Fvw Congress on Google: friend or foe?

The German travel industry is closely watching Google’s latest travel services to see whether they help business – or take it away.

The role of Google in the travel and tourism industry generated a controversial discussion at the recent fvw Kongress. In particular, managers are concerned about two new services. One is ‘Google Destinations’, which is designed to improve mobile travel planning with better displays of destination information.

The other is ‘Book on Google’, which simplifies the booking process on a mobile phone by automatically filling in part of a booking with user information such as name, address and credit card number that is stored on the phone. According to Google, both services are designed to improve user comfort and thus increase the conversion rate.

For Christian Bärwind, Head of Travel at Google Germany, these services are not a threat but an inevitable development. “According to our own research, customers research online in advance for 90% of all trips. And every second search is made on a smartphone. It’s only logical that we adapt to these trends.” In particular, information display and data entry needs to be simplified to cope with the specific weaknesses of smartphones, with small screens and poor keyboards, he pointed out.

Lufthansa sees the new Google services as more of an opportunity than a threat. The airline has been using the ‘Book on Google’ function in several markets for the last few months. Customers who find a flight using Google Flights can decide whether to book that flight via the Lufthansa homepage, including manual data entry, or via Google.

Sebastian Riedle, Senior Director Online Sales at Lufthansa, said the airline is satisfied with the initial results. “In markets where our own presence is not so strong, trust in the Google platform is perhaps greater than in Lufthansa. So this way we are reaching customers who we might not have had in the past.” The key factor is that Google supplies all the data to the airline. “At the end of the day, it’s like a Lufthansa.com booking for us.” However, the airline will maintain a balance between using Book on Google as “an additional channel”, its own platform and bookings through partners.

In contrast, Haakon Herbst, President of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association, criticised the often-cited “partnership” between players in the industry. “If someone googles me and first sees adverts from other hotels, then, in my view, a few things need to be sorted out,” he declared. The key question is whether Google displays all suppliers or not.

Similarly, Michael Buller, President of the German Internet Travel Sales Association (VIR), called for fair competition and access to customers. “If someone who makes a Google search lands in the Google world, in other words only with those suppliers who cooperate (with Google), then that’s not OK.” Google’s key advantage compared to OTAs, according to Buller, is that the technology giant not only knows a user’s travel behaviour but also a lot of additional information. “We’re heading towards a time when search will be replaced more and more by suggestions. That could be great, but it could also be a threat if there is a monopoly situation,” he warned.

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