Social Media and Marketing

Exclusive: Interview with Gurmej Bahia, director of Customer Marketing at Expedia

Published: 12 May 2011

Exclusive: Interview with Gurmej Bahia, director of Customer Marketing at Expedia

By Ritesh Gupta

Travel companies have realised that the way their respective target groups intend to engage with them can have different connotations, and accordingly, it calls for a varied approach when it comes to content.

For instance, online travel booking site Expedia.co.uk says while some travellers are interested in a more personal relationship with its brand and inspirational engaging content, others are more motivated by practical services and information which will make travel booking simpler. Considering this, Expedia says its goal is to offer greater flexibility in catering for these differing needs and interests.

Responding to such outlook and expectations, travel companies are coming up with new useful services.

Expedia.co.uk recently upgraded its Expedia Tripcompanion Facebook App. The company says its Expedia’s first European Facebook application service now features increased customisation and targeting, combined with a greater focus on the ‘during trip’ functionalities.

The company says during the course of the development of Expedia TripCompanion, its main focus was to combine the data it has with the strengths of Facebook to provide a valuable service to consumers. Expedia has insights into when and where people are travelling and, in most cases, where they are staying. What social media - and Facebook in particular - offers is the opportunity to support these customers beyond the booking phase by providing relevant, highly targeted content which can be shared amongst their network to enrich their trip experience and facilitate group travel planning, says Gurmej Bahia, director of Customer Marketing at Expedia.

“With Expedia Trip Companion we aim to extend our support to our customers beyond just the booking phase to place added focus on the pre-trip preparation, in-trip and post-trip stages, leveraging the strengths of social media to help in planning and trip sharing and working in combination with other channels where appropriate,” Bahia said.

Expedia Trip Companion is the first step towards creating a dialogue with the consumers that can capitalise on the viral aspect of Facebook to stimulate discussion and share details on their upcoming trip.

“The clear benefits of Facebook (and other social networking sites) over conventional channels is that, through these sites, we can make the experience more interactive and reach an extended network of friends where previously this would have been done verbally,” said Bahia.

In order to know more about the latest app, EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta spoke to Bahia. Excerpts:

How do you think your Facebook App stands out and is creating a new benchmark in the travel industry?

Gurmej Bahia:

The aim of the Expedia Trip Companion is to address the needs of travellers at every stage in their journeys. Other travel apps mainly focus on a particular area such as the planning stage whereas we are taking a more holistic approach by providing support for all stages.

As part of this strategy we are looking at adding additional third party content to give the user greater choice and the ability to filter recommendations based on style and publication source to create a more personalised experience.

At present we incorporate top rated activities and restaurant and bar suggestions from TripAdvisor, but the app is designed to be able to incorporate a variety of feeds and we are currently looking to extend the variety of content and suggestions we can provide through Trip Companion to offer ever more tailored and relevant content.

Travel companies have utilised customised websites and email programme to add to the pre-holiday excitement. Expedia Trip Companion provides relevant content for travellers throughout each stage of their trip. Can you elaborate on how do you expect the involvement level or content consumption when it comes to your latest offering?

Gurmej Bahia:

Expedia Trip Companion was designed to enable people to engage with it in a variety of different ways and to allow users to set the balance of how much they want to share or just consume content. The interface has been increased in size and now incorporates an interactive map view with filters to allow users to select what they see; further encouraging a higher level of user interaction. Initially we would anticipate that engagement will focus on the map suggestions and but as more people use Expedia Trip Companion we will be able to deliver an even more personalised experience by incorporating the activities and places that friends have liked, creating a virtuous cycle.

We understand that not everyone wants to– or is able to - be connected 100% during their trip so we have introduced increased flexibility in how the content is shared and consumed: for example the interactive trip planner that can be shared within Facebook or printed off and taken separately, so it can be used on the go.

Building on the success of the first iteration and seeing the level of interaction around the automated wall posts, we have introduced a sharing functionality that enables the user to share the trip within their network if they wish. In this way we are able to offer recommendations from both the mass of travellers who have visited that destination along with more personalised advice from their social network.

While developing this app, Expedia has shared that its main focus was to combine the data Expedia has with the strengths of Facebook to provide a valuable service to consumers. Expedia says it has insights into when and where people are travelling and, in most cases, where they are staying. Can you provide an insight into the behaviour pattern of consumers post their booking cycle? What do they look for be it for enhancing their trip or even their expression (posting of content) once their trip starts?

Gurmej Bahia:

What online travel agencies like Expedia have been very good at is helping travellers to book the right hotel and flight combination, but where Facebook can help is with the all important details around their trip like finding the best espresso in Rome just round the corner from your hotel or where to hire kayaks in Stockholm.

Our focus is very much on helping travellers to get the most out of their precious time on holiday. Equally, travel is an inherently social activity so sharing your travel experiences comes naturally. The automated wall posting proved very successful at triggering discussions and follow up posts on the user’s wall.

To facilitate further viral exposure Expedia also included the share functionality that enables the user to share their travel plans within their network, but also give new users the opportunity to see the app functionality and download their own version.

How through your app, travellers can tap into their network of friends for more details, by directly messaging their friends, or by posting a message to a group of friends, to gain the unique travel insights from those who know them best. How are you enhancing the exchange of trusted referrals, travel do's and don'ts, and making the travel experience more relevant and social to each person who interacts with the site?

Gurmej Bahia:

By leveraging both the wealth of information from travellers across the globe and your own social network, Trip Companion can help you draw on the right sources of information for your current travel plans: sometimes you’ll have a wealth of experts within your social network, but at other times you may prefer to look to other travellers you’re not connected to - or you may just want to seek inspiration to try something different to your friends.

What we have seen is that both the suggestions surfaced through the TripAdvisor content and the automated wall posts soliciting advice have been very valuable in triggering discussions. Through combining both personal advice from your network and the wealth of traveller advice online, Expedia Trip Companion can offer a more personalised focus: personal in terms of where those who know you would recommend you to go, but by allowing personal selection of the information you use.

Expedia Trip Companion is one of a number of ways we will be facilitating this type of more personalised travel with more news on others to follow soon.