Sounding Off: Stepping out from the crowd could be the only option

David Armstrong, CEO, HolidayPirates

“Running an OTA, you find yourself in a vicious circle… where everyone is doing more or less the same.”

Quote from David Armstrong, CEO at HolidayPirates, in an article on PhocusWire this week.

Each Friday, PhocusWire dissects and debates an industry trend or new development covered on our site that week.

That David Armstrong swapped the competitive world of online travel agencies for something with a completely different model, says a lot about where the market is.

And he did this five years ago.

In 2019, OTAs are clearly divided between those that do have billions to spend on digital marketing and those that do not.

Everyone, he argues, is in a continual cycle of throwing marketing dollars at performance ads or search engine optimization.

Obviously, two brands stand above everyone else with their ability to throw enormous amounts of money at the strategy. 

This leaves most other OTAs, of varying shapes and sizes, to fight it out for the rest of the business that the giants do not capture.

There are a number of points to consider here, if most can agree that the present situation cannot continue in its current guise.

Booking Holdings and Expedia Group are making enough of a noise about the ongoing irritation of funding a competitor (Google) that they may change their strategy.

Secondly, there is a growing sense that some kind of new customer acquisition model is required to get countless brands out of the cycle.

And, lastly, a more fundamental shift in the entire service expectations of the travel industry will force brands to undergo complete transformations, including their marketing behavior.

Every brand operating in a space where marketing consumes both the company’s financial and human resources should be considering how to fix the problem.

They should be thinking about how they will survive and thrive when the giants either get bigger or change their model for customer acquisition.

Plus they must be figuring out a new to find customers on their own terms. It works for HolidayPirates.

Change may remain the only way for online travel brands to maintain a role in the future.