In the next couple of years nearly half of Europe’s travellers will book their holidays online. The majority of online travel purchases are made direct with the supplier. The major holiday destinations in southern Europe & Mediterranean are still tied to the tour operators, however certain companies have embraced the online trend, understand how to sell direct via Social Media, Mobile and other online marketing strategies and therefore they have seen their sales grow, distribution costs fall and their profitability soar.

How is the travel consumer evolving the way they research, communicate and purchase the travel product and where must you position yourself for maximum profitability?

EyeforTravel and Travel Media Applications are collaborating to run a new event in February 2011 in Athens-Greece, that will enable Southeastern European & Mediterranean Travel companies to engage with and sell to their customers online and via social media and mobile to sell more at reduced distribution prices.

Attendees will be able to:

• Take a look at how the travel consumers are evolving the way they research, communicate and purchase the travel product and understand how they must position themselves for maximum profitability
• Manage their distribution channels for maximum profit. Know when to sell direct and when to release inventory to tour operators, tourism sites and affiliates
• Understand how to push their product across the buying cycle from research to purchase
• Understand the role of revenue management in increasing their products profitability
• Use mobile and social media to drive non core ancillary sales whilst the consumer is on holiday

It’s this trend that we will explore in the conference with the assistance of executives and experts from the travel industry that will show us, through realistic case studies, the ways they deal with online channels.