Travel Deals Abound on Social Media Sites

30 March 2011
Translate

The following excerpts are part of a longer article, Travel deals abound on social-media sites, published on The Arizona Republic.

PhoCusWright's Quinby said the sales and marketing trend is in its infancy. The deals aren't tailored enough to broadly change the way travel is booked. "It's very much spray and pray," he said. Another obstacle: Many people don't want to wade through a pile of e-mail offers to save a few bucks on a vacation. "There's enormous potential, but enormous unrealized potential," he said.

Quinby predicts the day when people receive personalized offers from online travel agencies, local-deals providers, social-media sites and others that team up to send deals to travelers based on their booked itineraries.

People who check in at an airport on Facebook or FourSquare, for example, might receive an offer for the airport bar if they are headed for a vacation or a Starbucks special if they have an early flight home. "That's the type of thing I get really excited about," he said.


The article explores both the consumer view of travel deals on flash sale and group buying sites, as well as multiple experts take on whether this is profitable in the long run for businesses, and where the market is heading.

Read the entire article by Dawn Gilbertson.

Comments