“The history of Jamaica’s Rose Hall is filled with tales of witchcraft and voodoo”
SARA MACEFIELD VISITS GREAT HOUSES IN THE CARIBBEAN, P41
RANTS & RAVES
Having experienced my first Travel Counsellors conference I really have to say WOW – what a fantastic weekend. Although praise should
certainly go to the conference itself, as it was absolutely faultless,
from the superb entertainment, the uplifting and inspiring speakers, the delicious food and stunning themes – it’s the people that made it for me. Thank you for supporting us and thank you for such a positive and forward thinking conference! Debbie Goffin,
head of sales and marketing, Premier Holidays
I am a gay man, and an agency owner and some of this article makes sense, and some of it does not (“Marketing: Gay market gains”,
ttgdigital.com). Having spoken to both gay and straight friends , the consensus was that the gay friends don’t want a special programme of holidays for “gay” people, and the straight ones thought it was a great idea. This I found interesting – the straight people think it’s what we are all waiting for and want, but in truth what I look for is a high level of service, a good hotel, and somewhere I feel happy to go. I would not look for a gay holiday as such at all. As the article suggests, the industry needs to catch up with the gay market. It seems to me we are offering something that should have been around 5–10 years ago. We have moved on now. All you need to do, is offer what the market is looking for – it’s as simple as that. Darren Morris D & G Travel
PUBLISHING Tony Arnold managing director 020 7955 3785
EVENTS Matthew Papworth event coordinator 020 7921 8186
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OPINION
Writing my Christmas wish list for travel...
YOU CAN try and fight it but you can’t ignore the fact that Christmas is now officially on its way. Strings of lights are twinkling on high streets and children are writing ambitious letters to Santa with promises of having been good for the past year and what they want for Christmas. So in the spirit of this I’ve started thinking about what I want for the travel industry for Christmas and into 2012. I’m not sure that Santa can help me, but perhaps industry elves can get busy trying to make my wishes come true? So for starters, I would like Atol
reform that includes the airlines; a drop in fuel prices; no natural disasters or severe weather; no failures in the travel industry; inflation to drop to 2-3%; a positive resolution to the European sovereign debt crisis; and, finally, growth in the UK economy of at least 3%. OK, I know what you’re thinking, but who said that Christmas wish lists had to be realistic? I’ve always had big dreams. On a more serious note, sadly I
don’t think that we have any chance of any of the aforementioned wishes coming true for the travel industry and the “macro” view for the UK looks at best bumpy for at least
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Matt Stuart, managing director,
Getabed.co.uk
the next 12 months as the public spending cuts start to bite. But all is not doom and gloom. For those of us putting the final touches to business plans and forecasts for 2012 you just need a bit more drive, determination and imagination, there are still plenty of opportunities to grow and increase your bottom line. You have to forge your own path
through these tough times and look after yourself, your staff and your business – and planning is crucial. If things are not going well and your plan is to sit tight and wait for things to pick up, you could be in for a shock as I believe this to be an
incredibly risky strategy. This isn’t to say try and adapt your business at any cost, but you should start to look at ways of increasing revenues through very little time or fiscal investment. For example, if you’re an agent and you do not dynamically package holidays, then why not? This must be the starting point as relying on commissions paid by traditional operators on standard packages is no longer a sustainable business model unless you are very niche. I have discussed this in previous
columns, but choosing who you work with is incredibly important to a successful business. So take time when pulling together business plans to go through your list of suppliers and operators and ensure that you’re working with the ones who support you and match your own service levels. Travel is becoming increasingly commoditised as consumers watch every pound they spend, so service is the one big differentiator left in many cases. I hope that these thoughts are helpful, and perhaps more useful than my initial wish list. However, I for one won’t stop wishing that those seemingly distant dreams perhaps come true one day!
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