Customer loyalty is “wafer thin” in travel despite companies valuing repeat customers highly, according to Kuoni UK managing director Mark Duguid.
Speaking at Travlaw event in London last month, Duguid reported engaging “a fantastic brand agency” to work on the Kuoni brand refresh to broaden the company’s appeal to the family market.
The rebrand was launched in time for the January peak booking season.
Duguid noted: “We deliberately picked a brand agency that had never worked in travel, and the agency said they were staggered at the lack of loyalty in the sector, that people would pivot to another company for a lower price.”
He said the agency described loyalty in travel “as wafer thin”.
G Adventures managing director for the UK and Europe Brian Young agreed, saying: “You have to work hard for loyalty. We get 32% repeat business, which we think is high. Customers don’t repeat [a booking] if you don’t earn it.”
Asked about marketing via social media, Duguid expressed concerns about “the political climate” and admitted “social media and the power it wields worry me”.
He said: “I’m engaging less in social media as a result.”