INNOVATION REPORT 2020 ➢ SIGNIFICANT TRENDS


Travel Agents (Chart 1, page 29)


A predicted 13% decrease in Software spend in 2020 would bring DQ HQG WR D SHULRG RI VLJQLFDQW increases, most notable among Travel Agents, since 2015. For medium to small agents (under


100 staff) increased Software budgets coincided with a reduction in spend on Computer Services, the category of IT travel spends most on. When we plot Travel Agent


employment trends against sector turnover we see the latter generally rising as the former declines. The DJHQW HPSOR\PHQW JXUH LV WKH


second-lowest since 2008. Apart from a marked spike in IT


spend in 2016 – the same year we saw a notable increase in employee numbers – Travel Agent technology spend has been rising steadily. This combination of rising IT spend,


reduced employment, and rising revenues, contrasts with travel’s other four sectors and indicates increasing automation and digitisation. Agents have more than doubled


turnover per employee between 2008 £500,000


Turnover per employee TRAVEL AGENTS, 2008-19


£400,000 £300,000 £200,000 £100,000


10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000


£0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019


Travel agent employment


(£191,000) and 2019 (£413,000). Despite this, agents spend more on IT per employee (£12,574 in 2019) than any other sector (Chart 2, page 25), UHHFWLQJ HLWKHU FOLHQW GHPDQG IRU D human touch or greater potential HIFLHQFLHV RU ERWK


Tour Operators


(Chart 2, page 29) This sector has experienced a relatively erratic period for IT spend, with increases one year offset by retractions the next. But one clear WUHQG DPRQJ UPV ZLWK


VWDII THE IMPACT OF THOMAS COOK'S COLLAPSE


The liquidation of Thomas Cook has had a notable impact on the 2020


IRUHFDVW JXUHV IRU WKH 7UDYHO Agency sector.


According to Cook’s 2018 accounts, its 9,000 UK employees


ZHUH VSOLW DFURVV YH GLYLVLRQV Q 5HWDLO Q 7RXU 2SHUDWLRQV Q 8. Q $LUOLQHV Q $LUFUDIW (QJLQHHULQJ As ONS allocates one industry


FODVVLFDWLRQ SHU HQWHUSULVH Thomas Cook was categorised as a


Travel Agency, so all its IT spend was included in that sector. 6RPH


known to have found work at other agencies, including Hays Travel, which took on all Cook’s stores, Barrhead Travel and others. This leaves a drop in staff


QXPEHUV RI DURXQG ZKLFK KDV D VLJQLFDQW LPSDFW RQ WKH


IRUHFDVW JXUHV IRU 7UDYHO $JHQF\ ,7 spend and 1,000+ staff categories. Since Cook was trading until late


last September, the impact was not VLJQLFDQW IRU


IRUPHU &RRN VWDII DUH Passenger Water Transport


(Chart 3, page 29) This sector sees the second-highest spend per employee on IT but spends


the lowest overall. Marked leaps in Software, Computer Services and Telecom Services spend in 2017 can


be attributed to Brexit, when ferry UPV LQ SDUWLFXODU ZHUH IDFHG ZLWK new border checks.


Passenger Air Transport


Firms across this sector are forecast WR VSHQG PRUH LQ $ DWWHQLQJ RI passenger numbers (295.9 million) and decline in staff numbers (79,581) during 2019 (pages 36-37) did not hold back IT spend increase last year.


Hotels


Our ONS Hotels data was skewed in 2018 when a restructure by Whitbread meant its Premier Inn brand became FODVVLHG LQ WKH +RWHOV VHFWRU DGGLQJ its staff and £1.37 million turnover to WKDW VHFWRU FODVVLFDWLRQ (pages 40-41).


saw spend on Software more than quadruple in 2017, a level that has been maintained ever since. This same


group of companies kept spend on Computer Services on more or less an even keel over the past six years, while turnover and staff number have been rising following a low in 2010.


➢


28 — FEBRUARY 2020 — TRAVOLUTION.CO.UK


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