NEWS TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2016
Travel Weekly sister title Travolution was a media partner at last week’s Travel Technology Europe trade show. Jennifer Morris and Lee Hayhurst report
Olympia, London
‘Digitised agencies appeal to web-weary millennials’
The digitisation of high street travel agencies is seeing younger generations return to traditional stores.
That was the view of Julia Lo
Bue-Said, managing director of Advantage Travel Partnership, who reported a change in travel-buying habits among younger adults. Speaking in a session on the
‘high street travel agency of the future’, she said millennials – people who grew up with the internet – are rediscovering the high street because the web is confusing.
“The personal touch can be enhanced so much by improving your technology”
“A generational shift has been made possible by agents adopting better technology,” she said. “Online can be very confusing, so being omnichannel but with a high street presence is a unique selling point. “But you cannot just be on the
high street any more; you have to have a variety of ways of interacting with your customer, like out-of-hours service and social media.” Roberto Da Re,
Panellists debate
the ‘high street travel agency of the future’
chief executive of tour operating software developer Dolphin Dynamics, warned against treating
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travelweekly.co.uk 3 March 2016
younger generations differently. “They just grew up being much
more used to technology. All customers have moved on with technology much more quickly than us as an industry,” he said. Thomas Cook’s group head of
digital operations, Graham Cook, said: “There is absolutely a role for retail, there’s no doubt about it, but it can’t be like it was.” Asked if he thought the high
street had been “unfairly talked down” in recent years, he said: “There will always be a need for that personal touch but you can enhance it so much by improving your technology and digital.” Cook said it was important
that companies do not organise themselves so that different channels are competing directly against each other.
“Thomas Cook has tried to
overcome that with top-down leadership and clear direction,” he said. “Our pricing is agreed by the regional managing director. “While there will be some discounting and offers from time to time, it means pricing is consistent across all of our channels.”
‘Touchscreens and video walls are not right for all stores’
Not all in-store technology such as touchscreen devices and interactive video walls will work well for every customer, according to a design company expert. Kevin Paintin, client director
at 20.20, which worked with Tui on its Holiday Design stores, said: “Time will tell which technologies will show longevity. “Looking back at travel agencies 20 years ago, you would experience a desk and the back of a screen. “Now, we try to have a lot of these kinds of new technologies – some of them work really well. “They have revolutionised the
way we sell travel.” Advantage’s Julia Lo
Bue-Said added: “There is a difference between regions; you can’t place everyone in the same basket. Being everything to everyone doesn’t work.” Thomas Cook’s Graham Cook added: “[New technology] is not going to be in every store and for every customer. “We look very carefully at
where our stores are located and what the demographic is of that customer base and the product they’re buying. Some customers till use brochures.”
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