A panel discussion on industry data held today, November 22, at the AITO Overseas Conference offered optimistic news for agents, particularly in regard to the importance of the older demographic and finding the right balance of engaging with customers via digital and traditional marketing, such as brochure.
The panel included Roy Barker from SPIKE Marketing, Tom Dunn from Wild Dog Design, which specialises in designing marketing materials for the travel industry, and Kevin O'Regan from Ramblers Walking Holidays and the session featured data from SPIKE and live online polling of delegates.
Marketing to older travellers remains important despite what Mr Dunn described as a "cult of youth" where a large proportion of marketing efforts have been aimed at millennials. Mr Barker pointed out that in the UK, 28% of wealth is with people aged 55-64 and 24% with people aged 65-74 - it was emphasised that this is the demographic with more money to spend as well as being more likely to use travel agents for booking. However, in a breakout discussion that Travel Bulletin took part in, younger customers can be drawn into using agents when they want a bespoke experience and, despite high levels of online use, can often appreciate the ease of letting a travel agent do the hard work as opposed to spending hours researching deals online.
In terms of marketing, digital engagement is important but printed brochures still have an important role to play, despite the costs associated with production and distribution. That said, the delegates largely agreed in a live online poll that their customers are not technophobes, with Mr Dunn reiterating this point.
Additionally, Mr Barker said that older customers are more likely to book using specialist travel companies as it is considered more secure than "doing it yourself" and offers "authentic experiences".
The good news for agents is that despite ongoing uncertainties, SPIKE's data found that 67.1% of travellers are looking to keep taking holidays at the same rate and 21.9% plan to take more holidays.
In the breakout session, delegates discussed whether the high street travel agent is undergoing a demise but a delegate made a comment from the floor that the bigger question is: "Is this the end of the high street overall?".
The session touched on the issue of climate change and flight-shaming and how these factors may affect bookings and this will be covered in more detail later in the conference.
