The Magic of Historical Data: Understanding Consumer Habits And Profiting From It

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This post comes from our partner Adara.
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It’s been said that those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.

Nowhere is this more true, in a positive sense, than travel: If I know a traveler’s history, I can expect her not only to repeat it – I can even expect to anticipate it, predict her questions or concerns, and even anticipate what purchase she will make next.

Welcome to the magic of historical data.

For airlines, hotels and others in the travel space, records of online interactions are a treasure trove of valuable information.

By aggregating them, putting the pieces together one by one and seeing how the picture builds over time, a kind of online pattern, or personal purchase history, is created. And that history is key to reaching travelers and impacting their purchase decisions.

Let’s take an example.

On a recent business trip, I started at my home base, San Francisco, and visited Las Vegas, L.A. and Dallas, before returning home.

I booked my flights via an airline website, visited three online travel agencies (OTAs) for hotel, booked a rental car online for the Dallas leg, and made reservations in restaurants at all three. In Vegas, I attended a show; and in L.A., I ordered a gift online for my sister back home, who is expecting her first child.

Aggregating data, over time, would allow a merchandiser to see I visit Vegas on business frequently, several times a year, and stay at one of three different hotels each time. If that information were passed along to the hotels, it’s likely they would be successful at selling me an upgraded room, or special travel package, at some point in the next twelve months.

Someone would also be able to tell that I almost always rent a car in Dallas – it’s a“driving” kind of city – and I almost always keep it for less than two days, because my visits there are brief.

Imagine the kinds of targeted special offers a car company could make to me on that basis?

While I rarely attend shows in Vegas, I almost always eat out in any city I visit, often taking clients; and I prefer well known chefs who have restaurants in multiple locations – so Wolfgang Puck, or Joel Rubichon could make a killing on my travel . . . if only they were able to predict where I will be, and when.

A retailer would also quickly learn that I do much of my gift shopping online, and travel providers could learn this as well.

So a purveyor of gifts – baby gifts or other – might want to know that they should reach out to me when I’m on the road, not when I’m at home, because that’s where I do most of my online retail shopping and am most disposed to buy. A travel provider might want to know that I typically take time out each year to plan an annual summer family getaway while I am visiting Vegas in the spring. They would know that, if they followed my historical booking patterns over periods of time, and they would be well positioned to assist me in the planning the coming year’s retreat.

All of this travel data is online, and it’s available.

It’s a matter of accessing it in the right forms, and watching it grow over time.

At Adara, we collect more of this than just about anyone else, with more than 250 million monthly unique traveler profiles, and 70 data partner relationships with leading travel providers, including major hotels brands, and international air carriers such as Delta, RyanAir, Marriott, and Hilton.

Let history be your guide to profitability. If you dig deep enough, you may find the complete picture of the “holistic traveler” you are looking for.

It’s time to get started with ADARA.

This content is created collaboratively in partnership with our sponsor, ADARA.