 Welcome to Tourism Matters, an online TV program that explores the many aspects of tourism and how it affects our lives. Tourism is the totality of the phenomena and relationships arising from the interaction of tourists, business suppliers, hosts, government, and host communities in the process of attracting and hosting these tourists and other visitors to deliver a travel experience. It covers transportation, accommodation, dining establishments, retail shops, entertainment, attractions, and other hospitality services for individuals and groups traveling away from home. In this episode brought to you by the UP Asian Institute of Tourism and TV UP, we will examine the major trends that drive the growth of the tourism and hospitality sector and its impact to human development. The tourism and hospitality industry is very dynamic. It constantly adapts to the changing necessities, demands, and desires across human societies. Technological innovations from the Third Industrial Revolution and the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution has greatly transformed the tourist experience. People become more experienced in traveling and careful in their choice of destination, attracting them to a search for new places and new tourist products. They also are more mobile since cross-border travel become much easier due to the liberalization of airlines, construction of new roads, and globalization. Tourists are taking shorter but more frequent holidays throughout the year. They travel more frequently, actively seeking out diverse activities and experiences from their trip, and are now more concerned of the impact of their activities on the natural environment. Hence innovations drive development in the tourism and hospitality sector. Through the perspectives of the following industry practitioners and professionals, we will explore these trends changing the tourism and hospitality sector. Let me welcome to today's episode Mr. Micah-In from Century Travel Corporation and Eugene Sugian, our digital marketing consultant. Hello, Mike. Hello, Eugene. Hi, Marisa. Hi. Can you tell us more about what you do and the length of experience that you have had in the tourism industry? Sure. So my name is Mike Hyen, and I work as a Groups Manager for Corporate International Travel. And I've been a travel agent since when I graduated from AIT back in 1994. So you've never changed tracks? You've been in the hospitality? I also worked for some time in a BPO, but also as a travel agent. Okay. So it's been 21 years in the travel industry. Thereabouts, yes. How about you, Eugene? Hi, ma'am. My name is Eugene Sugian. I am a digital marketing consultant. I've been working for digital marketing for the last 10 years. So way back in 2009, back when it was eBay and Sulit, there was no Facebook then. It was still Friendster. So I started as an online seller back in college. And from there, I was part of the intubation team of Lazada Groupon and Zalora. And then from there, right now, I'm training digital marketing professionals and also marketing in sales departments for different companies all over the Philippines. So with digital marketing right now, it's very exciting. It's a new field that we'd like to all of us could explore. So now the topic that we are going to discuss is about trends in the tourism and hospitality industry. The reason for Mike's presence here is the travel agency sector has been one of the pioneer sectors in the travel industry. And digital marketing has been on the rise for professionals in the tourism industry. So we would like to see how the trends have evolved, especially for the travel agency sector nowadays that you call digital marketing as your disruptor. Okay, so can we hear a few words on how digital, how technology has actually affected both positively and negatively to the travel agency sector? When I started working in the industry as a travel agent, we would even manually issue airline tickets. When I say manually, we really write on the airline tickets and these are paper tickets that cannot be lost. Meaning if the passenger loses a ticket, yes, so buy again. Yes, correct. So it was like that before. With technology, the ticket actually evolved now to an electronic ticket but still using the same concept. So a lot of the old practices were actually used hand in hand with technology. So also during the time there wasn't, internet wasn't widely used. So in effect, we had to research flights using big books, the airline would issue, Ayata would issue those big airline books and we have to research using those. But now with technology, everything is really accessible with a click of the mouse. And then I remember technology in the past, we didn't have email. So if you're looking for flights, it has to be telexed or passed. And also you cannot email the airline for questions you have to call. Even passengers when they book, they either have to call the office, go to the office and then pay. Or they just have to go to the office physically. But with technology now, everything they can do via Viber, via WhatsApp or email. And then even their payment can be done through banks and then everything is quick. So technology was able to help. They did increase business because of the speed by which the transactions are made. As far as Eugene is concerned, now that the traditional way of how Mike has described it, how has it been influencing your position as a digital marketer? As far as with the traditional, what I can see with the traditional is that they're also evolving together with the digital marketing technologies we have. So Facebook started out back in 2008. It wasn't like that. It was basically just a social platform, but now it's basically an entire marketplace, a shopping mall, it could be anything. And Facebook is also, Google is becoming like that. Both are competitors. The traditional, we're seeing more niche markets for different traditional businesses such as hotels. They're also innovating. Resorts are also innovating. Even the destinations level in the Philippines in the provinces, they're also trying to learn how they could maximize digital marketing. So I've had clients before and also students from all over, from Mindanao as far as Mindanao and small destination municipalities who attend training here in Manila, just so that