Blog homeI have been thinking about web based community forming recently - with a focus on communities within the online travel industry itself (rather than forming communities of consumers)
One stumbling block that I have come up with is a core difference between highstreet travel agents and online travel agents.
High street travel agents - helpful
Lets assume that a travel agent in Southampton has a problem with how to solve a particular issue - it could be a tricky customer, a commercial issue, a question about a product or destination etc. A travel agent in Glasgow (who doesn’t compete at at all with the Southampton based travel agency) may be able to assist - and, via some form of web based community, provide an answer (or at least lots of opinions). This could lead to a mutually beneficial system. Forums or social networks could be built up based on this mutual benefit.
Online travel agents - competitors
However, in the online travel industry, everyone pretty much competes with each other. There are no geographic barriers, even between countries. Another website is just one click away. Everyone is chasing the same Pay Per Click keywords. Therefore will online travel industry professionals help each other with problems via an online community? Very unlikely - unless you are a consultant or service provider of some kind - then it is probably because you want to show you know what you are talking about - in order to gain commercial benefit.
So - the people who ought to be pushing online communities (i.e. people with an online background) won’t form communities. Those who would most benefit from a community (the highstreet travel agents) don’t have one….
At least the airline pilots have a nice community where they can talk about their section of the industry! See the Professional Pilots Rumour Network (PPRuNe). Their forum is also very good for discussion on commercial topics - for example EasyJet buying GB Airways - you get some insight that you don’t get from any other travel industry news website (or community)
If you want to be notified next time something is published sign up for email alerts or subscribe to the RSS feed. Thank you for reading!
