| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 26/06/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 10 |
| Copyright: Other |
Letter of the week
Time to thank the early birds
How depressing. Summer 2001 bookings down by 28% (Travel Weekly June 19). Most tour operators seem to be in full agreement – it seems customers are expecting ever higher discounts and are no doubt becoming very astute at waiting for even better offers.So what can they do to reverse the discounting frenzy? How can they reverse the trend and encourage customers to book early? The answer is to reward early bookers with enhanced benefits like upgrades.
For too long we have rewarded the latecomers by reducing holiday prices or upgrading their accommodation in resort on arrival. Worse still, full-price customers have to suffer by listening to the late bookers bragging about how little they paid.
Rectifying this unfair situation must be treated as a matter of urgency by all tour operators if the industry is to return to (near) full-price customers.
An example – a limited offer, book three-star accommodation, receive four star. Book a standard room, receive an upgrade to sea view etc. In my opinion, it will be added values such as these which will increase the client satisfaction levels and, in doing so, move the rewards to the people who deserve it – our full-price early bookers.
Gerry Standley, Cathedral Travel, Lanchester, Co Durham