they could learn about marketing, digital marketing, how to use Facebook advertising, how to use Google AdWords, because these are not, although it's available in the internet, they're still looking for someone who could guide them with that. And I think the traditional businesses, if they are able to also know, well, basically to know the enemy, but it's actually not the enemy of an ally, if they are able to, they could maximize the potential of digital marketing. So you were saying that they have, they're able to niche to create market segmentation. How is that possible? With the technology, with Facebook, we have now, we have actually, we could shop different analytical platforms in the internet. We have Facebook analytics at the back end. If you're doing advertising, you could actually segment different markets by using data from the users. So later, I think we could discuss more about the issues regarding that, but they're also, again, we have challenges and issues regarding that, because again, you're breaching into the privacy of our users. So basically we have Netbase, we have Facebook analytics, Google analytics, you could use all those data to actually get the behavior of people, their interests, and how you could target them. So in terms of providing the service, it's faster. And in terms of service execution as well, because you basically know what the customer needs. So how does it might affect or impact your, the traditional way of offering the services, given that those are available, readily available in the digital realm? For traditional travel agents, travel agents like me and working in a traditional travel agency. In fact, we also use platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to market our products. However, there are still passengers who need to talk to somebody. Yes, it is easy for individual travelers to go online and book their future trips, but it's still different if you talk to a traditional, to somebody who's knowledgeable about the destination and the product. There's a huge data available in the market. And if a traveler does not have the time to research and figure out how to sort. Yes, the volume of data available. It will be difficult for the traveler. So that's where the traditional travel agent would come in. The friendly face. Exactly, and for the voice or, you know, because, and in fact, there are two major travel expos in Manila, in the Philippines. So we have the Travel Tour Expo and the Travel Madness Expo. And these are venues for customers to go and actually talk to travel agents to figure out what they can do. But still, in the back end, we still employ digital marketing to market, you know, during the rest of the year. Of course, if you don't do that, I mean, you know, you're losing also a chunk of the market. So you're actually saying they're complimenting your kind of business. And if you don't actually try and do that, I mean, you're gonna get left behind. We have to admit that this is the future. Yes. But even if it is the future, you still have a place in the industry. It doesn't mean that, you know, you cannot employ the technology for your benefit. So, yeah. Yeah, thank you. Now I'd like to move further to some issues that maybe you both encounter in the day-to-day operations of your sectors. Can you expound on some issues? As you mentioned earlier, now's the time for the issues. For the issues, I think one of the biggest issues we're facing right now is about data privacy of the users. There's a simplest way that these technologies, these platforms, the internet, can get your information is by simply getting your email. And once they have your email, you have this, you know, wealth of information that you could use for just one users. So this started back in 2015 when Facebook and Google was found out to be reaching on data privacy. And then we have this issue from... How's that when you have your email and then you get everybody else's email? Oh, yes. When you went, well, let's say with Google, when you subscribe into a service for the internet, let's say Facebook, you become a user and then you have Google. They get this, you answer this question. Data mining. Yes, they mine the data. And from there... How is that resolved now? It's not resolved. It's actually an ongoing case. And I think it will continue to be like that. Because it's very prone to abuse. We have this documentary about Cambridge Analytica who used it for election. And Facebook was a platform used for that. Also, the rise of fake news all over the internet. I think there should be more policing on it. And the rise of, you know, data theft as well. So those issues are very important because us as users, like me as a marketer, I question myself as well on my ethics. Am I going to use this data to get the results that I want or should I do it the hard way? So it's basically like that. Thank you. How about you, Mike? But even us now, like what he said about data privacy, it's also a big issue with us, especially because this involves funds. Meaning, you know, the clients give their credit card information to us. So even us, we're very serious about data privacy. And in fact, recently it's been implemented with IACA because sometimes we have to use the client's credit card as a form of payment. So right now, it is an ongoing issue. But which is they're trying to resolve anyway. So we're quite content with the current scenario. It's not like, you know, before where, you know, anybody can just anybody can just use the information, especially when they enter the credit card online. So there's more safeguards. Do you mean there's more safeguards in place for security and safety issues as well as the privacy of the customer? Okay. So it's evolving because you can hack, right? So those are issues that we need to contend with. How has it been evolving so far since we cannot avoid technology? Technology is here to stay, innovations. So how is it evolving? How do you see the progress of the travel industry in the next three, four years? Because it's fast 10 years ago compared to now. It's been super. It's skyrocketed. Travel purchases online has skyrocketed. So how do you see it evolving in three, four years? I can only talk about what we're doing in our company because we're not a huge travel agency. We're a medium-sized travel