Even Google can’t match our booking data: Adara CEO
Adara’s global CEO Layton Han touched down in Sydney yesterday, with his maiden business trip to our shores signalling the company’s optimism about the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Speaking exclusively to Travel Weekly at Sydney’s Pier One Hotel, Han said that the travel data aggregation company he has helmed since 2009 has an offering that puts it in a rarefied position.
“Every company has a unique data taxonomy. Adara has great technology when it comes to data collection and expertise around determining which data is valuable,” Han explained.
But the problem a lot of travel companies have, according to Han, is making the data they do have intelligible.
“We often speak to companies who say ‘I’m going to do something really cool with my data’. And we identify that the missing piece for them is understanding what those people [their customers] are doing outside their regular environment.
“These companies have a vision but not a deep insight.
“Destination marketing organisations (DMOs), for instance, do a lot of marketing, but are often data poor. They know how many people are visiting, but don’t know who is visiting.
“A good example in the US was Visit Virginia. With their data we helped them optimise their marketing and media to target specific travellers. They saw success after providing the right promotions at the right time.”
Adara’s commercial director, Pacific, Stuart Stacy, added that there were other – perhaps less obvious – benefits to be had from utilising data.
“By taking a holistic view of the market, we’ve seen examples of DMOs securing incremental funding from government bodies. That’s the power of understanding the data.”
Even large companies with colossal databases and vast resources can struggle to make head or tail of the information at their disposal, Han said.
“Another example we’ve seen is a global hotel chain (who I won’t name) who were having an issue with ‘one and done’ clients, whose loyalty they couldn’t retain. These clients were indeed frequent travellers, so that wasn’t the problem.
“What we found was that they were bored with a ‘generic’ approach when it came to marketing. They needed to be hit with different and more interesting products.”
Adara has grown considerably in recent years – there are now 175 travel related companies who are partners, with all contributing data to the platform. And Han has big plans for Adara in the years ahead.
“Our overarching company vision is to grow the travel industry together. Through a better understanding of data, analytics, insight and measurement, we can help clients make informed decisions around marketing and advertising targets.
“We are aiming to be the world’s travel co-op. And Australia is a very important market for us. We are doing a lot of work with all the US airlines that fly into Australia too.”
With such lofty ambitions, one wonders what an ideal world look like for Adara. And Han is only too happy to speculate on the blue sky vision.
“Our goal is to collect every single piece of travel data possible.”
Adding value and validating data is also key in the modern travel industry environment, Han revealed.
“In a media specific sense, data integrity and gaining new insights are the most important thing today. You need to know who the data comes from. Advertisers are always asking for more transparency with data. And the co-op makes it more transparent.”
Sorting the wheat from the chaff is essential too.
“You need to go beyond the ‘cookie’ data, which is noisier and less transparent.
“You have to be focused on the people behind the data; the unique identifiers gained from all the devices and media channels. It’s about people ID data. Our USP is the depth of people-based data.”
And then there’s the elephant in the room of two ubiquitous companies, who reportedly gobbled up 90 per cent of new global online ad spend in the last 12 months.
“Companies like Facebook have a lot of great data,” Han said.
“But in a travel sense, they lack transactional data. Even Google don’t have this data; we collect a huge amount of booking data.”
“Facebook don’t know when someone is going to pull the trigger and book. We do,” Stacy added.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
AdaraLatest News
Collette goes off the beaten track with Canyon Country tour
To be clear TW is not advocating actually walking off the beaten track. Avoid the coyotes. Stay on the beaten track.
Intrepid & Korean Tourism Organisation team up to give agents a cooking masterclass
These guys learnt that Korean cooking is more than just putting kimchi on 2-minute noodles (as we once thought).
Winner, winner! Intrepid reveals the 9 lucky agents that won $2k
Who won the incentive? Which Intrepid trip will they spend it on? What day of the week is it again? Where am I? Huh?
Corporate Traveller reports 42% increase in Easter traffic this year
Business travellers just love Easter! Expect plenty of chocolate stained documents returning to the office on Tuesday.
Turbulent year wiped $384m off Qantas brand value: Report
Meanwhile, eating tuna at your desk can damage your own personal office brand value by several thousand dollars.
FAMIL: Room-Res & Singapore Tourism Board shows agents the Lion City’s roar
Click this article to see a man very impressed by a 20-layer chocolate cake. We're not kidding, he loved it!
Oceania Cruises offers sailors free pre-cruise hotel stay
Looking for ways to make your holidays as long as possible? Look no further.
Bonza launches new website to compliment app, agent portal
Does news about an airline's website fill you with ecstasy, glee and joy? Get your hit of the good stuff here.
