This year, the United Nations defined the following theme for International Women’s Day: “For an inclusive digital world: Innovation and technology for gender equality.” At Reservamos SaaS, we wanted to reflect on this topic and speak with prominent women who are part of the bus sector, and who are changing the game of innovation and technological development. We spoke with them about the impact of women’s participation in accelerating innovation and technological development, and how they are driving growth in the sector through their ideas, talent, and vision.
Their example and trajectory demonstrate that the presence of women is key to forging new paths toward a more equal and technologically advanced future.
How can we contribute from this sector to achieve a more inclusive digital world?
I believe in education focused on innovation and technology, linked to initiatives that promote gender equality in the digital world, which has few professional women and, at the same time, opportunities in a field where the workforce is scarce.
Who is your role model? Which women do you admire and why?
I have admiration for several women I have met throughout my personal and professional life. My mother, grandmother, cousins, friends, and colleagues at work… Women with different stories of victories and overcoming obstacles that teach me and inspire me!
I will mention two influencers that I follow and from whom I learn a lot, Camila Farani and Nath Arcuri. I like the content but mainly their purpose of spreading knowledge and supporting other women to achieve their dreams.
What advice would you give to other women who are starting to work and want to reach leadership positions in their companies?
Women need to occupy spaces, and also assume leadership positions, in the pursuit of equality in companies. It is necessary to fight for a diverse corporate environment, with men and women in equal proportion, that allows different perspectives that result in balanced and successful management.
We have to know that it is possible to contribute with our competence and singularity, respecting our beliefs, values, and competencies, which will not always be the profile/model of men/masculine, but equally powerful and transformative.
From this sector, how can we contribute to achieving a more inclusive digital world?
As a first step, we must raise awareness and accept people’s capabilities and skills regardless of gender. As a society, we have many stereotypes that we use to pigeonhole activities just because that’s how it has always been. Fortunately, this gap has been opening up a little more, with greater acceptance and dissemination, leading to a bit more equity.
I consider women’s groups that come together to develop and train in digital activities to be a good initiative since they can serve as support and provide women with the confidence to establish themselves in the workplace and personal life. Media dissemination and social networks, given the era we are in, will continue to function as the most adaptive tool.
Who is your role model? Which women do you admire, and why?
Carol Shaw, is known as the first professional female video game designer. She worked for Atari and Activision and created the game River Raid for Atari 2600 in 1982, with more than a million units sold.
What were the biggest challenges you faced in your career due to your gender, and how did you overcome them?
In my case, I studied Computer Systems Engineering, and the mere fact of studying engineering, where the term “engineer” was traditionally used to refer to male students, was a challenge. It was only recently that the term “engineer” has been recognized as gender-neutral.
Taking courses related to circuit programming was challenging because it required soldering some parts and having contact with electrical current, for example, since some activities were defined as exclusively for male students within the same degree program.
A key part of overcoming stereotypes is having confidence in oneself and accepting that one is not born knowing everything. Both men and women can learn any type of knowledge and skills. As individuals, we must learn to respect ourselves.
This year, the United Nations defined the following theme for International Women’s Day: “For an inclusive digital world: Innovation and technology for gender equality.” At Reservamos SaaS, we wanted to reflect on this topic and speak with prominent women who are part of the bus sector, and who are changing the game of innovation and technological development. We spoke with them about the impact of women’s participation in accelerating innovation and technological development, and how they are driving growth in the sector through their ideas, talent, and vision.
Their example and trajectory demonstrate that the presence of women is key to forging new paths toward a more equal and technologically advanced future.
From your sector, how can we contribute to achieving a more inclusive digital world?
Thanks to the advancement of new technologies, it is increasingly necessary to have digital spaces where users are fully integrated. Users today need to interact with our services in the fastest and most efficient way possible.
We must move towards generating digital content and offers that are increasingly inclusive and diverse.
For GTP, advancing the digitization of our services and products is a commitment to our customers.
The passenger transportation industry must be able to contribute to digital, labor, and social inclusion, where everyone has access to a more empathetic and collaborative world.
Who is your role model? Which women do you admire and why?
I greatly admire Malala Yousafzai, because, since the age of 11, she has been fighting for women’s rights, and dared to go to school, a place forbidden for women in Pakistan. It was at that moment when she was shot in the head and was close to dying.
On October 10, 2014, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and she is an important activist for children’s rights and the youngest winner of this prize.
How can we encourage professional development and training for women in the business and technology fields?
Promoting and strengthening spaces for women’s career progression is essential in every organization, especially in this industry where the role of women was very excluded for many years.
