AGENTS
will focus heavily on customer safety in the January sales campaigns as the
industry prepares for its most crucial peak-booking period for a decade.
Although
discounts will play a key role, with opening offers of up to 50%, retailers are
expected to rebuild shattered consumer confidence by reassuring customers that
travel is safe. They will also offer unprecedented flexibility to capture early
sales.
The
new-look campaigns, which will begin on Boxing Day, come amid growing fears the
market is failing to recover and could face a disastrous January. Week-on-week
summer 2002 sales are still down by 40%, with cumulative sales down 15%-20%.
While
business will inevitably increase after Christmas, multiples are believed to be
budgeting for a 20% decline in year-on-year peak sales.
Thomas
Cook distribution managing director Andrew Windsor said a price-led message
alone would not be enough to secure bookings.
“We
expect there to be good offers but we need to look beyond that. It’s not just
about price and value. There needs to be a message about security and safety to
give people the confidence to book,” he said.
“As
an industry we need to give them a sense of security with more flexibility. We
remain optimistic and sales have improved slightly but it’s hard to know what
the trigger will be to get people to book.”
Windsor
said Thomas Cook’s campaign will be based on significantly more than price but declined to reveal details. He also
virtually ruled out increasing discounts beyond 50% – thought to be the
credibility threshold for consumers.
Lunn
Poly marketing and new media director Hugh Edwards said it will heavily push
its ‘You’re Safe in our Hands’ slogan which highlights the financial protection
provided by ABTA and Air Travel Organisers’ Licence holders. It will also work
closely with the Foreign Office.
“I
expect our competitors to follow,” he said. “There will be a mixture of the
usual aggressive level of activity and the need for retailers and operators to
give customers confidence to come out and book.”
On
an optimistic note, Edwards said the rate of decline has slowed. “We have seen
a 5%-6% increase in recent weeks,” he said. “The way world events unfold will
determine whether we will see an early or late-booking market.
“I
am confident the incentives in the market will see the market pick up in
January.”
Travelcare acting general manager Amanda Williams
said: “Winter is picking up but summer has not really improved at all.
Customers want reassurance and we will give them that.”