Q&A on what travel agents should be doing to convert sales
Catchi managing director Cornelius Boertjens is an expert on optimising websites to operate so that they convert more of your online visitors into customers. Travel Weekly interviewed him about what travel agents need to be doing to improve their conversion rates and the common mistakes he sees…
Why is conversion rate optimization (CRO) important for travel agents to consider?
The travel industry is a highly competitive industry and keywords on Google Adwords are getting more and more expensive. This means travel agents can no longer simply rely on buying keywords and running search engine marketing campaigns to drive traffic to their site. You also have to also ensure the site and landing pages you are driving the traffic to is converting these visitors into leads and sales (e.g. bookings). People do shop around a lot and when they land on your site, it’s up to you to ensure they stay. Travel agents who do this well have a distinct advantage over the ones who don’t as they are the ones growing their business and experiencing positive ROI on their digital campaigns.
What mistakes do you see many/some travel agents making with their websites?
One of the big mistakes we see is trying to show everything they offer on their homepage, often using a slider image – which, we know for a fact from years of optimization work, decreases conversion rates. This often comes from having an offline mindset when working on their website. It’s not uncommon to see brochures being replicated online, having a list of all the offers and deals on the page.
Another mistake we see them make is copying each other so they become just another booking site. We see them focus on selling flights for example, but people often just use that to find a fare comparison and then go to the airline’s website directly to check if they really got the best deal (and then book on the airline’s site) or they go to the big international sites like Expedia and Hotels.com. Even the combination of airline bookings with Airbnb is a threat to travel agencies (mainly for short stays and business trips). Globally, around 75% of all travel is booked online and the 25% of travel booked offline is mainly focused around the more complex (and expensive, higher margin) trips with families to multiple locations. If this is the case, why aren’t travel agents’ websites doing a better job in educating visitors regarding their unique value proposition, explaining them why they should book via them and not an OTA? Instead, most seem to compete on price alone, which is pretty hard to win/convert visitors.
Last but not least we see travel agents embrace mobile by making their sites mobile responsive, which is good. However, nowadays you really want to start optimizing for the experience and not the device. Mobile is mainly used to start researching potential destinations (e.g. someone stands in the rain at the bus stop and wonders how much it would be to spend a week in Fiji). By getting a better understanding of desktop vs mobile behavior, we can start optimizing and personalizing the mobile version for what the visitors want in a certain situation (where they are at in the buying cycle).
What are your top 2 suggestions for travel agents who want to increase their leads/sales through their website? What should they work on with their site, if they only have limited time/budget?
Above all you should really start using conversion rate optimization if you don’t do so already. Implement an A/B split testing tool and make sure you run split test to optimize the site, continuously working on improving your site. You will also need to make sure you don’t offer them too many options and that there is always a clear call to action to complete the purchase and a “next-best-offer” if they decide to bail out.
You did a lot of great work with Air NZ in helping optimise their website – any learnings from this client related to our audience that you could share with us?
One of the big learnings from working with Air NZ is that the right images can have a huge impact on a deal’s conversion rate, but you often don’t know which image this is unless you use A/B split testing and create different variations to test the effectiveness of each image. With some experiments, just replacing the image with a (tested) better image increased conversion rates more than 10%. Another big learning is that you have to have proper ecommerce tracking in place and gather heat map and screen recording information on top of that, feeding learnings from this back into your optimization programme. But it’s all worth it!
Personalisation is a huge trend at the moment – making sure your direct marketing is personalised to different segments of your target market. What advice do you have for travel agents around this?
I would highly recommend travel agents learn everything there is to learn about personalisation and advanced online segmentation before jumping on the bandwagon. You will need to get a proper plan in place before you start personalisation. What does success look like? Get some proper help and advice from people who have done this before, although they might be hard to find as there are currently only a handful us in New Zealand and Australia who have experience with creating effective personalisation programmes. As a business, we constantly bring people over from overseas to help our clients set up CRO and personalisation programmes because there is so much demand for it.
Cornelius is the managing director of digital conversion specialist company, Catchi. He and his team of 12 help medium to large businesses convert online traffic into online sales and leads. Catchi has offices in both Auckland and Sydney.
Latest News
Voyages celebrates 40 years at Uluru with two new immersive experiences
No plans for celebrating your 40th this year? Here's a hot tip from us.
SkyDeck: The inflight entertainment you could never have imagined
Forget those external cameras you can live stream while in the air... With SkyDeck you can check it out for yourself.
Second Boeing whistleblower dies of ‘mystery infection’
Joshua Dean died from a fast-growing mystery infection on Tuesday.
Aussie winners of American Airlines ‘Sell Your Way to the USA’ announced
Show me the money! For the winners, Sell Your Way to the USA was worth getting involved in.
ANZCRO celebrates 30th with special edition of iconic New Zealand Book
Choice bro! ANZCRO celebrates its 30th with a special edition of its iconic New Zealand Book. Chur!
Room to move at Cairns Harbourside Hotel with ‘spacious’ new family package
Moody teens can eat two-minute noodles while younger brothers and sisters get to eat free with mum and dad. Win, win!
