Rewards await businesses focused on transparency, argues independent communications consultant, and former Abta director of brand and business development Victoria Bacon
The Travel Weekly annual Insight Report, produced in partnership with Deloitte, has become an annual staple ahead of the Christmas break, providing useful insights for travel businesses as they head into what has historically been a popular time for customers to look for and book holidays.
One theme of particular interest this year is the enormous challenge that awaits the industry in rebuilding consumer confidence in travelling abroad following such a tumultuous year.
The UK’s Covid-19 vaccine programme, along with a robust testing regime, will play a critical role here. Together they will undoubtedly provide a welcome boost to confidence and to bookings once the current tough restrictions are eased.
But we don’t yet know the timetable for when a majority of the UK population will be vaccinated or what government protocols will remain in place for travelling abroad in 2021, so it seems inevitable many people will remain hesitant about travelling overseas even if they feel more confident about booking for the future.
Then there is arguably the even bigger challenge of what happens when UK citizens are vaccinated but the populations of countries they wish to visit are not.
Continued control measures will be inevitable, who knows for how long.
And the prospect of visiting countries where unknown and changing levels of lockdown or safety measures are in place, with bars, restaurants and visitor attractions subject to restrictions, will undoubtedly put some people off.
But as the Insight Report concludes, there is also huge pent-up demand for travel: 16.5 million Brits said they intend to go on holiday abroad next year and that was before the vaccine breakthrough was announced.
So how should the industry approach this? The report highlights the fact that customers will seek out travel businesses offering maximum flexibility for their booking arrangements.
But perhaps even more important, they will look to those travel businesses which they feel they can trust.
Fear of the unknown is one of the greatest enemies of consumer confidence. The task of travel businesses and destination authorities will be to provide accurate and transparent information about safety measures and restrictions, not tucked away in the ‘terms and conditions’ but throughout the customer journey of looking, booking and travelling.
Information and real-time updates about protocols, potential restrictions and options to change arrangements should be front and centre of customer campaigns and conversations.
It may feel uncomfortable for businesses more used to selling a dream holiday or destination, but there will be a need to rethink, balancing ‘selling the dream’ with highlighting safety and flexibility as priorities.
Many travel businesses are already doing some great work to address this, but some have a long way to go.
Destination tourism authorities and businesses will also need to fundamentally shift the way they market their experiences and attractions.
The rewards for getting this approach right will be huge. Customers will trust and seek out those businesses and destinations that are honest and transparent with them from the start about what they are likely to experience, even if that experience is different to the norm.
The pandemic has brought a re-wiring of people’s assumptions and expectations, so businesses should not be afraid to approach things differently. Quite the opposite, people will expect things to be different and may be wary of companies which they perceive to be burying their heads in the sand and carrying on as normal.
The flip side, of course, is that if businesses get it wrong they will appear at best tone deaf, at worst dishonest.
Ultimately, getting it right will provide a huge opportunity for travel businesses and destinations to build deep and genuine relationships of trust with customers and that can be a positive legacy which lasts well beyond the current pandemic.
Victoria Bacon is an independent communications consultant, and former Abta director of brand and business development