We have the “GTP Academy”, a platform for free courses and training, where our employees can access online content, with the aim of offering learning and growth opportunities within the company.
It is necessary to create development opportunities within companies, encourages the attraction and retention of talent, and empower our teams, who are the main asset of our companies.
From your sector, how can we contribute to achieving a more inclusive digital world?
People who strategically work with products for the digitalization of services in general often say that everything is designed to be inclusive. However, unlike retail, I see very little empathy with the public that traditionally uses transportation, which is specifically my area of specialization. Stereotypes are constructed of the customer that still seems distant from the passenger. There are some prejudices that need to be overcome, such as discrimination based on age. I believe that deep immersion in the daily life of bus stations would competently cover all audiences.
On the other hand, it is necessary to understand that a good digital or traditional service is continuous, and for that, security must come first. The passenger’s safety needs to rely on the quality and supervised service because they are not in a position to evaluate such security at the time of boarding. And legal security for the entrepreneur who will only make long-term investments if they have this perception of the company’s environment.
Who is your role model? Which women do you admire and why?
I have many women and men who inspire me, but in honor of them, I would always and continuously mention Luiza Helena Trajano, who, for me, was the manager who best-understood inclusion and the idea of sharing within the Brazilian scenario. In our association, it is worth mentioning that over two decades ago, ABRATI chose a woman for the Vice Presidency, Sandra Oger, as well as Thereza Christina Villela, a lawyer who has worked in the transportation environment since the 1980s, being a pioneer in women who opened a valuable path that I cannot help but recognize and thank for paving the way for me.
How can we promote wage equality and gender equity in the business and technology environment?
Training and above-average performance may not be the fairest way, but at the moment, it is the only way for women to have their value recognized. In the future, I believe this will change, but for now, what I can say to everyone is to study, be curious, and dedicate yourselves more and better so that your recognition is infallible. If not, change your environment, and seek out other women to offer you support and help; life reserves surprising situations.
From ABRATI’s point of view, how can companies and society in general support women to overcome the challenges of gender discrimination in the workplace and technology environment?
ABRATI was one of the first transportation associations to have the participation of pioneers in the board of directors, directors, and auditorium of entity members. Our desire is for passenger transportation to become an increasingly opportunistic and growing sector for women, and for that, ABRATI functions as a network of support and encouragement.
We share 5 tips to increase the organic traffic of your bus brand
For the bus sector, visibility in search engines (SEO) has become a priority, especially after the competitiveness in digital channels has increased due to the digitization caused by the pandemic. Therefore, here we share 5 tips to increase the organic traffic of your bus brand.
Make good use of your content
If you have a blog, use it to publish keyword-rich articles about the destinations you have available, services, and any other information relevant to the traveler, as these will help you rank better in search engines. Google’s first principle is “Focus on the user and everything else will follow”; the goal of this tool is to solve the user’s search intent and help perform a specific task. This means that as long as you have your traveler in mind and solve the doubts about what he is looking for with the content of your page, your brand will be well positioned.
Intention is king
Travelers look for some pretty specific things when they want to book a trip. This is the perfect opportunity to optimize your pages through long-tail keywords; These are very specific search phrases that meet the user’s search intent, and while they have low search volume, they have little competition and typically higher conversion rates.
Use Google tools
Make use of the same tools offered by the most used search engine globally, Google. For example, Google’s image tool is one of the most useful ways to drive traffic to your site. This is why the images on your page must have names with keywords and tags that will help search engines identify them. Or there is also Google Trends where you can see the most searched topics and terms around your destinations or services.
Beyond the keywords
Currently, Google has gone beyond pure keywords to a more advanced understanding of articles and pages and has therefore identified certain “entities”. These “are not simply a person, place or thing, but also their characteristics, which are connected by relationships. An entity is any element of the document that is distinct and well-defined.” In simple terms, this means that while you should start with your base keywords, you should also do some research on the topic. Look at the first page of your search results: what are they talking about? You also make content about those same entities and make it better and more relevant.
High-quality link building
Ultimately, you need to consider the entire process for a traveler to complete a purchase on your site, from seeking inspiration and ideas to actual trip planning, booking, and finally experimentation. These four “micro-moments” define four key opportunities for your bus business to be discovered in search engine results. During the inspiration and planning stages, your potential travelers are likely to look outside the site for what they perceive as “unbiased” information, and a link from a trusted site would put you in a good position. A strong digital PR campaign is essential for many reasons, including gaining visibility on high-traffic and relevant sites. The challenge for the industry is to speak to potential customers in a relevant way to each stage of the buying experience, not simply by placing sales messages on the web.
