As travellers become increasingly price-conscious, data collaboration is helping travel advisors deliver more personalised recommendations, spot changing booking trends earlier, and provide better value in an increasingly competitive market, writes Melanie Hoptman (pictured), VP and Managing Director, Brands and Agencies, APAC, LiveRamp
The travel industry continues to be in a state of flux. As price sensitivity rises, brands are fighting harder than ever for attention. In fact, 31 per cent of Australians plan to cut back on travel spending in 2026.
But when budgets tighten, consumers don’t necessarily stop traveling. Instead, they make considered trade-offs, seeking out discounts or opting for closer destinations. Advisors must shift from selling generic luxury to delivering hyper-targeted value for budget-conscious consumers.
One of the biggest opportunities emerging across the industry is data collaboration, which involves connecting data from various sources to generate combined insights for product development, analytics, and targeted campaigns. For advisors, data collaboration improves their understanding of clients and enables more personalised deals that meet tightening budgets.
A fragmented industry creates real challenges for advisors
Advisors today operate across multiple booking systems, supplier platforms, loyalty programs, and media channels. In fact, more than 91 per cent of agencies now use four or more booking systems, resulting in inconsistent, scattered information that is difficult to manage.
Fragmented data creates three challenges:
1. Personalisation becomes harder: When client insights sit in different systems, it’s challenging to tailor recommendations
2. Forecasting becomes guesswork: Trends and intent signals are harder to identify using incomplete data
3. Marketing and retention become less efficient: Without a unified view of the customer, advisors risk overspending on outreach or repeatedly targeting the same customers.
Data collaboration addresses these issues by combining all customer insights – from wishlist destinations to past trip bookings – into a unified view, allowing advisors to deliver consistent traveller experiences and reduce their technology costs.
Using data collaboration to gain a clearer picture of each traveller
For advisors, the biggest benefit is unlocking a more rounded view of your clients. When first-party data is safely connected with insights from airlines, hotels, destinations, or media partners, travel advisors can identify not only where someone wants to travel but why, how, and what they value most.
Advisors can act on unified data insights to:
● Replace historical guesswork with predictive forecasting
● Deliver context-aware, hyper-personalised recommendations
● Capture customer booking intent during the initial ‘dreaming’ phase
● Avoid repetitive marketing and effectively allocate budgets
As cost-of-living pressures increase, advisors can generate insights from unified data sources to craft more personalised recommendations: from smarter budgeting advice to travel packages tailored for price-conscious consumers. With continued instability and economic unpredictability, it’s possible that Australians may reel back planned and upcoming travel — marketers leveraging data collaboration and unified measurement would be able to see this shift sooner and act faster.
Through data collaboration, advisors can identify customers who fall into this risk-averse bracket and personalise recommendations accordingly with more flexible flight tickets and high-coverage travel insurance policies.
As the travel landscape shifts toward budget-conscious planning, advisors who embrace data collaboration can anticipate trends faster and meet changing customer needs. In an uncertain world, helping travellers find the right trip at the right price not only keeps the business going but also keeps travel dreams alive when they matter most.