agency. And however, we cater to corporate clients and to leisure and leisure travelers in general. However, what we try to do is we offer, we try to look for destinations that we can offer our current clients and also something that we can market to people. We were able to pinpoint our market segment. And with that, you just really need to know where your strengths lie. You cannot pop up everywhere. It's difficult to do that. We know our strengths and we know what we can sell. So we zero in on that. We create products based on that. And even with our corporate clients, because right now a lot of the corporate clients, they're very sensitive to cost. So whereas 10 years ago, they're willing to spend more money right now, it's really more of what's cheap. Or probably value for the money to stretch the pencil. Of course, correct. And also the outside costs, they also increase. So it's not like before where everything, they can buy anything. So right now, even like for example, a dinner will have open bar before. Now it's not. So they're more cost-conscious now. So with that, we try to look for better deals for clients, which is they cannot do if they go online. Because they have to search it themselves. Don't you offer that kind of service where you can zero in on what Mike is saying, destinations that offer value for money? Or can it be done also? Yes, it can be done. Oh, it can be done? It can be done. Like there are basically right now, we have a number of marketing intelligence agencies who would guide companies to actually to sell data basically. So the information is there, but the experience is not. So experience plays a big factor. For example, you have a corporate client with 20 million budget, they will not. The computer cannot tell you. No, you need somebody to conceptualize a program for you. You need somebody to put it all together and then deliver the results. Because also especially for clients, for corporate clients who do corporate incentive trips. In incentive trips, you cannot just leave it up to whoever is there. You need somebody who specializes in that, which is what we do. So it's really you need to look for your niche in the market. You need to look for your strengths. So you're exercising, concentrating your resources in the maximum impact. The niche that will give you the maximum yield. Yes, and also because we also participate in trade shows abroad, where we also see the trends in the industry, meaning a lot of them employ technology. For example, for somebody who's organizing a conference, they employ technology for people to sign up, make it more easy for people to sign up. They have apps to do it. So unlike before where they have to, there's a long list of things that they need to do. Now you just go to your phone to register for an event. It's like that. Even us when we attend trade shows, we also do utilize phone apps. That's good to know. You're evolving and using technology as your friend. So the niche now is for travel agents. It's really the corporate travel for your specific experience. Correct. And also a lot of travelers now are looking for more experiential travel. That's the keyword experience because most likely they will forget a destination or a site, a specific site, but they will always remember the experience. And this is where we come in. They cannot get that information from, a computer will not tell them. This is what you'll experience. Somebody will have to explain and make you picture. This is what you will experience. This is how it is when you go to that destination. So it's like that. So we have to find a better way to market the product to the people. So that's more showing people where it's the experience and how it feels more than just the information that is available to anyone who knows how to search. To go online. Correct. Yes. In Eugene's experience, what do you think is the, how is it evolving and adapting to further development of the innovation? With, I actually agree with Sir Mike. Like I could, I see that right now when, when this Facebook thing started, Facebook advertising started, basically everyone was rambling to get into Facebook advertising, to get into digital marketing. But now I, I can sense that there is a retroactive innovation wherein all these, especially the hospital and tourism sector, you have to go back to experiences. How do you use technology now that you have a wealth of data to actually create specialized experiences for special, for, for people? How do you customize experiences? So right now, when we say that you're selling a product or a service, you had, you don't have to see it as like that. Any product, whether, you know, whether a can or a, you know, a sardines or a bag or a, or a bag or, or a shirt or, you know, to, to destinations, you could actually create an experience out of it. So what you should market now, what you should sell now is actually the experience, not the thing itself, not the product itself. How is that possible in digital, in the digital world? In the digital world, well, with the use of data, you, you, you get to know the behavior of people. These are the certain, we have influencers. They follow these certain influencers. These are the kind of photos that they like. So based from those aggregate data, these are the photos that are trending. So we have those trending, trending pictures. We have these trending topics. This is how we, there's this use of moment marketing, using moments. Wow, that's new. Moment marketing. Using moments of, for example, you know, the FIFA World Cup. And then you, you ride on it or traffic. And then where do you find it in stories? You find it in stories. You find it in Instagram. I think that the latest is September 1. When September 1 came in, everyone, you know, everyone, the shopping mall started, you know, using it, started playing the Christmas carols. So it was trending in, in the, in Twitter, on Facebook, like September 1, Pascona. So, September 1 is Christmas season. So those are certain moments that you need to capture. And actually data, internet data can be used by, by companies to use, to give, to give pleasure to the people, to give experiences to the people. So it's not more about on technological evolution. It's more about experiential evolution. So it's the behavior. It's the behavior. You're