The Travel Scene: Viator

This month in our series The Travel Scene we catch up with Viator, the world’s leading resource for finding and booking travel experiences around the globe. Kelly Gillease is the head of marketing globally and she explains why today’s form of travel is changing and how the online travel industry has helped grow her brand.

Tell us about yourself. What is your connection to the travel industry?

I’m currently Vice President of Marketing for Viator, but have worked in travel for more than ten years, previously at Hotwire, a US discount OTA startup now owned by Expedia.  As Vice President of Marketing, I’m the head of marketing globally and looking after our localization and multi-lingual strategy. I view my job as making sure everyone hears about how awesome Viator is and gives us a try on their next trip.

Your style of travel is quick short tours and trips. Why is this way of travel more popular than other ways? 

As travelers become more savvy and adventurous, they like to travel more independently and not always on a super structured, long group tour. We’re all about letting travelers be as flexible as they want in their travel. It could be booking things well ahead or last minute on a mobile device. We also find travelers are looking for unique experiences so we help create itineraries that cater to their interests. After all, Viator is about connecting travelers to the best travel experiences around the world.

How did you first get involved with Travel Massive and what benefits have you seen from attending the events?

We’ve sponsored Travel Massive events in San Francisco, New York, Sydney and Melbourne. Several of us in San Francisco started attending events locally.

Travel Massive events have helped us connect with other members of the travel community. We’ve met great Viator partners, suppliers, bloggers and even future Viator employees at Travel Massive events. At every event we find great enthusiasm and excitement around new innovation in the travel industry – it’s really energizing!

We think more travel brands should tap into the online media industry. How has online travel media helped your brand? 

Viator is totally an online business, we wouldn’t exist without it! We’ve grown our overall sales and brand awareness almost solely through online media.

What kinds of travel professionals do you work with in the online travel space?

We work with travel bloggers, photographers, and video bloggers who contribute to our Things to Do blog, where we post travel tips, recommendations, and inspiration to help readers plan their travels. We help bloggers, like our team of ambassadors, experience our tours and share those experiences via blog posts, photos, video, and social media. We’ve also worked with photographers and videographers to source amazing photos and videos of our tour products, and to help build our site into a more complete resource for travelers.

What do you look for when working with bloggers?

We look for people who are good storytellers – whether they tell those stories with words, photos, or video – and who can inform and inspire other travelers. Good writing, photography and video skills are the most important. Then we look at how closely the blogger’s values and travel style align with our needs and what that blogger can bring to the partnership. We look at a blogger’s audience (is it an audience we want to reach? does it extend beyond other travel bloggers?) and engagement (are they actually influencing the decisions of their audience or just shouting into the social media void?) and other factors to determine if the partnership is a good fit. Readership and social follower numbers are just one piece of the puzzle.

What is your best tip for bloggers who want to work with brands?

First, focus on honing your skills and growing your audience before you start looking for brand partnerships. Make sure you have something to offer (a unique voice, a highly-engaged audience, expertise in a niche) and don’t make promises you can’t keep. Over-deliver every time and brands will be clamoring to work with you; prove yourself unreliable and your reputation will precede you. And above all else, stay true to yourself and your readers.

What is the biggest challenge you would like to see resolved or improved in the online travel industry?

I cringe every time I look at a poorly optimized travel site on my phone, which happens far too often. It’s painful, and in travel, our customers are mobile, we need to meet the needs of travelers on the go!

Where do you see the online travel industry in 5 years?

Increasingly mobile. As more people adopt using tablets and their smart phones I see online travel sites needing to adapt to their users, whether that is in offering apps or better optimized web sites.

If you could book a ticket tomorrow, where would you go?

Antarctica – I have wanted to go for years!

About Viator

Viator is a leading online travel brand helping travelers research, find and book their best travel experiences worldwide. You can follow them on Twitter and Facebook, or get a virtual tour on YouTube.

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The Travel Scene is a monthly series that profiles unique online travel brands and start-ups in our Travel Massive community around the world.