In January, the top travel editors across the country, including Budget Travel ‘s Editor in Chief Nina Willdorf , met to discus travel trends at the sixth annual Travel Weekly Consumer Travel Editors Roundtable .

The conversation weaved through the emerging trends of river cruises , solo travel , all-inclusive deals , and the mobilization of travel technology. But the evolution of the consumer was on everyone’s mind: today’s consumer is decidedly looking to take back power and have an authentic travel experience.

With airlines seemingly charging for everything these days—Ryanair now charges $1.30 to use the restroom on a flight and SpiritAir now charges “overweight” bags at 41 lbs instead of 50 lbs —consumers are “smartening up and making the choice to go where they’re not getting nickel-and-dimed,” Willdorf said. Which is why Southwest Airlines, known for it’s budget-friendly-without-hidden-fees pricing, had more people fly with them last year than any other year, according to Willdorf, and the five fastest midrange hotels all offer free WiFi, foregoing previous standard policy of charging extra for wireless Internet.

With this in mind, Veronica Stoddart, the leisure travel editor for USA Today , said the next big pricing change in the airline industry will be the pricing of individual seats. Air New Zealand now has a ” cuddle class ,” where you and your honey can buy two seats and get the third seat half off so you have extra room to recline and snuggle.

Along with this value, consumers also want an authentic experience. “It’s all about experience now, and something that transcends the everyday, that puts you in touch with something enduring or authentic,” Nancy Novogrod, the Editor in Chief of Travel + Leisure , said. The recent rise in river cruising , which is growing at three times the rate of the seagoing cruise, reflects this trend. With small groups, new, stylized rooms, WiFi, and the ability to dock in the middle of a city, it allows people a more “local” experience than traditional cruise ships.

River cruising is also a great option for solo travelers, another emerging travel trend. The Norwegian Cruise Line created solo cabins, finally ridding solo travelers of the dreaded single supplement, which had been an expectation of the industry. “They’re missing the boat, so to speak, because there’s a huge appetite for this,” Stoddart said. Women, especially baby boomers who are on their own, according to Stoddart, want to explore and travel, and the industry will soon cater more fully to them.

This emerging take-back-the-power trend has also attributed to the resurgence of travel agents and all-inclusives. It may seem counter-intuitive to say these that these types of travels—where other people do things for you—has gone hand-in-hand with consumer power, but it has. People want to customize their plans and have a curated trip just for them. With all of the options for do-it-yourselfers, travel agents can simplify the process and make sure you get what you want. And all-inclusives allow you to relax and enjoy the sense of value. “You don’t need to be watching your hotel bill for all of the charges,” Willdorf said.

And with the multitudes of new digital platforms—iPad, iPhone, Android, Nook, etc.—the mobilization of travel technology is another emerging trend. “All this is changing how we think of everything,” Keith Bellows, the Editor in Chief of National Geographic Traveler , said. Novogrod expressed concern about this changing publishing landscape: “We’re all in a really vulnerable position right now because we are expanding in ways we never even knew would exist.”

Despite the unease of how the digital platforms will be used, it’s clear they will all focus on you—the consumer. “It’s creating a whole new opportunity for us to rethink what our connection is with the consumer, what kind of products we do,” Bellows said. Willdorf also sees the power with the reader: “We can’t just create and deliver. We have to connect. Once you connect people and they can talk, and they’re in your community, then you have self-sustaining content.”

Whether it’s the cruise industry remodeling ships to cater to the needs of solo travelers, travel agents preparing a specialized trip for a family, or the publishing industry creating new apps based on the information readers want, the power is most definitely in the consumer’s hand.

If you do things right in social media than one can capture 1.5 million loyal followers (JetBlue on Twitter).

Yet, companies can also stub their toe in the world of social media as evidenced by the YouTube success of United Breaks Guitars and Kevin Smith’s quarrel with Southwest Airlines.

Some items are beyond your control no matter how good you are at social media. However, there are a few to steps give you the best chance for success in the social media travel world and to increase sales.

social media escalator

As showcased in the diagram, the four steps are:

1. Listen – to your customer and conversations around your brand.
2. Interact – Join the conversation.
3. React – Adjust your services based on feedback.
4. Sell – If you Listen, Interact, React, this will happen with less effort.

Companies often enter the social media fray and jump straight to step four, selling. This is the worst thing you can do, and it won’t be effective.

You need to start with step one, which is listening. Without listening, the other three steps won’t achieve any degree of success. As many have said before me, there’s a reason we have two ears and one mouth.

After listening, then you have the appropriate baseline and credibility to join the conversation.

Imagine if you were at a housewarming party and walked up to a group of four people who were already engaged in a conversation and said, “I’m not sure what you are talking about, but here is what I want to talk about.”

You don’t want to be “that girl” at the housewarming party and you don’t want to be “that girl or company” in the socialsphere.

Many get the listening and interacting correct, but then they commit a terrible crime. They don’t do anything (react) based on the suggestions and information gathered?

If 90% of the people complain about a certain aspect of your hotel, airline, etc, it’s imperative that the issue is resolved, and resolved promptly.

If 90% of the conversation is centered around certain aspects of the hotel or customer service that people love, then it’s imperative that this information is placed in the appropriate hands (PR, production, sales, customer service, etc.) – let’s make sure we do more of this! Everyone loves it.

We won’t touch on selling too much, because if you do the first three steps well (Listen, Interact, React), then the selling will happen with a proper push here and a prod there.

Notice in the diagram that the steps for the customer then happen in the reverse order of the company. This is huge. It’s these steps that the customer takes within social media that give an exponential return (good or bad).

If it makes it easier to grasp, you can consider the following as steps 5, 6, 7, 8. This is where the magic can really happen.

* Listen: The customer books the reservation from the selling company. The customer’s first step is to listen for what to expect (important expectation setting here). What is the value that will be delivered? What experience can I expect?
* Interact: The customer will then travel.
* React: During or after this interaction, the customer will react according to his or her experience (good/neutral/bad).
* Sell: The consumer’s reaction to the experience will determine if they sell for or against (the company/airline/hotel/cruise line). Keep in mind if it’s a negative reaction, you still have a chance to correct the situation by interacting and reacting.

That’s the beauty of social media. As a company, if you appropriately engage in the four steps, then the stairs in the diagram act more like an escalator (pun intended) rather than a traditional stairway (ie. Social Media Escalator).

It will create a positively circular motion, which, with the appropriate greasing (effort), will continue to take your travel offerings to the top. And that is the true beauty of Socialnomics.

The best strategy in social media is a simple one. Always remind yourself of the fundamentals.

NB: This article is written by Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics. His book is available on Amazon.
as published in PAII Innfo Newsletter