Tour operators could be missing out on around £500,000 revenue each because clients only book with them once, according to customer data and insights company Spike.
In the 11th Aito Travel Insights report, covering nearly 14,000 responses from customers of 37 operators, agents and tourist board partners within The Specialist Travel Association (Aito), 32% of respondents said they were one-time bookers.
But Spike director Jon Watson said the company’s own independent analysis of 30 specialist operators, not all Aito, showed an average 70% of clients who only booked once.
He said: “When we do the data analysis we see up to 70% [one time bookers] – which terrifies investors.”
According to the same data, only 13% of first time bookers book again the next year. “It’s another terrifying statistic,” he said, adding: “You only need to switch that by a few percentage. We reckon across 30 specialists, they are leaving around £500,000 on the table.
“That’s £500,000 of booking revenue per operator in year one from [missed] repeat purchases and referrals.”
He said many travel firms spent a “fortune” on acquiring first-time clients only to “chuck them in the email pot and expect them to come back” without giving them any special attention or incentive.
“It’s unbelievable how many specialist operators do that,” he said, adding: “There are things you can do. If you can get clients to book with you a second time, they are infinitely more likely to book a third or fourth time and refer you to friends or family.”
He said specialist operators could realise some of the ‘lost’ £500,000 by putting best practice in place. “It’s not about chucking them [clients] in the email pot when they get home [from their first trip],” he stressed.
Walton urged operators to “get under the skin” of their customer booking data to improve customer retention.
He advised firms to contact clients on their return, create automated emails tailored to first-time clients on what they want, and incentivise them to return with a discount or value-added deal. “That stuff works,” he said. “It’s not a hard sell. It’s good customer service.”