The travel industry is polarising between business that can be transacted simply and cheaply online and that in which consumer require more of a human touch.
John Hays, Hays travel founder and managing director, told delegates at the Travel Convention that he saw this trend increasing in coming years.
“Consumers consistently evolve, but the fundamentals of what they want remain the same. They want value for money,” he said.
“In a simple point to point market it does become a commodity. That’s an online market that will continue to grow and develop.
“But we increasingly see that the same consumers are using our service for different types of product. They will book online for the simple product but if they are going somewhere they have never been they might do their research online but they still want face to face contact.
“I’m seeing a polarisation between the two. There are a lot of people who are financially affluent but time poor who want to give us a specification and we will do the research for them.
“We are seeing in our group the emergence of people with business models aimed at the very personal touch, very high net worth individuals.
“You probably underestimate the amount of bespoke travel that’s going on.”
Hays said trading had been “okay” this year and in line with expectations. “If you were profitable last year you will be profitable this year
“I was surprised to hear Manny’s [Fontenla-Novoa, Thomas Cook chief executive] comments about 2010 being the worst year he has known.
“The ash cloud was bad for tour operators and airlines, and it was bad for travel agents too. But the year was in line with expectations.
“I don’t really have high expectations for 2011. We are in a difficult economic environment and trading is going to be tough for at least the next 12 months.”