Remember that more than 50% of people search only on mobile, so if your site is not mobile-ready, all this effort will be in vain. All Google algorithm updates point to improving the user experience as their main objective; if you focus on this point, you encourage your travelers to stay longer on your website, and in the end, this will lead to higher conversion.
With the SEO module of the Reservamos SaaS eCommerce platform, you can improve the positioning of your company on Google.
How can you capitalize on online searches made by travelers and place your company at the top of the search results? It’s important to consider that those who conduct a search through a search engine like Google have the intention to buy. They just need to connect with the most attractive, simple, and secure option. But how can you ensure that your company connects with that digital traveler?
One thing that characterizes our technology, and the development team behind it, is that we are always looking for ways to make the digital channel of your company continue to grow. We achieve this through the technological infrastructure we have created, specialized in your sector.
One of those solutions is the eCommerce platform, which is made up of modules that enhance the digital impact of your online sales channel. And today I want to talk to you about the SEO module.
SEO strategy for the bus sector
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is essential for online growth because it directly impacts the visibility of a website. The SEO module allows your company to take advantage of organic traffic from travelers who conduct searches on Google, to help position your online sales channel through this high-quality traffic. This way, you can connect that traffic to the available offers of your company.
In addition, these pages are easy and quick to create through an automated system. So, if you decide to launch new destinations and routes, you can generate landing pages and content focused on these destinations and start a search engine positioning from the very beginning. This way, your company can:
Understand the destinations of interest to your travelers based on their searches.
Create 100% personalized landing pages for your company according to the most common routes of your travelers.
Improve website positioning by route without paying for ads. This way, you can reduce advertising costs on search engines.
Attract visitors with a higher likelihood of completing a purchase based on their search intent.
Position your company in the market and increase competitiveness through digital channels.
Through the SEO module of the Reservamos SaaS eCommerce platform, you can optimize your online sales channel. Also, you can strengthen your digital presence, generate trust among travelers, and connect more effectively with all those online searches, which will bring more traffic and conversions.
At Reservamos SaaS, we constantly strengthen our digital infrastructure so that your bus company remains innovative.
A 3 million dollar opportunity for the LatAm bus sector
We had a conversation with Rodrigo Cobo, Executive Director at Talaria, a travel industry expert, and Reservamos Advisor. We discussed various aspects of the ancillary strategy, including its evolution, value, implementation, necessary factors, and new trends for the bus sector.
Based on this discussion, we have compiled a list of 12 essential points for the bus sector:
Ancillary refers to the ability to “unbundle” a product or service, which can help segment customers and understand their needs better. It is not just a tool for increasing revenue, but it can also help improve customer experience.
Assuming what travelers want is a big mistake that can lead to a company’s downfall. Many companies have gone bankrupt due to such assumptions.
Technology played a significant role in the adoption of the ancillary strategy in the 1990s.
“Families tariffs” were created in the late 2000s as a middle ground to meet travelers’ expectations and avoid overloading the service portfolio.
Giving customers the power of choice is the most significant benefit of the ancillary strategy. Companies need to understand their customers deeply, segment them, and increase their revenue.
For companies that are new to the ancillary strategy, it is recommended to start with an eCommerce model before moving on to ancillary merchandising.
Both low-cost and premium models can have an ancillary strategy, and it is unnecessary to have a low-cost model to increase revenue.
The first and last mile of a bus journey is crucial, and it’s advisable to outsource this service.
Interlining is a pioneering technology that can be used to form alliances and shared codes, which can be beneficial for the sector.
Dynamic pricing is the starting point of any ancillary strategy as it increases the company’s competitiveness and reaches.
The future of the ancillary strategy is 1-to-1 personalization or à la carte services.
The ancillary strategy must increase the average value of the transaction. The unbundling strategy must lower ticket costs to allow customers to add extras.
Regarding the industry’s recovery, Rodrigo Cobo is optimistic, especially about domestic travel by bus. He recommends segmenting travelers using customized ancillary strategies, working with experts and technology providers like Reservamos SaaS, and keeping up with industry blogs like Reservamos SaaS and WTTC for ground transportation trends.
About Rodrigo Cobo:
Rodrigo has over 15 years of experience in the tourism and transport sectors. He is the Executive Director of Talaria Marketing, a marketing consultancy agency for companies and tourist destinations.
He started his career at Aeroméxico as the Director of Marketing and Club Premier. He then worked at SABRE as the Director of Marketing, Public Relations, and Business Development, and at Travelocity as the Vice President for Mexico and Latam.
Rodrigo is a recognized entrepreneur, mentor, and philanthropist. He is part of the global organization Endeavor and volunteers for several projects that have an impact on economies in development.
