Consumer News

Consumer tourist is more educated and demanding

01/07/2014

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Runway takeoffs and landings from Galeão Airport Photo : Gustavo Miranda/18-9-2013

RIO - The market has to adapt to a more educated and demanding tourist consumer . That's exactly what Rodrigo Waissman , Marketing director of price comparison airfare and hotels Mundi . Faced with this new profile of Brazilian client , the company decided to focus on giving more information to the web surfer though that generate friction with its business partners . Since the second quarter of last year , the site provides the final prices of domestic flights , with the inclusion of fees charged by travel agencies online . To Waissman , technology must be used to give more information to the consumer .

When and how did the idea of presenting the search final amounts charged by online travel agencies come from?

We discuss the model two years ago and it was closed in 2012 planning for 2013 . Eventually implemented in the second quarter . We had a goal to give more education to the consumer internet , which is increasingly aware and activist . We wanted to provide more advanced information for the user . The fees charged by online travel agencies are legal . But consumers do not always have clarity of how much is being charged . Often you only realize you could have done a better buy to close the deal . Knowing full value only in the cart is not ideal for the user .

The idea then is prior to the 7962 decree , which regulated the Code of Consumer Protection with regard to e-commerce ?

Yes , and the timing was perfect . After the promulgation of the decree , all e- commerce sites or comparison had to be more transparent about the fees and charges included in purchases .

The online travel agencies that are partners of you questioned or criticized the decision , since many times the tickets are cheaper if bought directly from the airline company ?

Slightly . But our mission is to provide the best information for the user's purchase decision . In the airline is almost always cheaper yes . But there are negotiations between the agencies that allow offering the cheapest ticket . And this is the condition of Mundi . Some partners were upset yes, but the biggest challenge was technical .

Why?

We use the values reported by the exchange partners . When not pass on 100% of the information, estimate . The national sections account for 70 % of the flow of the site . Therefore extend to international flights is so difficult. The international segment has a greater complexity because of airports and exchange rates . But in 2014 our goal is to expand the service for flights abroad . It also depends on information integration .

The company does not lose the possibility of giving the consumer less clicks on the site?

Make money with media space and send a user to a site , regardless of whether the business is closed or not . Therefore , we can be neutral . Throughout the year , we realized how good and was the right decision. In clicks, we lost , since instead of clicking three times , now , the consumer clicks on one. Only the volume of users returning to the site increased by 30 % . Before , some arrived via marketing campaign and did not return . Now , go back and find the best product . It is a positive and qualitative feedback .

What you have seen in recent years in terms of change in consumer behavior ?

Over the past two and half years , the consumer is more aware and demanding . There has been a process of consumer education in different types of retail. Before asking discount was an ugly thing . The collective purchasing , for example , showed that there are other models , a healthy movement that generated more education to the consumer .

And how this can be realized in the tourist trade via internet ?

On the internet , it is even more obvious. We use technology to make information reach the consumer tourists who are more educated and demanding . Travel is not a trivial business to understand. The sector presents challenges are somewhat different from others. We get a lot of consultation and doubt who never traveled . Many people are beginning to travel to gora . And that takes time .

And what are the challenges in the price comparison service?

Partners already turned off because the prices were different on our Web site and the company . We have common sense and zeal as our 70 direct partners ee 700 airlines come to us via travel agencies .