Translation for the global travel industry: attention to detail pays
As the World Travel Market opens in London, with over 50,000 representatives from
190 different countries, what better time to consider how travel and tourism as
a sector can best respond to the challenge of communicating internationally and
growing overseas markets. Travel and tourism is an inherently international industry,
and is already one of the largest online market sectors. But companies in this sector
could grow their revenue significantly if they were to address the localisation
of products more professionally and market themselves more effectively on the Internet.
Tailoring your message to speak the buyer’s language
The simple fact is that you need to address users of your service in their own language.
Although English is the international business language, research has shown that
even fluent English speakers are much more likely to buy from a company whose website
has content in their native tongue. Producing and maintaining multi-lingual content
has become even more important in the last couple of years, as Internet growth in
emerging markets has reduced the market share of English online (based on page views)
from over 50% in 2002 to under 30% now.
As with all marketing copy, web content selling travel products must be closely
tailored to the potential buyer’s needs and desires. This is more important when
selling an intangible experience, which must be exciting, luxurious and different
enough to get the prospective buyer’s juices flowing and to encourage him to make
a purchase. The task becomes even more challenging when you are seeking to attract
buyers from different countries, all of whom have different cultural backgrounds
and have different which you need to push. For example, as Roy Graff, a former director
of octopustravel.com in China, explains, you wouldn’t market to Chinese visitors
in the same way as you would to westerners:
”Chinese people coming to the UK are interested in the country’s history, but their
real focus is on shopping. Many items considered by the Chinese to be luxurious
are much cheaper here, and they enjoy trips to places like Bicester village where
they can buy British products for less than they can at home. The Chinese are less
interested in cultural events like theatre where the foreign words and cultural
references wouldn’t resonate with them.”
So when trying to attract Chinese (or indeed, any other) visitors to come to these
shores, it’s worth keeping at the forefront of one’s mind what exactly is going
to sell them on the idea of making that trip. This is where the localisation of
copy becomes a necessity in order to target your message appropriately. As more
people the world over use the Internet to plan their trips rather than going through
traditional travel agencies, it is vital that your message bridges any cultural
and linguistic divides which might separate you from your target customers.
Managing multi-lingual content
Professional translation and localisation are now a necessity for travel companies
and tourism organisations alike. But having all this material in foreign languages
can pose its own challenges. How do you ensure that foreign character sets appear
appropriately on your website? How can you avoid your staff having to copy and paste
material in a language they don’t know into your content management system (a recipe
for disaster, if our experience is anything to go by!)? How do you ensure you are
using translation technologies effectively to keep costs down? We at Lingo24 have
seen companies try to manage their translated content in-house, and we’ve witnessed
some well-intentioned but horrendously inefficient attempts to take a perfectly
good website and make it multi-lingual. It is not a simple matter, and it’s something
translation service providers are best placed to handle in consultation with client
companies. As with other web projects, it is best to plan how a multi-lingual website
will work well before it is actually constructed.
Translate and they will come?
Of course, there is little point having a slick multi-lingual website if you aren’t
able to attract enough of the right visitors to make a good return on your investment
in foreign language content. The key is to establish where you need to appear online,
be it through search engine listings or on partner websites, in order to drive targeted
traffic. To achieve this, you really need to have an understanding of the ‘online
scene’ in each of your target markets, and a partner who can help you achieve the
positioning that will generate returns. It’s also important to measure both your
successes and failures in online marketing, as this will enable you to optimise
your campaigns over time. In an online marketplace as crowded and competitive as
travel and tourism, those companies that seize the initiative to build well-targeted,
highly visible and manageable, multi-lingual sites will reap the rewards now and
for years to come.
Christian Arno is a director of Lingo24, one of the UK's leading translation agencies.
With operations in seven different countries including New Zealand, Lingo deliver
translation services round-the-clock to market leaders in a variety of different
sectors.
Lingo24 Translation Services – Lingo24 Translation Services