The recession will have a long-lasting effect on consumer attitudes to travel, according to former Cadogan managing director Tom Allen.
Recessions can leave people feeling vulnerable for 10 years, he told delegates at a Chartered Institute of Marketing Travel Industry Group event on May 11.
“Agents should prepare for a long-term shift in consumer attitudes,” he said. “Change is now a constant, and company culture will have to change to embrace it.”
This recession is different from those in the past, because the public do not trust the government to steer them out of it quickly, he said.
The travel industry is also finding it tougher because of technology issues, he added. “The internet has changed the travel industry more than most other sectors. The industry was struggling to cope with that and now the recession has come on top of it,”
Allen, who has set up Tom Allen Partnerships consultancy business since leaving Cadogan, said the winners in the recession would be domestic travel specialists and the big two.