The Advantage Travel Partnership is emphasising the added value provided by booking with an independent travel agent in its turn of year marketing push.
The ‘Value Packed’ promotion also aims to drive consumer demand and bookings by highlighting peak season offers.
The campaign will run until the end of February and be underpinned by a Value Packed guarantee.
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It will focus on how independent agents can find the best deal for their customers no matter what the budget.
With the rise in interest rates beginning to show signs of slowing down, Advantage is predicting that bookings will remain strong, but consumers may be more cost conscious than this year.
The consortium is also introducing a ‘re-targeting’ campaign for members, contacting lapsed customers who have not booked for some time by email, with the intention of enticing them to book again with the agent.
Marketing material will also be available, from digital assets that will enable agents to create their own content under the campaign message and aspirational point of sale banners. to inspiring e-newsletters and hot offers emails featuring up to 10 holiday deals.
An additional targeted social media activation has been created focused around celebrating the booking and creating ‘FOMO’ underpinned by the hashtag #ThatJustBookedFeeling.
Head of marketing David Forder said: “2023 was a successful year for travel. What we saw was that regardless of cost, people still had the desire to get away.
“What we have seen overall is that UK consumers perhaps see a holiday as their given right, or a need they often put above many of life’s other essentials.
“Looking ahead to 2024 it may be that while this desire to travel persists some consumers may be more cost conscious than they were in 2023 whilst others are looking to spend more frivolously.
“Therefore, our 2024 turn of year campaign focuses primarily on these two segments of the market – the everyday consumer and those looking to splash the cash whilst all underpinned by demonstrating that when booking with a travel agent value transcends service levels and that monetary value is given back to the consumer.
“Independent travel agents are best placed to find consumers an amazing great value holiday next year regardless of their budget, and we want to give our members the tools and guidance they need to convey this message, drive demand and implement a sustained campaign that suits their business and customers.”
He added: “We are leaving no stone unturned, providing a wide range of activity for members to use to make their lives easier during the busy peaks period.
“We will be using customer data to target activity and increase response rates and putting a focus on digital content creation and social media, as we know this channel in particular works well for many of our members.
“We are really proud of the campaign and thankful for the huge amount of support from our supplier partners who are taking part in the activity. “We will be going the extra mile to communicate everything that is available for our members to use through all of our communication channels and making it simple for them to access all the tools and content available through a dedicated turn or year member’s intranet hub.”
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