What If ?

The most important information for many companies, is their data base of clients. This is where business comes from, this is where relationships are built and sometimes this is all that remains to be sold when a business closes. Ask the travel industry, leisure and corporate, how important their client profiles are and they will answer with one voice that this data base keeps bread on the table. The bigger the data base the more bread, the bigger the data base the more likely they are, to have an exit strategy.

From a corporate travel perspective, client profiles with as much relevant personal information are seen as gold, as they are the start point to any bookings made via the travel reservation technology. For years there have been battles between travel companies, airlines and tour companies about who owns the customer, focusing on who owned the traveller profile and what they could do with that profile. Large corporate travel companies may have thousands and thousands of traveller profiles guarded and maintained in specific profile software to be downloaded whenever travel arrangements need to be booked.

Global corporations working with global and regional travel companies could provide hundreds of thousands of traveller profiles to be housed within the travel company software. I'm always fascinated by some of the large numbers spewed forth as an indication of strength by travel companies proudly showing off, who they look after and how well they maintain those profiles and relationships.

For one large global entity, a travel company would have to have software capable of handling over 750 million passenger profiles which sounds like a nice earner if you could win that contract. Of course you know which entity I'm talking about, it's Facebook with its millions of friends who all travel and either book online or through the traditional travel agency network. The wrinkle of course, is Facebook could turn the whole system on it's head if it decided travel was an area they could make money in.

So what if all travel was social?

What if Facebook decided to use all those profiles and market travel direct to their members? They already have relevant traveller information and even if it wasn't enough in the beginning, they could build an interactive app to encourage Facebookers to fully flesh out their profiles with the required traveller information. Likes, dislikes, favourite destinations, favourite airlines, groups, events, and friends all make for a perfect storm of Facebook colliding with the travel industry.

No single global company has the opportunity to change the face of travel like Facebook. Using Google as an example with their purchase of the ITA travel software, Facebook could just as easily obtain a system or even build one from scratch to provide their 750,000 million members with alternatives to how they book and interact with the travel industry today. Locally Facebook has 10.5 million members in Australia, which is close to the nearly 11 million Australians holding passports. Scary numbers for international travel that doesn't even take into account domestic travel.

All the things the travel industry talks about, client forums, customer feedback, suggestive travel, common interest groups, loyalty and ease of interaction, along with the advantage of massive buying power could see Facebook take social commerce to new heights with social travel. Yet why stop there, what about Facebook Airlines, Facebook Cruises, Facebook Coach Tours, Facebook Rent A Car etc etc.

What if?

P. S.

Facebook is banned in China and the local version, called Renren ( meaning everyone ) already has over 120 million members.

What if?