Travel companies need to stay “true to their values” to succeed post-Covid, according to Travel Counsellors chief executive Steve Byrne.
Speaking at last week’s Travel Weekly’s Future of Travel Conference, he said the firm had maintained its focus on customer relationships and service during the pandemic.
He said: “We have learnt to focus on the things we can control and not spend too much time thinking about the things we cannot control. We endeavour to do our best for our customers – people will remember how you made them feel.”
He predicted: “Brands which stay true to their values will have a bright future.”
Byrne urged firms to learn lessons from Covid. “One of the lessons is about having hope and you have to believe that what you do will come through. No matter what the external market throws at you there are opportunities.”
Byrne said Travel Counsellors had enjoyed a strong summer, with August proving the best sales month of the year. “Normally you would expect it to be January,” he said.
Currently, the travel firm’s leisure sales are “broadly” 50% up on 2019, driven by increasing booking volumes and value, while corporate sales are about 20% on 2019, he said.
Brands that stay true to their values and look after people will have a bright future, whatever the economic situation, Travel Counsellors boss
Steve Byrne @TCworldwide tells #twfutureoftravelpic.twitter.com/5Nno7YUVTB— Travel Weekly (@travelweekly) September 22, 2022
Bryne reported a “profound increase” in booking values this year, which was being carried forward into next year.
“If you look at that trend over 2019 there is a significant increase in the value of the holiday over the longer period of time,” he said, but he admitted the short-term future remained unknown.
“What none of us know is the cost of living impact, a potentially negative impact, aligned with demand for people wanting to experience the world,” he said. “We have not yet seenthe cost of living having an impact on our data.”
He believes there is more pent-up demand. “I personally don’t think it [demand] has been fully satiated in the last nine months,” he said.
