SPOTLIGHT ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Louise Hall,
Bowman Travel Services
Lica Catherall, Love2shop Holidays
Once I tell them all the
things they are getting, it is possible to move people’s budgets up by £2,000- £3,000. Relationships with customers mean they trust you to know what they like
Ingrid Hunt, Norwegian Cruise Line
Nicky Foot, Norwegian Cruise Line
Sandra McNicholls, Hilton Travel
beyond the basics and build a rapport to turn that enquiry into a booking.
Travel trends Lifestyle trends continue to inform travel choices, with customers looking for a better work-life balance and more flexibility in their lives. This means a shift away from seven, 10 or 14-night breaks, and a desire to be stimulated and enthused on holiday. The agents also said customers were increasingly aware of the impact their travel plans were having and wanted to know about the sustainability of their holiday choices. Health was another growing consideration. The agents on the panel agreed that the importance of people’s holidays meant there was a great responsibility to give the right
Cruises don’t have that
old-person persona now. You need to be careful they don’t sound like a holiday park at sea, but there’s no doubt they are now more comparable with a high-star land-based holiday
advice, and said it was important to have the courage and conviction to tell customers if their own suggestions were unlikely to be suitable for them in reality. Some agents said they saw a trend towards earlier booking, and others said it was possible to upsell customers by having an in-depth understanding of what was included in particular packages or itineraries.
Cruise market While cruise holidays
weren’t the core business
of any of the agents, all of them said that cruising formed a growing part of their business mix. Some customers were considering ex-UK
cruises due to a fear of flying or a desire to avoid airports, while others were drawn to the range of choice on many cruise itineraries. Agents agreed that the general perception of cruising had changed, with no typical
cruise passenger and options for all ages and group sizes. On the whole, cruise customers were looking
to have the best of both worlds – with the ability to relax and explore, while also having access to a variety of stimulating activities. Cruise passengers were widely felt to have open minds and outgoing personalities, with growing numbers of families discovering cruising as more options became available. Cruise companies’ efforts to advertise and
target younger demographics were credited for a change in perception, backed up by modern fleets offering multiple activities. Word of mouth was also an important
factor, with more customers asking about cruise holidays based on the experiences of other people they knew who had cruised. The panel agreed that the greater scope of cruise product and the trade’s better understanding meant cruising was an increas- ingly popular cross-sell option for customers initially seeking a land-based holiday. › Travel Weekly Business Breakfast at Manchester airport, back page
11 October 2018
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