looking at the behavior of your online users. Yes, of the online users. Also, in terms of technology, I think the latest one that I was very surprised to, to, to see was back in last month, there, ABSCBN launched their ABSCBN TV Plus Go. It's a dongle with an antenna where you could just connect your Android. And you have TV. You have TV. Well, your community. And it doesn't get any, and it doesn't, it doesn't use your data. So I think that's a, that's a really, like, you know, something, an innovation that you could really see and use, especially for our market. So it was, I think they based that project from the data that, you know, a lot of, of the, of our, of the citizens here in Metro Manila, basically are stuck in traffic and they don't want to use data to, you know, to overuse the data. So they make, you have to put the TV into their, into their cell phone. And from there, you know, you get this innovation. So I think that's how, how, how it will progress for the next three years. Wonderful. You have information wherever you are. Wherever you are. And you can market on those, you know, on those devices as well. As far as we've discussed issues, now I'd like to go into what challenges do you see for your sectors? For now that travel is on the rise, but since we're into experience, we also see that our clients can be very demanding, right? So how do you see what, what challenges do you face in the, in the future? And now that you, you think are noteworthy for our viewers to, to know and to be aware of? Well, for us, because, like, because the information is out there. So for example, if they, if they inquire about a price of a product, and then they say, oh, how come when we check online, it's like this. Oh yeah. So, but they don't realize. They're more informed now, right? Exactly. But they don't realize that, you know, even after you sold them the product, they're still after sales service that you need to do. Like for example, if they encounter issues, if they encounter a problem, who will they go to? A lot of times when they, a lot of our, some of our clients, when they buy something online, and then for example, they encounter a problem later on, they go to us and say, can you help me, can you help me handle it? But what can we do, right? I mean, they are existing clients, but it really happens. It happens out there. Recently, there was this company that folded and it was in the news that they were selling that they sold a lot of packages and they cannot deliver. So these things are challenges to us, legit travel agents, because then people will think, oh, you know, are you legit? Are you not? Are you not? Right? So, so these are the challenges that we face on a daily basis. Then they just need to check with like, for example, the Department of Tourism. If we're registered, and also just deal with companies that are, you know, that are registered businesses with the local government. So, because if they don't, and then if there's a problem, you know, it will affect us. So, what other, what other problems do we encounter? A lot of times, when there's a complaint, you know, we have to, we have to assist them, if they're abroad. If they don't have a travel agent who assisted them, then what will they do? They have to deal with it directly, right? Exactly. So, we also sell like travel insurance to make sure, because sometimes when you travel, they, you know, you just go. But a travel, a travel agent will tell you, you have to get that, you have to get travel insurance, you have to protect yourself when you go. So, these are things that, you know, they might not think of if they just do it by themselves. So, thank you. And that's quite enlightening to find that there's really after, before sales and after sales service, it's really provided by a travel agency. That's what we sell after all, right? Service. We sell the service. We don't just sell a product, because there are plenty of products. But what is the right product for you? So, at least, you know, our regular clients, we know how they are. We know what they, what they like. And so, when they say, oh, I want to do this. And then we just suggest, like, maybe that's not for you. Maybe it's better if you go this way, this route. So, thank you. It's good that you know your market. Oh, yeah. That's very important. With the challenges from my end on marketing services, it's more on educating the clients, because when we, for example, when we propose videos, usually the client would just say, we want a video that will be viral. That's it. That's a goal. But it's hard to know if it's going to go viral, right? Viral. So, you have to present a case that, you know what, this will be the shots. This will be the concept. This will be the storyboard. When we present it to the client, the initial reaction is that, where is the product? So, they're still stuck into thinking that you have to, they're still stuck in the traditional approach of doing advertising, where it's all about product, benefits of the product, advantages, etc. It's too focused on the product. But right now, even in how we package, you know, how we package the advertising experience itself, the first contact, basically, of digital marketing, the first contact, the videos, the photos, we don't actually have to necessarily market the product. You have to market the experience behind what your product can do. So, that's, I think that's the major challenge that it's basic on the mindset of the clients and also for destination. So, we have tourism officers from all over the Philippines that are, most of them are not actually, they don't have the background for marketing or sales. They have different backgrounds on planning, etc. So, we have to educate them because these are clients and customers coming in from the provinces. We have to educate them that this is how marketing is being done these days. These are what makes videos viral, what makes video add value. So, the first thing that we have to realize is that your marketing material in itself is already part of the product. You cannot design it out from your product itself or use it just as a tool because you are actually being based or being judged by the market based on what you present already, that they're already buying that. And although they're not paying money, they're paying