| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 07/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 13 |
| Copyright: Other |
With all the changes that are going on in the travel industry at the moment, what better opportunity is there to start addressing important issues – such as customer relations?
Lindsey Allardyce
The travel industry should place a higher value on its products and invest for the long term or risk continually being regarded as a cheap commodity.The mixed reactions to the launch of JMC were not entirely unexpected and I can understand the views of some of the critics.
However, in a period of sweeping change in our industry when every aspect of the way we do business is being examined, questioned and redesigned, what better time or opportunity could there be to address the one critic of the travel trade – the consumer?
Investment in new distribution channels, maximising pan-European synergies, building the biggest vertically integrated travel business, or offering the largest discounts on the high street are short sighted and meaningless strategies unless we invest in the long term quality of the end product.
Consumers will be more forgiving and understanding when minor problems occur, as invariably they will, if tour operators can demonstrate a genuine commitment to improvement.
And when the inevitable problem does occur we must be prepared to manage and recover the situation. While our business is a more complex business than many outside the industry appreciate, the challenge we must accept is to manage those complexities with a ‘can do’ approach as opposed to a ‘why we can’t’ attitude.
Other industries face similar challenges successfully, where interdependencies on a variety of component parts are key to the success of the overall operation, so there can be no reason or excuse for tour operators not to do the same.
We must recognise that our customers really are king, that only by building and developing our relationships with them can we influence their perceptions.
At every step of the customer journey, the process should be seamless and every time they come into contact with the business they should be dealt with efficiently, promptly and consistently.
While it is not an investment that will demonstrate an immediate payback, the long-term benefits of building brand loyalty, increasing repeat business, reducing the cost of keeping that customer and a reduction in the level of compensation payments are tangible proof of the commercial gains to be made. Only if we are prepared to invest that effort can we take holidays out of the commodities market and truly lay to rest the ghosts of the ‘pile ’em high sell them cheap mentality’.
“Consumers will be more forgiving when minor problems occur, if tour operators can demonstrate genuine commitment”