Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

While cost is a major factor for both business and leisure travelers when booking their trips, site navigability and functionality are a close second to price. Even if the price is right, users will balk at Website problems or abandon their purchase if they have trouble navigating and dealing with the checkout process. In addition, travel bookers – particularly business travelers – may not return to sites they have encountered problems with to make future plans.

Consumers may be ready to take vacations this summer but they won’t be looking to spend a lot of money. This financial reality make travel marketing particularly challenging. However, there are ways to streamline e-mail campaign tactics to improve rates of return on marketing expenditures. According to a recent report by The Relevancy Group, nearly 1/3rd of e-mail marketers claim that churn on their lists is a top problem. When an e-mailer is working from a list that contains old addresses, the rate of return on any campaign falls.

After years of ‘staycations’ and camping out at the local state park, are consumers ready to spend more on travel in 2010? eMarketer notes that the slowdown in travel caused online travel sales to drop to $88.4 billion in 2009. But all that should change this year.

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Taxi Services. The following are the predicted Top 5 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

* Taxi driver employment is expected to grow 16% between 2008 and 2018, due in part to predicted increased demand from the aging population and tourists.
* Some cities are testing out congestion pricing, including New York City, which is starting a three-year program to improve traffic management.
* More taxis are equipped with technology-based improvements, including interactive electronic passenger maps.

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Golf Courses. The following are the predicted Top 5 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

* Golf courses are increasingly working to attract young people to the sport through high school sponsorships.
* Some courses are trying to extend the season by placing heated tents at certain holes.
* Public events, such as weddings, are becoming more common at courses.

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for National Parks. The following are the predicted Top 5 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

* For cash-strapped travelers, national parks are an affordable and accessible vacation.
* Travelers with RVs continue to be a lucrative market for national parks, especially as Baby Boomers enter retirement.
* Consumers are increasingly aware of the need for conservation, which may drive visits, as well as financial contributions and volunteering.