Six Travel Trends that will shape our marketing

SIX TRAVEL TRENDS TO shape our marketing for 2014 and beyond

Six travel trends that are going to shape our marketing in 2014 beyond...

The influence of the ‘millenials’

The Millennials are those born since 2000.  These 18- to 30-year-olds of growing importance to the travel industry and have some key characteristics and will shape the future of travel propositions for the industry. Specifically, the millenials are more ethnically diverse, more interested in urban than resort destinations, more likely to travel to follow interests or activities and more likely to travel with friends in organized groups.

The continuing growth of the Silver market

The Silver market is estimated to comprise 1.3 billion to 1.6 billion people worldwide by 2015. Of crucial importance to this group is customer service. The senior group travels primarily for rest and relaxation on either short or longer stay trips and prefer quieter and less congested destinations. Not only is the senior market the world’s wealthiest group – it is also the most demanding and show very little tolerance to poor or average levels of customer service.


An increase in conspicuous leisure

The ubiquitous use of social media and with it the widespread sharing of photos with friends, families and colleagues – has fostered a trend in conspicuous leisure.  Experiences  will become a ‘social currency’ signalling social status through unique experiences rather than through consumer goods.  These experiences will most likely include owning a holiday home, having the freedom to work from home, taking holidays to exotic destinations and enjoying active experiences

The rise of ‘creative tourism’

Creative tourism is travel that provides an engaged and authentic experience and that can make a connection with those who live and work in the tourism destination.  The ‘creative’ tourist differs from a ‘cultural’ tourist in that he or she is active and interacts with the locals.


The strength of luxury travel

Luxury travel continues to be a robust segment of the travel industry and has remained recession-proof over the last five years as other sectors have struggled.  There are now literally millions of millionaires and the number of affluent households are projected to double between 2012 and 2020. Despite the growth of the Asian (and particularly the Chinese) market, it is still projected that U.S., Japanese and European travellers will dominate the luxury travel market until 2020

The emergence of  multi-generational travel

The older the original baby-boomers get, the more family travel they are doing with a lot of that travel planned around milestone events. The multi-generational market is about trading memories, with convenience and value.

Most destinations have struggled when it comes to providing services and amenities that appeal to six and 60 year-olds alike, but some cruise lines have already taken a leadership position in catering to the multigenerational travel market.

Tourism power in action

We all know that tourism drives job creation and increases prosperity in local economies. Tourism also has a direct affect on poverty reduction and an indirect affect on increasing health and human services; i.e people prosper they can afford a better diet and health care.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization ranks tourism in the top three categories for economic development, “demonstrating that travel can play a vital role in helping developing economies mature.”

Indeed, already more people are traveling to developing countries. Last year, the 48 least-developed countries saw the number of tourists rise from 6 million to 17 million, and tourism revenue rise from $3 billion to $10 billion.

That’s a massive increase while still a small percentage of international travel as a whole. (124 million people travelled internationally in just the first two months of this year).

The UNWTO predicts the total number of international travellers this year will rise 5%, with Chinese travellers spending more than ever. The American, French, and now the Chinese spend the most while travelling, according to the UNWTO. Nearly $1 trillion per year is spent by international travellers, the UNWTO says.

Imagine if more of that money went to developing countries.

Travelling to developing countries is the same as investing in the developing world. The returns instead come in the forms of local products, services, and lifetime experience.

Egypt is seeking tourism dollars again and sees visitors as key to its economic recovery. “As the leading foreign exchange earner and representing one in every seven jobs, tourism is a crucial factor in Egypt’s economic recovery,” Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said at a recent U.N. meeting on tourism.

Tourism power is an untapped resource in the world economy. Choosing where to travel and how to spend money when we are there is often considered fun. But looked at another way, from a business and economic perspective, those choices can have major consequences.

In the developing world, tourism accounts for almost half of total service exports. Increase those dollars and place them in sustainable development programs, which the U.N. is encouraging, and soon improvements can be seen in education, the environment and disease reduction.

“Responsible and sustainable tourism allows destinations and companies to minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and on cultural heritage while maximizing its economic and social benefits,” the UNWTO says.

Moreover, it creates empathy. When people travel and see conditions in disrepair or people living in poverty, there is a desire to help and lend assistance. Of course there are charitable institution throughout the developing world and there are financial investments to be made in companies that operate or trade with developing world partners, thereby increasing economic recovery. But there is something special about taking money out of your own wallet and handing them to a person in need while getting a local product or service in return.

The All-Inclusive debate rumbles on..

