| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 12/06/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 13 |
| Copyright: Other |
Goldman Sachs estimates the excess travel capacity in Europe to be worth £116bn a year. At lastminute.com, we think this is an opportunity not to be missed
Helen baker
THE travel market is changing and I am proud that lastminute.com has played a small part in that.When we set up our Web site 18 months ago, we wanted to help customers access some of the massive amounts of inventory that goes unsold each year – and hence to help suppliers increase their occupancies and load factors.
Goldman Sachs estimates the excess travel capacity in Europe to be worth £116bn a year, which is an opportunity not to be missed.
Although lastminute.com is not responsible for initiating this change, the company has been playing a part in driving it. Over half of the customers surveyed recently said they had not planned their purchased trip – showing that with the right product, price and marketing, it is possible to create new demand for excess stock.
Moreover, customer awareness has been improving gradually over the last 10 years. Better informed customers, aided by programmes such as Watchdog, have become more vociferous in their demands for excellent product, service and price suited to their exact needs.
A one-size-fits-all approach is no longer acceptable. The travel industry has responded with service enhancements, improved brochures and call-centre information.
Fluid pricing has become an industry standard, with sophisticated pricing mechanisms closely matching supply to demand. And, of course, there has been an underlying trend towards later booking as confident customers with busy lives retain control and flexibility for longer.
New technologies, which lastminute.com has embraced have accelerated such changes. We can give customers all the information they require at the click of a mouse.
Technology allows customers and travel agents to search by price, destination, season, facility and so on to ensure their exact requirements are met with minimal effort required. And fluid pricing has developed into dynamic pricing – at lastminute.com we price at a premium as well as at a discount, run large seat auctions and soon we will introduce other exciting pricing initiatives.
However, maybe most importantly, we are able to take customer understanding and personalisation to far greater heights.
At lastminute.com, we know what our customers are looking at, who they are, where they spend their leisure time and what gifts they buy. Many of them visit our site more than twice a week, enabling us to share valuable data with travel suppliers who see the customers less frequently. Thanks to the power of the Internet, as an industry we can enhance the service we offer our customers.
“With the right product, price and marketing, it is possible to create new demand for excess stock”