62% of travel product developers say social media and in particular Facebook is a vital source of data when building new products
Early findings for a report that we release this November indicate that social media is no longer just for marketing and customer service. Well over half the travel companies so far surveyed show that they social media is vital to assess the demand for new travel products.
37% say that Facebook is the best network for product development but with Twitter performing so badly in the survey it does indicate more focussed social communities are also proving highly valuable. As well as the free data from social media sites, Google is another incredibly useful data source with over 21% rating data from Google is vital for their product development.
The travel industry spends millions each year on developing products and services. The survey reveals the industry needs guidance over which sources of data are truly valuable. 28% of those polled say its lack of knowledge on the data sources that is holding their product development back.
The full report findings will be delivered at the Product Development Strategies for the Travel Industry Conference taking place on London the week before World Travel Market in London.
Over 100 top route planners, product developers, purchasers and investors will attend to debate what strategies are best for delivering long lasting profitable products and particularly focus on the evolving sources of data and data management that the industry is starting to integrate into the product development process.
The event agenda and list of top speakers c an be found here: http://events.eyefortravel.com/profitable-product-development/
If you are a travel supplier or intermediary we need your input. Please take 10 minutes to fill in the survey here: http://events.eyefortravel.com/profitable-product-development/survey.asp
If you have any questions about the research or the event please call me, Tim Gunstone on +44 (0) 207 375 7557
