Trade leaders will underline the value of the travel agent at an Abta event to be held in London today (Monday).
The use of customer information to help support sales and loyalty will be debated with supporting data.
The Customer Insight in the Travel Industry event includes speakers from across the sector, including Tui UK & Ireland, Thomas Cook, British Airways, Kuoni and Amadeus.
Abta brand and business development director, Victoria Bacon, will be moderating a panel discussion on the in-store experience.
She said: “There has been lots of debate about the ‘decline of the high street’, but Abta and industry research and feedback shows a much more complex, and promising, picture than this.
“Part of the key to success on the high street, and through other channels, is delivering the right experience for customers; this applies equally to different generations of holidaymaker.
“Understanding customer’s needs can be the difference between fulfilling or going beyond their expectations.
“Travel companies large and small who attend our customer insight event will have the opportunity to see what other businesses are doing to differentiate their services to deliver the best experience for their customers.”
Tui UK & Ireland marketing and customer experience director. Jeremy Ellis, is to deliver a session on ‘Understanding the customer journey’ and also will be taking part in the panel discussion.
He said: “We believe there will always be customers who want the expertise, assurance and the personal knowledge received in retail shops from our Thomson staff.
“The emphasis of our Holiday Design Stores is on delivering this exceptional personalised service through technology to enhance the customer experience.
“Holidaymakers are able to immerse themselves in stunning, rich and personalised content as they research and browse our unique holidays in-store. For example, our interactive map and interactive table helps customers to explore destinations and find out more about the broad range of exciting holidays available.
“Our Advice Bar gives customers the chance to browse the Thomson and First Choice websites on self-service laptops, choosing more personalised getaways such as our multi-centre programmes, which allow customers to design and book their own holiday and visit multiple resorts during their stay.”
Ellis added: “We’re excited for the future and our continuing innovations in store.
“By 2020 we hope to phase out brochures, to provide a digital experience at every customer touch point and will be investing in more personalised, inspirational content for our customers.”
Abta statistics show that:
• More than three quarters (76%) of respondents booked a holiday online this year, while a fifth (19%) booked a holiday in-store and a similar figure booked by phone (21%).
• Young families with children under five and people from the most affluent households (classified as social grade A) are the groups most likely to book a holiday in-store, with more than a third of both groups choosing this method.
• Younger people are also more likely than average to book a holiday in-store, with 25-34 year olds rating significantly above average (29%). Those aged 45-54 and people with older children are the groups most likely to book a holiday online (both 82%) and these groups are also least likely to book in-store.
• Among those aged 65-plus phone bookings are particularly popular, with 38% using this channel to book a holiday.
• There are also some notable regional variations in the way people book their holidays with the highest percentage of in-store bookings among Scots, West Midlanders (both 25%) and the Northern Irish (27%), while online booking is particularly popular among those in the East Midlands (82%), Wales (81%) and the South West (81%).
The top five sources of inspiration and information used by people when researching and planning a holiday are identified as:
1. General internet searches (55%),
2. Travel review websites (48%)
3. Recommendations from friends/family (45%)
4. Holiday destination brochures (45%)
5. Travel company website (31%)
Consumers are most likely to book in-store for trips to new destinations, holidays of seven nights or more and city breaks.
For these types of break, people particularly value the help, advice and expertise offered by travel experts, and seek out the personal touch for higher value trips such as a cruise or honeymoon, according to Abta.
They are less likely to book short breaks and domestic breaks in-store, suggesting they are more confident about booking these kind of trips independently.