p16 comment Apr24 22/4/09 10:07 Page 16
news comment
ttglive.com
Chris Lee Barclays Commercial
“If only travel companies
could rely on the type of
life-long loyalty that football
clubs can from their fans”
H
aving just come back from holiday, However, an estimated 60% of this increased
I’m now more convinced than TV revenue has passed straight into the pockets
ever that this is a time of huge of the players in increased wages. Travel
contradictions. employees would certainly settle for that.
Several thousand English fans flew across the There are significant signs of large companies
Atlantic to watch our cricket team win the one cutting back on sponsorship, corporate
day series against the West Indies in Barbados. hospitality and staff expenses – and this is
There was not much sign of the credit crunch having an effect in both travel and sport.
in the bars and restaurants over there, and the I have had a wide range of sponsorship op-
golf courses were busy, despite some outra- portunities put to me this year, and virtually all
geous green fees. One was charging $465 for have been at a lower cost than in previous years.
18 holes, which was several steps too far for These are the sorts of area that can be emotive
me but remarkably not for some others. for staff in companies making redundancies,
However, one of the finest hotels in the hence the caution. Many large firms have can-
West Indies, just a few hundred yards celled staff reward trips and others have moved
away from mine (but a million miles them closer to home. Some are reducing the
away financially), was noticeably less number of attendees at conferences and events.
full than in previous years. The reduction of many travel and expenses
Back home, West End shows remain budgets has produced challenges for travel
popular despite ticket prices of up to companies, especially TMCs.
£70 and you won’t find it easy to get So some sports will have to work
tickets for Chelsea or Arsenal games. harder to sell corporate packages.
If only travel companies could rely on Having said that, Wimbledon has
the type of life-long loyalty that these clubs just raised £60 million of new
can rely on from their fans. funds from debenture seat
This led me to consider how the sports and sales, so the credit crunch has
travel sectors compare and contrast. not caught up with everyone.
Of course, the major sports have benefited The sports and travel industries
massively for a number of years from huge will only grow closer with the
guaranteed income streams from TV contracts. Twenty20 cricket World Cup and the Ashes in
The Premier League, for example, is watched England this year, and the Lions tour to South
by 2.5 billion people in 200 countries each week Africa ahead of the World Cup next summer.
and has annual TV income of £900 million. It will be interesting to see how these often
As a result it has attracted global companies, complementary industries fare this year.
some in travel, looking for marketing and
sponsorship opportunities. Chris Lee is head of travel at Barclays Commercial
16 24.04.2009
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