MTA agents attends ‘Lunch ‘n’ Learn’ with AMA Waterways
When organising the event, Lunch 'n' Learn beat out Dinner 'n' Divulge and Breakfast 'n' Banter. Understandably so.
Travelmarvel reveals 2025 South America tours
If you spot any typos in the newsletter today it is because TW became distracted Googling images of Machu Picchu.
Tourists from 5 countries could be BANNED from visiting Australia
Anthony Albanese's immigration laws could impact tourism from certain countries.
Just how many passengers will Qantas & Jetstar hop around this Easter?
Airline workers are ready for gleeful Easter travellers! Also prepared for sticky children with chocolate on their face.
Air New Zealand gets ready for bumper Easter weekend
Air NZ gears up for travelling passengers this Easter, while TW looks to beat our egg eating record. 117 here we come!
Four Seasons Yachts reveals first itineraries to the Caribbean & Mediterranean
These trips look so good we wish there were five seasons! Alright, we'll see ourselves out...
FAMIL: Travellers Choice treats top agents to the wonders of Rotorua
This one's got plenty of famil pics and no one looks shockingly hungover in them! Clearly no TW staffers were there.
European Waterways celebrates 50th anniversary with week-long founders cruise
Plan on celebrating your 50th anniversary with a bottle of Moët and fairy bread? European Waterways has better ideas.
100th route! Jetstar celebrates the launch of Brisbane-Avalon with 12 hour sale
Jetstar knocks a ton and celebrates with a sale while TW once scored a ton and celebrated with about 17 beers.
Record-breaking year for NSW as visitor expenditure soars past $50 billion
Enjoy running round the Opera House? Be prepared to elbow even more tourists out the way.
Norwegian Cruise Line makes play for solo travellers
NCL ensuring you don't have to go trawling Tinder to find a cruise partner. Thank goodness, we were sick of catfishing.
Entire Travel Group’s Canada and Europe 2024/25 brochures are out now
Entire's new brochure is bittersweet; it both informs your clients and makes you envious of the holiday they'll take.
Malaysia Airlines adds 3 new destinations & A330neo seats
More seats means cheaper airfares and more money to spend on overpriced airport sandwiches. Woohoo!
Two divine days onboard Crystal Serenity
It's only pure serenity onboard this ship. Anxiety, agitation and anguish have been rejected by the bouncer.
How the Globus Family of Brands elevates coach touring: Travel Weekly TV with Chris Fundell
Chris' here so you don't think coaches mean peeling your thighs off a sticky leather seat every time you stand up!
The Flight Centre Foundation gears up for massive 2024 with 3 new board members
The foundation looks to invest $200k this year, spurring the TW journos to figure out how to qualify as a charity.
Barking Owl Communications to head up Anantara & Avani in ANZ
Fellow PR competitors had been barking up the wrong tree even thinking of bidding for this job!
Amex GBT to purchase CWT for $871m
It's big deals like this that get a firm handshake - hence the sore hands over at the CWT and Amex GBT offices.
1000MTG’s second global conference reminds agents to ‘strive and thrive’
Alongside messages to 'strive' and 'thrive' were those to 'survive', 'drive', 'arrive' and 'jive' (when appropriate).
Qantas A330 makes “loud bang”, pilots forced to shut down one engine
Qantas refusing to let Boeing have all the headlines in aviation world today!
GX Community Tourism Summit 2024 location revealed!
The new location has arrived and it'll blow your socks off! Time for another trip to Target for more socks then.
Visiting the destination my Mum didn’t want me to
Yet again, this journo has been a stress to his mother. Discover how this trip spurred his mother's anxiety here.
Agents come out of their shells at P&O’s turtle hatchery event
For some, it's a few glasses of bubbles to lure them out of their shell. For these agents, it was a bit more literal.
Boeing cleanout: CEO, chair to go as safety crisis plagues the manufacturer
CEOs are falling thick and fast these days. We should have started up a bingo game with their headshots in the office.
Virgin looks to swap MAX 10 order for MAX 8s amid Boeing delays: Reports
Virgin has changed its order for something smaller. Much like we have to at Maccas following a worrying doctor's visit.
Club Med unveils newest luxury yacht for 2024/25 early bird sale
This yacht is preserved for the early birds! Night Owls may also get onboard depending how late they stay up.
Abercrombie & Kent 2024 Asia Portfolio is here
Round up the family and get planning an Asia jaunt. Or, if they're hard to handle, brush them all and go it alone!
Elevate your earnings: Final days to secure double commission with Inspiring Vacations’ March offer
What could inspire you to sell more Inspiring Vacations? Double commission of course! That's all the inspiration needed.