The easy availability and affordability of   cell phones and tariff charges has made this the most practical means of communication and business transaction for the developing world.

Mobile revolution took center-stage in US and Europe, and most of the first-round innovations were because of the customer demands in these technologically advanced parts of the world. But, the markets which are making heads turn are the emerging economies – China, India, pockets of South-East Asia and Asia Pacific.

China & India factor

In addition to being one of the most populous regions on the planet, China and India are also witnessing an unheralded economic  economic growth, which is translating into a mammoth expenditure in the areas of telecommunication and connectivity. To account for the region as a whole, Asia pacific had a telecommunication budget of $405 billion in 2009 – And analysts are predicting an expenditure of $815 billion in 2015. China and India will jointly account for $369 billion spend on communications. In terms of mobile phone subscriptions, Asia Pacific will have 3.1 billion mobile phone subscriptions in 2015 – up from 2.1 billion in 2009.

In terms of sheer numbers…

• China will continue to have the world’s largest number of mobile phone subscriptions at 957 million in 2015
• India is poised to become the fastest growing mobile consumer with almost 93% increase between 2009 and 2015 – which approximately translates into 871 million mobile subscriptions.
• The one important number for the internet marketers is the volume of smartphone subscribers that is expected by 2015. Asia alone will be home to around 347 million smartphone users in another 5 years.
• To cap it off – Asia Pacific has the highest number of mobile phone subscriptions of all world regions, yet the potential is far from being exhausted.

credit: www.copperbridgemedia.com

Now comes the part of my broken promise to myself. As i was about to shift to another shopping AD, i could not help but notice the word Facebook at the bottom of the page – A Facebook profile link of  Woodland ….. www.facebook.com/woodlandadventure. Nothing wrong with utilizing the extra space on your AD when you have bought it, but it did pulled me into mulling over the change in the equation – Print media boosting the digital media for a major brand.

The next thing i know was that i was searching for my elusive scissors to get this AD ready for a scan  – another one hour in blasting off the post. As usual, my dream of a  day out was postponed….

No newspapers from next Sunday….time to Go Green..

It doesn’t need a mention that tourists belong to the multilingual fraternity spread across the globe. While planning to boost internet presence, the industry players must be careful in selecting the language that will establish an instant bond with the tourists. If travel and tourism industry is thinking in English, it must rethink in other global languages.

Tourists speak different tongue

Latest survey has revealed that 75% of the internet users browse non-English pages and 98% conduct search in their native languages. As tourism and travel industry is getting out of the shadow of recession and hogging fresh positive look, the industry needs to cater to every little need of the tourist.

Attracting foreign tourists is important for any player in travel and tourism industry. The efforts of the operators must reach not only the local tourists but also it should pull out the foreign tourist by innovative approach and strategies. Internet marketing via newsletters and emails is very effective in this respect. However, all these methods will bear more fruits if conducted in the tourists’ native language.

Verbal or otherwise, language creates an instant bond with the tourists, makes them comfortable and creates a leeway for further discussions.  Not only that, while the tourists are on the go, creating interactive travel counseling in their native language can prove to be very handy. Such user friendly methods can fetch more business to the operators and satisfaction to the tourists.

Tourists are observed to have more loyalty to websites and services offered in their native languages.  Industry operators must consider this aspect seriously and switch over to multilingual marketing strategy.

• Websites designed in local languages are more user-friendly and has better conversion rates.
• Internet marketing in local language has proven deep impact.
• Advertises in local languages finds an easy connect with the tourists.

Keeping the above points in view,

• Travel and tourism related website should offer information in different languages.
• Information should take into consideration the cultural aspects of each region and language.
• Emails and newsletters should be drafted in regional languages, preferably.
• The staff employed by the industry should be well conversant with more than one language.

Laying more importance on regional languages and imbibing them in every internet marketing aspect will certainly take the operators closer to the tourists and make their business more successful.

1. Increased competition,                            and                                        2. Retaining loyal customers

Increased competition

As in any sector, increased number of players is creating increased competition among various segments of tourism and hospitality industry. To gain upper hand in the competition, players are offering attractive schemes and prices to the customers. This has opened various options for the customers and they are indeed trying to make the best of the money they spend. This is causing attrition of the loyal customers and they are willing to shift from old service providers to the new ones who are providing better options at the same or even less prices. The medium and small players may have to cut down on its profits in order to get the chunk of customers.

Retaining loyal customers

Increased competition has had its effect on the retention of old and loyal customers of hotel and tourism industry. It has become difficult for the medium and small operators to retain old customers. It is more difficult for them as their brand promotion and advertising budgets are often restricted and these will not guarantee effective return on investments. Though, retaining loyal customers require less effort than fetching new customers, it is equally easy to lose old customers if no proper strategies are implemented in this regard.

The solution is right here

Internet marketing is the solution that will address both of the problems, increased competition and retaining loyalty. Aggressive internet marketing strategies run with the help of experts can take the client ahead of other competitors.

Emails and newsletters are the best cost effective options to keep in touch with the old customers and keep them informed about various offers and schemes run by the client. These are also effective in reaching prospective clients and attracting them with the offers.

Internet is fast being utilized by the tourists as a medium to seek more information even before stepping out of the house. Prominent presence on the net by internet marketing and reaching out to the customers by newsletters is the solution.

Already there are many businesses who are trying to engage their consumers and potential customers by setting up fan pages on Facebook. The advertising on Facebook seems to be the next new big ‘IN’ thing.

But honestly are Facebook advertisements really worth all the hype they have created?
Here you can find both positive and negative arguments and enough data to support both the views. So instead of condemning one or the other, the best approach for a business would be to use both for targeting different specifics.

When to use Google and when to use Facebook advertisements?
If click-through is really important to your website, and you can see that more people are likely to reach your site by search engines or your business belongs to a certain niche, going for a Google ad campaign would be a better option. Facebook advertisements have not been successful for pulling in the traffic as yet. Also, many people have observed the irrelevancy factor in the ad placing of Facebook e.g. an advertisement to date singles in an area was shown on many married peoples profiles. This is sheer waste of the advertising money.