SPECIAL REPORT


main destinations – Spain, Greece, Portugal, Turkey and Italy – were up compared with 2019. Only Turkish WKUHH VWDU KRWHOV VDZ D GHFOLQH *UHHN fiYH VWDU KRWHOV ZHUH XS


DATA ANALYSIS


What can explain this? Combining other data points with insights from professionals with many years’ experience, we were able to help begin to explain the multiple factors that might have brought this about. First, we discovered that as many


hotels still remained closed or only open partially, this had evidently affected prices: less supply always increases prices if demand remains stable. Equally, the increase of demand


DQG SULFHV LQ WKH fiYH VWDU FDWHJRU\ could be partly explained by the fact that wealthier travellers are not put off by the high costs of PCR tests and – being mostly older on average – are less worried by quarantining. We’ve seen some evidence too that


travellers are spending longer periods of time in the destination, thus pushing up the total demand. Hotels also might be increasing prices as their cost base has gone up due to Covid measures. There’s also plenty of data to


show that more people are booking DW WKH ODVW PLQXWH DQG VXFK ERRNLQJV as plenty of other data also shows, are always at a higher price. Finally, there is of course one


other factor to consider and that is WKDW ORQJ KDXO WUDYHO Ȃ DQG E\ WKDW ZH mean transatlantic trips or journeys to Asia – have been reduced to a small fraction of their former levels. Desire to travel, though, has remained high, so perhaps some of those travellers are now instead travelling in Europe, creating demand that previously would not have been there. In this respect, the analysis


managed to turn data – the fact that prices are rising – into valuable insights for destinations: how, why and, ultimately, what to do to react.


AN INCREASE IN UK DOMESTIC TOURISM IS HARDLY ‘BIG DATA’ OR EVEN NEWS: BUT IF YOU’RE A TRADITIONAL SUN-AND-BEACH DESTINATION, THEN FINDING OUT THAT BRITS ARE ENJOYING THEIR ‘STAYCATION’ MORE THAN EXPECTED COULD PROVE AN IMPORTANT – AND WORRYING – MARKET INSIGHT.


“Combining data


points with insights from professionals, we could explain the many factors [at play]”


are having of their domestic tourism experiences is very positive: Brits now have a much better impression of the range of tourist experiences DYDLODEOH XS E\ fiYH SRLQWV LQ RXU Mabrian Tourist Product Index from a score of 73 to 78 (out of 100) between last summer and this. :KHQ LW FRPHV WR WKUHH DQG fiYH VWDU


DOMESTIC TREND


Another example we’ve seen recently is around the current spike in staycations in the UK. Brits booking more domestic holidays is not news. And in that respect the traditional Mediterranean destinations shouldn’t have anything to fear, right? +RZHYHU E\ FURVV DQDO\VLQJ


multiple data sources – such as social media, accommodation UHYLHZV flLJKW FDSDFLW\ DQG flLJKW searches – we discovered that the British staycation trend might be more permanent than many would think. Despite an appearance of moaning about it, overall the impression Brits


hotels, British domestic travellers are also enjoying their stays more this year too. We also looked at perception of security and found that had improved WRR DV ZHOO DV fiQGLQJ D VWDUN LQFUHDVH in the overall level of tourist interest from locals on social media. Maybe it is too early to tell yet,


but a lot of destinations in southern Europe need to respond quickly if they don’t want to risk losing market share for many years. Which kind of brings us back full


circle: all destinations now need to have much greater agility in how they approach market analysis. The days of ‘trust your intuition’ and


‘tomorrow will be like today, but even better’ are long since gone but Covid has just made it ever clearer. Smart destinations and companies know that change is the only constant and the name of the game is understanding – and even anticipating – that change.


TRAVOLUTION.CO.UK — SEPTEMBER 2021 — 17


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