A&K unveils lavish around the world wildlife adventure in private jet
The kind of holiday that if you need to ask the cost, you probably can't afford it.
Flight Centre and Reforest hit one million trees target early
Nice one Flight Centre, we think you've earned an early Friday knockoff.
New cruise options spearhead stacked APT 2025 program
Just in case you thought you were running out of cruise itineraries, APT's here with a fresh batch.
Travel Weekly announces a new team to helm Australia’s No.1 travel trade title
Some shameless self-promotion from us, but we thought you needed to know who's bringing you the news.
IHG reveals plans for Brisbane’s first Kimpton in 2028
Just another reason to book that trip to Brisvegas. But don't jump the gun, it's not open until 2028.
Cruiseabout’s first store in five years opens in Perth
Perth gets a break from being behind the rest of the country with the addition of the first Cruiseabout store.
ATAS complaints process acknowledges non-economic loss
A High Court case win over 'disappointment and distress' on a cruise gone wrong prompts ATIA complaints change.
Cunard previews new Queen Anne
Yep, this one does exactly what it says on the tin.
Bunnik Tours unveils latest expansion to Iceland
Just as the Icelandic vikings did many years ago, Bunnik is expanding into new territories.
Australia’s first glamping retreat turns 25
25th anniversary gifts usually come in silver. Ours comes in the way of a news story.
Embrace the journey: Traversing the world with the Shokz OpenRun
If you’ve been on the wrong side of a final call in the airport, or missed the stop on rail journey, it might be time to invest in a pair of Shokz OpenRun headphones. Originally marketed as headphones for fitness fanatics, runners or cyclists with a keen to steer clear of a prang with a car, […]
Tourism Western Australia MD Carolyn Turnbull departs
Turnbull hints her new role will see her staying in the tourism and hospitality industry and who can blame her?
DriveAway launches Brit-Euro Blitz campaign
If agents can put the foot down quick enough and get involved, there are some great prizes to be won.
Fly and Stay Free with the Great Southern
Unlike those dodgy scam phone calls you're getting more and more of, there's no strings attached to this deal.
Sober travel and TikTok guide Australian Gen Z trips
Can you call it a sober holiday if you enjoy a few glasses of red on the flight? We think yes.
Travel DAZE Exec Agenda REVEALED: top execs to speak on airline competition
As the industry reels from Bonza's implosion, it is more important than ever to ask the big questions.
TTC: Deals are driving up demand for September trips
The latest market research from TTC Tour Brands shows interest in international leisure travel remains high for 2024, with 77 per cent of Australians over 18 still planning trips this year. Notably, 28 per cent of those travellers are eyeing September for their journeys. Europe continues to be the most popular destination, with 68 per […]
Skroo says Rex will need deep pockets to fill lost Bonza slots
The door is open for Rex, and anyone else who wants to launch a regional Aussie airline...
Sno’n’Ski Holidays unveils 2025 mega famil to Colorado!
Let the games begin - this is certainly not a famil that you will want to miss!
Walk Japan launches Kyoto: Mountains to the sea walking tour
There are two types of people, one who enjoys walking on holiday and another who enjoys sipping Mojitos by the pool.
Which destination had a 48% boost in bookings following 10 MILLION TikTok views?
Here's a clue: it's not Malabar Beach.
Asher Telford appointed General Manager of SeaLink Whitsundays
Telford has plenty of reasons to smile after SeaLink doubles down and makes him GM after buying his tourism operation.
Qantas ‘working urgently’ to fix app data leak
Qantas is looking into customer reports that passengers have this morning been able to access other passengers’ personal information on the airlines app. X user Lachlan posted that he was able log into different accounts every time he opened the app. My @Qantas app logs me in to a different person each time I open […]
Hilton Expands Presence in North Queensland with the signing of Hilton Garden Inn Townsville
Heading to a North Queensland Cowboys clash? Hilton Garden Inn Townsville is set to open, but not until 2026.
Rail Europe ANZ: making dream journeys come true
Rail Europe's running a lottery! You're not going to win millions, but you might just snag a free holiday.
UPDATE: Bonza hole deepens as administrators investigate financial affairs
Administrators dig deeper as struggling airline unlikely to be revived.
Revamped Wailoaloa Beach hotel opens as Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa
Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa is open and ready for bookings after the first phase of a multi-million-dollar transformation. Part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ premium collection, the transformation has seen the completion of 106 guestrooms showcasing contemporary interiors reflective of the premium Crowne Plaza brand and is a first for the […]
Nielsen Data reveals brands spending big to attract Aussie tourists
Trip A Deal, Virgin and Ignite Travel walk into a bar, blow their cash on travel advertising instead of the pokies.
Kamalaya Koh Samui clinches clutch of wellness awards
Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa has so far clinched five prestigious awards in 2024, including being inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’ at the World Spa & Wellness Awards in London. Founders of the Koh Samui sanctuary and spa John and Karina Stewart expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the awards. “We are profoundly honoured […]
Jetstar offers 200,000 return for free flights to celebrate 20th anniversary
Jetstar hits 20 and everyone else gets the presents with free return flights to domestic and international destinations.