The debate over First Choice's decision to move to an all-inclusive platform rumbles on, with AITO now saying that this represents a 'massive blow' to sustainability and campaign group Tourist Concern extending their criticism beyond First Choice to other operators such as Thomas Cook who have 135 all-inclusive properties in its Turkish brochure alone.

Tui have defended their position pointing out that they are only responding to consumer demand, rightly stating that the all-inclusive market has grown by 32% in the last five years and is now becoming the holiday style of choice for cash-strapped Brits and Europeans (my words - not Tui's).

Tui also claim (rightly) to have been working closely with hoteliers to make their programmes more sustainable by working with local suppliers and employing local people under fairer working conditions.

Apropos, my personal experience of all-inclusive is limited albeit a few years ago my wife and I enjoyed an all-inclusive holiday at a first class resort in Jamaica.

The hotel was first class, the food was excellent and the facilities we enjoyed were superb including watersports and tennis. At the same time, as an all-inclusive vacation it also represented excellent value for money.

One one occasion, we did manage to get to Dunns River Falls, on an organised excursion, but with this single exception, my knowledge of the island remains to this day:-

Jamaica = Airport - Resort - (Dunns River Falls) - Resort - Airport -

Never got see Bob Marleys house either...

All Inclusive at First Choice.

So, First Choice has decided to sell only All-Inclusive holidays next year.

Clearly, from a marketing and business point of view this makes perfect sense.

Sales of all-inclusive holidays have increased steadily for the past five years and in First Choice’s case, their all-inclusive market has grown by 32% and is expected to account for 65% of all First Choice sales this year.

From a marketing perspective, the move also clearly now differentiates TUI’s family-focused First Choice holidays from Thomson and its other competitors.

With strong, distinctive brands and clearly differentiated products, TUI can move further away from customers choosing tour operators based on cost alone.

First Choice will go on to promote itself as the number one choice for affordability in hard times. By squeezing more value out of their hoteliers they can help customers worried about their finances to budget better. Not only is that good business sense given the current climate, but it’s also good news for the group’s margins as All-Inclusives drive up average selling prices.

But I’m not so sure the news will be universally welcomed by many resort based businesses already struggling with falling arrivals and the increase in ‘wristband tourism’.

I accept holiday products should respond to demand and cater for all tastes, but as a travel enthusiast, I despair at the thought of any holiday, not matter what the price, spent wholly in an All-Inclusive resort. Going abroad should be about experiencing what the destination has to offer not about spending 1 or 2 weeks eating, sleeping and drinking in a complex and never venturing outside the gates.

More should be done to promote resort facilities and local attractions and to provide sustainable tourism before All Inclusive arrangements kill off some resorts for good.

A possible development could be where destinations pass legislation limiting the percentage of hotel rooms that can be used for All Inclusive guests. I understand Lanzarote has already capped the percentage of all Inclusive rooms at 40% in a bid to save the local economy and provide customers for the many local businesses.

Tourism for Tomorrow

The World Traveland Tourism Council is looking for finalists for their 'The Tourism for Tomorrow' awards, aimed at recognizing best practice in sustainable tourism within the travel and tourism industry worldwide. Given the concern about natural and cultural resources, the awards provide the WTTC with the opportunity of promoting and partnering with the industry leaders in responsible tourism, highlighting the prime examples of best practice.

The awards are determined in 4 categories:

DESTINATION STEWARDSHIP AWARD:

This award goes to a destination – country, region, state, or town – which comprises a network of tourism enterprises and organizations that show dedication to, and success in, maintaining a program of sustainable tourism management at the destination level, incorporating social, cultural, environmental, and economic aspects, as well as multi-stakeholder engagement.

CONSERVATION AWARD:

Open to any tourism business, organization, or attraction, including lodges, hotels, or tour operators, able to demonstrate that their tourism development and operations have made a tangible contribution to the conservation of natural heritage.

COMMUNITY BENEFIT AWARD:

This award is for a tourism initiative that has effectively demonstrated direct benefits to local people, including capacity building, the transfer of industry skills, and support for community development.

GLOBAL TOURISM BUSINESS AWARD:

Open to any large company from any sector of travel and tourism – cruise lines, hotel groups, airlines, tour operators, etc. – with at least 200 full-time employees and operating in more than one country or in more than one destination in a single country, this award recognizes best practices in sustainable tourism at a large company level.

An independent panel of judges, including some of the world's most authoritative experts of sustainable development (and a stringent application process involving on-site verification visits by these experts) has earned the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards growing levels of respect among key audiences - the industry, governments, and the international media.

The winners and finalists are honored at a special ceremony during the Global Travel & Tourism Summit held from May 25-27, 2010 in Beijing, China.

For more information about the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards and how to apply check out the website: www.tourismfortomorrow.com