T


ravel Weekly launched its annual Insight report at Business Breakfast. Lee Hayhurst reports BUSINESS NEWS


Smartphone use on up as visits to agents are predicted to decline


Te annual Insight report forecasts rising numbers of holiday bookings on smartphones, while bookings via agents are expected to decline. Kantar/Service Science survey


data on how people intend to book revealed an expected four percentage point rise in smartphone use and a five-point decrease with agents. Te age group for whom


booking with an agent was most popular was 35 to 44-year-olds, which accounted for 17% of the five age groups in the research. Te age group most likely to


book on a smartphone or tablet was 25 to 43-year-olds (42%) while the 55-plus age group was most likely to use a laptop or desktop (67%). Tis age group was least likely


to use a smartphone (11%) and second most likely to use an agent (15%). Deloite’s lead partner of travel


and aviation Alistair Pritchard said there was a role for agents to be a part of people’s experience and help them make decisions. “Tere is a significant call to action here for agents. “We do digital technology


research that looks at people’s desire to interact with devices. Tere is a sentiment coming around digital overload and too much information.


Alistair Pritchard, Deloitte


“Tere is a great opportunity


for agents to play a role in working their way through that. “Tese are complex products we


are booking.” Client data: new approach needed


Te collapse of Tomas Cook is already changing how agents and operators work together. Abta chairman Alistair Rowland,


of the Midcounties Co-operative, said lessons are being learned from the collapse of the travel giant in September. He called for an independent


body to hold customer data so operators are not leſt in the dark when a firm fails and said agency agreements should ensure “sensible management of cash”. Many operators extended credit


to Tomas Cook beyond the 30 days they were covered for by insurance. Rowland said: “It’s OK to


hold cash as long as the insurance provision is clear, but advancing cash as a cost on the AT (Air Travel Trust Fund) is not OK, and that has to be clear,” said Rowland. “To ensure everyone is protected,


we have to work out how to manage cash, we have to hold data somewhere, and we have to operate


travelweekly.co.uk Thomas Cook is


changing behaviour. Things will change, not tomorrow, but by the latter end of 2020


more tightly on agreements between all parties.” Asked why he thought the Cook


collapse would be a catalyst for change in agency agreements when previous failures have seen litle action, Rowland said: “Tomas Cook is so big for everybody. It is already changing behaviour. Tings will change, not tomorrow, but by the later end of 2020.” Sally Cowdry, chief executive


of specialist operator group Travelopia, said there was widespread confusion about what was booked by Cook and who was responsible.


“I do not know whether the


data should be held independently or whether each operator has to have such good systems that it can be immediately downloaded and shared,” she said. Stuart Leven, EMEA managing


director of RCL Cruises, said when the company finally received data on Tomas Cook customers, the quality was poor. He said the cruise line needed a


“Sherlock Holmes unit” to work out what was going on. “Te quality and the speed of data [delivery] caused us concerns,” he said. EasyJet’s head of leisure


distribution Sheelagh Mahoney said although the airline’s distribution charter insists it must have access to passenger details, it still had missing data. “Traditionally that’s been


held back because there has been nervousness around marketing to that passenger. But this is about operational resilience when things go wrong,” she said.


2 JANUARY 2020 63


Alistair Rowland


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