NEWS
At long last, travel is beginning to get back on track. We are now seeing aircraft, hotels and cruise
ships beginning to fill up fast and I think I speak for everyone in travel when I say we can now let out a huge sigh of relief. As we approach the final few weeks of the year,
Gordon McCreadie GENERAL MANAGER, IF ONLY
We all have a part to play in going green, but will clients pay?
our industry is once again on the up, especially now the testing requirements have reduced, with UK arrivals just having to produce a negative lateral flow test and US borders reopening. Most importantly, there are now zero countries on the UK government’s red list. So it’s time to look at customer habits more closely. Bookings and customers’ commitment to travel
is now bouncing back, and their holiday plans are even grander than before. Are agents ready to create their own niche? Will
holidays be more about the experience moving forward, as opposed to a beach and a pool? At If Only, we are already
seeing more and more demand for bucket-list types of travel. This is why, moving forward, we will be putting more emphasis on our tailor- made and touring holidays, as well as continuing to strengthen our beach offering. With the If Only head
at what we can do to make our business and our holidays as sustainable as possible on the ground. This starts with small changes within the office,
like reducing waste and eliminating single-use plastic by providing reusable water bottles for all staff, and extends to giving careful consideration to the full supply chain in every booking we make. We now have our own in-house Corporate
Social Responsibility team and are committed to becoming a responsible, sustainable organisation that supports the local communities we send people to and which cares about the world we share with our customers.
“The past 19 months have underlined the benefits of booking with us, proud and reputable
office being located in Glasgow, we are closely following the developments at the Cop26 climate change conference. Along, I’m sure, with the rest of the world, we are hopeful that our political leaders can negotiate a fair and green future for travel, and promise a sustainable industry moving forward.
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A survey this year by
Booking.com of more than 30,000 people across 29 countries showed that more than 75% of customers want to reduce their carbon footprint. This movement has never been more prevalent. However, with the cost of going green being
on average an additional 15%, it is yet to be seen if customers will be as keen to lower their footprint when they see the rise in the price of their holiday. While our partners in the sky work towards achieving sustainable aviation, we are looking
10 11 NOVEMBER 2021 travel specialists”
Better together As a whole, we are seeing the cost of living going up all around us. The price of petrol is rising, energy costs are going up, toys are already selling out for Christmas and one in six people can’t get what they’re looking for in their local supermarkets. Is it inevitable that the rise
in day-to-day living expenses is going to have an impact on sales of holidays? This challenge is why,
as an industry, we need to pull together and encourage customers to book early to avoid disappointment and showcase the joy travel can bring. I’m a strong believer that, as an industry, we are better
together. This is why we all need to be showcasing the benefits of booking with a travel agent and a tour operator. That said, I think that trends are shifting in that
direction naturally. In 2019, we were already seeing more and more ‘tech-savvy’ customers – people who were booking their holidays online before Covid – coming back to relying on our industry for our knowledge and our protection. If anything, the past 19 months have only
served to underline the benefits of booking with us, proud and reputable travel specialists. Let’s all work together to make travel beautiful again!
Read more columns by Gordon McCreadie:
go.travelweekly.co.uk/comment
travelweekly.co.uk
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