ABA recently endorsed the Busie Digital Trends Report, which underlines the importance of digital technologies to the charter bus industry.
Busie — a company that provides an online platform to charter bus operators to help them simplify the quoting and booking processes for both their charter sales teams and their customers — released the report to showcase how digital technologies are empowering operators, large and small, to compete more effectively and generate more business opportunities. Regardless of fleet size, operators who are lagging on technology trends are seeing reduced website traffic and lower levels of inbound business opportunities.
“While motorcoach operators have a lot of competing priorities in running their businesses, leaders in the industry have already made digital technologies a major part of their strategic plans,” said Louis Bookoff, CEO of Busie. “A company’s ability to adapt to significant and ongoing changes in how travelers research their trips, how customers want to buy, and how online brokers are perceived by the market will be a key factor in whether they will succeed or fail over the coming years.”
More than 100 operators across the country contributed to the survey results and an additional more than 500 operators’ public website data were considered.
“ABA supported this survey of operators as we know the industry is changing as more generations – from Boomers to Gen Xers to Millennials – are embracing motorcoach travel and technology,” said Peter Pantuso, president & CEO of ABA. “More people than not now book their travel online and the industry needs to be online to stay competitive to other modes of transportation. The days of taking days and weeks to give someone a quote on their trip are over. People want information now or they will move on. The industry’s competitors – airlines and trains – have offered online booking for decades.”
Key findings in the report show:
- Operators who invest in technology have more time to pursue other strategic goals.
- Operators need to ensure that their technology is secure and they protect client’s data.
- Universal digital trends, such as the rise of e-commerce and search engines, have generated significant impacts across the travel industry.
- As the charter bus industry evolves with market demands, technology will play a central role in both spectacular successes and failures.
To learn more, download the report here or contact Busie at hello@getbusie.com.
In partnership with ABA, Busie research and produce the Digital Trends Report annually to keep up with market dynamics as they change.
This release originally appeared on the American Bus Association website. You can view it here.