Travel brands should be acting now to build trust and attract future customers, says Finn Partners managing partner and global travel practice lead Debbie Flynn
Last week I had the pleasure of hosting a panel session at the Global Travel & Tourism Resilience Council’s Re-Engineering Readiness virtual summit. The event was a huge success that demonstrated the ability of our sector to continue to connect, come together and share learnings on how best to prepare for the ‘Next Normal’.
It was great to see the level of trust and collaboration as leaders from across the industry joined together to share their insights. Not only is trust key within the sector, but in the chaos of the pandemic, there is no denying the level of media attention that travel brands and the refund policies debate has garnered.
We as an industry understand the great difficulties and ‘behind the scenes’ complexities of the situation, but will the overriding memory of travel during the pandemic be one of mistrust and caution when it comes to consumers booking holidays in the future?
It’s this exact subject that we took a deep dive into during the panel session entitled Establishing trust in a rolling lockdown world. Everyone has different perceptions of risk, different experiences of crisis and different concerns about what the future holds. We must therefore learn from the lockdown period to rebuild confidence, credibility, and trust from a communications perspective and where this responsibility lies across the travel industry.
Don’t wait to act
Whilst budgets are tight and tourist boards look ahead to planning for reopening it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the opportunities to build and increase positive brand exposure at a time when digital consumption has sky-rocketed.
A strategic approach to social and digital can be a surprisingly cost-effective way to ‘plant the seeds’ and build trust, Jeremy Jauncey, founder and CEO of Beautiful Destinations explained during the panel discussion.
Tourism leaders need to consider investing time and budget on the platforms that people are using. In the past tourist boards have often been priced out when it comes to share of voice, but as consumer brands have largely pulled budgets from these platforms, there is a gap in the market for tourism to strike while the iron’s hot before automotive, retail and electronics flood the market once again and therefore drive up costs.
Multi-generational and multi households of all ages are using social media more than ever so brands can easily create different marketing strategies for all demographics to achieve powerful impact messaging during a time when consumers are looking for travel inspiration for the future.
Importance of agents
Arnie Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the Travel Weekly in the US, raised the importance of travel agents for rebuilding trust. While the situation is currently very bleak, the role of the agent will be vital as we start to come out the other side. Confidence in travel companies has been eroded due to the high-profile refunds debate on both sides of the Atlantic and this has opened up the opportunity for agents to come to the fore and highlight their value and knowledge to the consumer.
Looking ahead to the ‘booking phase’, it’s vital that tourist boards invest in their tour operator and travel agent relationships as they will act as important advocates in a more powerful way over the coming years.
Robust protocol
As we edge closer to potential ‘air bridges’ and the opening of borders, attention is swiftly turning to regulations and robust protocols – from the airport to the individual hotel, tourist boards will need to act as the centre piece for all levels of the traveller experience, to ensure their destination’s reputation remains positive in a post lockdown world.
Bryan Gabriel, CCO at Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, highlighted the learnings that we can take from Asia as the region emerges from lockdown before the rest of the world. As events unfold it’s important for brands to act quickly and decisively and anticipate guests’ needs for increased flexibility during uncertain times.
It’s important to reassure travellers that they can make decisions whilst having faith in the brand to do the right thing. Trust is built on being genuine, authentic and communicating intentions and protocols clearly. If local media and domestic tourists are demonstrating how locals have trust in the tourism product of a destination, this will have a global shift.
Sustainable outlook
At Finn Partners, we established our Responsible Tourism Practice in 2018 as we knew this would need to be at the forefront of all travel brands’ tourism strategy in the near future. Jane Madden, managing partner for sustainability & social impact, joined our panel and talked about how predictions for future travel are indicating that Covid-19 has ‘sped up’ emerging travel priorities and trends that we are seeing in the sector, including travellers increasingly looking to destinations and brands that have a focused approach to sustainability.
With this in mind, as destinations rip up the rulebook and look to adapt their tourism offering for the ‘Next Normal’, it is vital that responsible tourism is at the centre of the recovery. By being transparent, honest and modest in this area, with back-up from measurement and data, destinations will thrive when it comes to attracting the ‘new’ traveller.
Opportunity to reset
It’s clear that we have an opportunity to reset and build trust in new and innovative ways. Private and public sector collaboration is key to ensuring it is done right.
Big budgets aren’t necessarily ‘king’ but acting quickly, learning from brands doing it right and being open and forward-thinking in our approach will ensure that destinations and the travel industry as a whole can successfully rebuild trust with the travellers of the future.
