Travel Inc Case Study

Introduction:

TRAVEL Inc. is a major player in the online travel agency market place. The firm is already successful in helping customers book airplane and hotel reservations easily and cost-effectively. The firm has been lacking in local travel and attractions, sometimes referred to as a concierge service. This service involves booking attractions, events, and activities that are available in each city or location. TRAVEL Inc. is addressing this open market by launching a new business unit called Bargain Destination that will setup and deploy a new website called "BargainDestination.com". The website will be utilizing social media and gamification techniques to generate user feedback. As TRAVEL Inc. launches this new business unit, they will be leveraging an innovative way of driving traffic. Will this new unit's structure, strategy, and utilization of gamification capture market share and essentially add significant value to the overarching firm?

Gamification:

Gamification is a new loyalty phenomenon which is becoming an integral part of marketing strategy in the current age of free information flow and social integration. It is a tool where customers are enticed to play a game on a website, gain points and badges, get titles and show their success on leader boards. Apart from attaining social status with points, badges and leader board rankings, which customers can show off in their social websites, customers can also redeem these points for discounts in their future bookings. With gamification, websites are getting customer loyalty along with customers becoming ‘experts' and ambassadors. This could eventually help websites in jumping the marketing chasm.

TRAVEL Inc.'s External Environment & Competition:

The external context has had profound effects on TRAVEL Inc.'s business over recent history. Its business has become more about price-taking versus price-setting, due not only to increased competition, but also due to the economic forces at work. A decade ago, it might have been difficult to foresee a fashionable resurgence in saving money through the use of couponing and online discounts. Also, high unemployment, weak fundamental indicators, and a global debt crisis have made consumers wary of spending frivolously, including travel and entertainment.

Hotel booking is more profitable than airline booking from an industry perspective. In fact, some Online Travel Agencies (OLTA's) will go so far as to book airfare as a complement to their other offerings, merely to stay relevant in the eyes of consumers. This has been especially important because of the continual addition of new competitors, due to the relatively low cost of entry and easily surmountable barriers-to-entry. With the creation of a website and a few strategic partnerships with travel providers,