking services – all reap the benefits of insights. These insights are a good way to comprehend travel behavior, and they help devise a plan for recovery. 

Areas of research touched by Sojern Insights 

Sojern offers insights into different players in the travel market. Despite the travel sector being strongly affected by the pandemic, Sojern continues to work with thousands of hotels, attractions, airlines, and destinations annually around the world. Here are a few interesting analytics about the South African travel industry that Sojern has put forth.

1. Flight booking insights

Sojern concluded from its research that flight bookings were up by 25% in the year 2021.

2. Destination insights

Destinations like Kimberley and Bloemfontein are up YoY, however, are still a long way off their 2019 booking and search volumes.

3. Data on dynamic flight pricing

COVID-19 caused a drastic drop in inbound flight prices. However, international fares into South Africa are now in fact higher than their 2019 levels

4. Insights on domestic travel

Sojern Insights pointed out that 49.9% of flight bookings to South Africa originate in South Africa. This demonstrates how crucially important domestic travel is.

5. Data on advance booking by travelers

Most domestic travel is immediate, while overseas visitors are booking their December holiday trips to South Africa already. Interestingly, international travelers are booking further in advance in 2022 than they did in 2019. On the other hand, domestic travelers are booking closer to their departure dates than they did pre-pandemic.

How Sojern Insight’s entry is a boon

Sojern is a leading digital marketing platform built for travel marketers. It is powered by artificial intelligence and traveler intent data. Sojern provides multichannel marketing solutions to drive direct demand. Thousands of hotels, attractions, tourism boards, and travel marketers rely on Sojern annually to engage and convert travelers around the world.

Sojern has established itself as the key partner for tourism professionals. It supports travel businesses in their ongoing recovery. With Sojern, the South African travel industry can now harness the latest marketing technology. This can be used to drive direct bookings, increase web traffic, develop loyalty programs, and more.

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