BUYER INTERVIEW
Suzanne Duzenman, Managing Director, Global Travel Services
Q: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ‘TYPICAL’ CLIENT? Typically our clients are a combination of individuals and families and vary in age from mid 30’s to mid 80’s.
Q: WHAT KINDS OF EXPERIENCES ARE YOUR CLIENTS LOOKING FOR? Our clients want to know that when they travel that everything has been taken care from start to fi nish and no stone is left unturned. They love to be recognized upon check in at hotels, love the upgrades we confi rm on their behalf as well as amenities, free night offers or anything that we can do for them. We pride ourselves on being able to create an experience that they cannot do themselves and they love to feel special.
Q: DO YOU SEE ANY TRENDS IN THE KINDS OF EXPERIENCES THEY DESIRE? We are seeing a great deal more of family generational holidays. Either just because, or celebrating a birthday, anniversary etc… Clients are booking much later than in the past. They are looking for where the best deals and value for money are but having said this… they are still going to travel regardless!
Q: DO YOUR CLIENTS LOOK FOR ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR WHEN CHOOSING LUXURY PROPERTIES TO STAY IN? Obviously value for money is important but so is destination, location, great service, amenities etc. Our clients are very savvy when it comes to the properties they select. They always like to look at websites, luxury travel
reports, other people’s personal recommendations from past experience. They do their homework before they make their fi nal decision and I encourage this!
Q: WHAT ARE THE UNIQUE DEMANDS OF TRAVELERS FROM AUSTRALIA? Our clients come to us with a brief of what they want and we then prepare itineraries to give them an experience of a life time. They usually include fl ights, transfers, hotels, cruises and other arrangements specifi cally designed to suit each individual.
Q: WHAT ARE THE MOST POPULAR DESTINATIONS CHOSEN BY AUSTRALIAN TRAVELERS? Australians travel everywhere and distance does not seem to impact on them. This year we are still selling a huge amount of Europe (including new destinations such as Montenegro and Sicily), USA is more popular than ever (particularly due to a strong $), cruises, South America and Asia. Many of these are consistent from year to year but with the strong Australian Dollar clients are travelling for longer periods and increasing their travel spend.
Q: WHAT DO YOU PREDICT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR LUXURY TRAVEL IN AUSTRALIA? Australia is truly a great country but the luxury product is limited and the high end properties are expensive.
Q: WHAT, IN PARTICULAR, ARE YOU LOOKING FOR AT THIS YEAR’S ILTM ASIA? I am truly passionate about hotels so it is important for me to look at new product and make myself as familiar as I can be! My clients trust me and when I work with hotels I want to know all there is to know about the property so I can give them as much information as possible.
JUNE2011
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