attention. They're paying time to actually watch the video because when you open your Facebook, a lot of companies are competing for my attention. So, how do you scroll or watch or stay on the page? Yes. So, that's the main issue now is how you break through the noise. With all these people, including your friends who are also marketing themselves, because everyone wants to become an influencer these days, you are actually competing for attention for each other, not just for companies, but also from users themselves who are creating stories, much better stories than actually your product. So, it's all about breaking through the noise. And in order to break through the noise, you have to know who you are talking to, how do you know, who is your market, what do you know about your market. So, it's more about using technology to create a database that you could actually give to people. You give value on that. So, I completely agree with Sir Mike with the experience. Also, I'd like to add as well that I think for the travel agency sector, for the tour operators sector, the main market would be the mass market, big groups that are... That's why he's group market manager. That's where the business is. Right? We have China coming in. We have China coming in. Yes, in buses and droves. Yes, in buses and droves. Like 3,000 Chinese tourists in just one group. One tour group. Wow, amazing. You will notice there are some travel agencies who actually employ digital marketing heavily. Like for example, they would invite... To break through the noise as usual. They would invite actors and actresses to travel. Influencers. Influencers. And they will post pictures, tag the travel agents. And these are actually good and also bad sometimes. Because good because they attract more possible passengers or possible clients. But bad in a way because then people would just want to become influencers. Because they're not all legit as well. Correct. So they're just in it for the money. And you read stories online of for example, somebody who would say that I'm an influencer. So therefore host me. Oh, so you get those kinds of offers now? Well not me but maybe properties, hotels, the like. So and then they will just say, we don't do that. We don't, we don't, that's not our market. Because a lot of the influencers, they actually attract the mass market. But you get also, you also get, there's also the luxury market which you can tap. So these are people who are willing to spend serious money for really good experiences. And so that's also a decision that business owners should make. Are you for the mass market? Then go truly full digital. But you also have this luxury market that's a niche that's willing to pay much for a similar experience. That's actually our business model. We don't actually do mass market. We do get a lot of luxury travelers as well as corporate travelers. So because if everybody does mass market, it's difficult. You know, the it is a saturated market. There are a lot of travel agents who do that. Even us, when we participate in travel shows or the tour expos, which is the B2C business, we were there to be seen and maybe get one or two clients who are who are actually good luxury travelers. That's why when you visit our booths, we don't have, we don't have all the promos posted. So it's a business decision that most travel agencies make on really finding that specific niche. You need to know what you're willing to do. So maybe to conclude, it's been very interesting that we've seen there's a lot of information available now, more information than ever. But the tourism product is really an experience that we sell and that we're allies, right? The digital world and the traditional world. If you have your last words to our audience who are mostly students of tourism of travel industry, what do you have anything to say to our budding travel agents and budding digital marketers out there? I think I'd like to speak to the students. Those who are actually studying already on tourism, the when you're when you're studying tourism in college, study also how to use digital technology. Because I think our industry tourism and hospitality, it's actually one of the early adapters of technology. We are actually first movers when it comes to technology. Also study digital marketing on Facebook on the side because in the Philippines, we don't have those kinds of schools yet or degrees yet available to the universities. But all of those, what you could learn like me, I personally just learn over the internet. And then go through it. If you choose to enroll in professional schools who are offering this for three-month seminars, it's actually very expensive. But all of those things actually can be learned. Still on the internet, if you're just very hardworking to investigate where it is. So I would suggest you start with Facebook Blueprint and Google AdWords from there. The sky's the limit when it comes to digital marketing. So there are your tips for the future digital marketers out there. Now for our traditional travel agency, there's still so much potential for students of tourism, right? And even when I hire people now, if we get applicants, I always put a premium on those who know how to do digital marketing or designing flyers that you can use and market digitally. So it is important that you know your strengths as a person, but you also need to learn other skills that you can use and apply for the future. Because you don't know what the future brings. So the future is actually full of hope. There may be challenges, but we look forward to a booming travel and tourism industry. We are in the right place, right? The world is becoming small. It's very accessible. The digital world. And because of travel, it really makes the world small. Thank you, Eugene. Thank you very much, Mike. And thank you for all the experiences that you've shared with us. And we look forward to future innovations and interactions. And in closing, we'd just like to say that in tourism, we really are selling an experience, whether it's face-to-face or digital. The information is available at our fingertips, but they're also a friendly face that we can hold onto or look up to so that we can experience a real travel that we can never forget. So with that, thank you very much and we hope you learned a lot today.