14.1 Introduction
In this module we are going to focus on the current trends
in the travel industry and how you keep track of them in order to hopefully
further your career.This is something that everybody involved in the industry
should be capable of doing as it allows you to predict what people want and to
then position yourself accordingly.
14.2 How to Identify a Trend
First, we have to look at how
you are able to identify a trend because understanding what constitutes one is
going to make a huge difference to how you react.
Remember, identifying this as
early as possible will then allow you to really take advantage of things and, as a result, you will be in a much better position to make the kind of gains you were hoping for.
So, how do you identify it?
The answer is easier than you
perhaps realise. In actual fact, within the United Kingdom it is important that you keep track of ABTA and what they are defining as a trend in travel. They produce
a report of the different travel trends around the world each and every year
and this is information that professionals within the industry really do
need to keep on top of.
This
can also often be quoted as being 'destinations to watch' for the upcoming
year and if you spend time looking at trends
from the past you will see that there is a tendency for them to be rather accurate in their predictions. The way in which ABTA (remember there
are others out there, including Lonely Planet) compiles these trends is by
examining information from the market regarding bookings, projected bookings, marketing plans by tourist authorities for the area, and a number of other important factors.
By spending time examining these statistics it allows them to put together an idea as to where
people are turning their attention to or the kind of holidays that they would like
to experience. It also tells them the type of accommodation and the average spend that people would be looking at. This
can all help you to provide a better service that is best suited to the needs of the individual.This is not like getting out a crystal ball, as there is clearly no guarantee that what ABTA or anybody else
says is going to be absolutely true and accurate, but they have taken the time
to study the market before reaching their conclusions.
However,
here is an important part that you need to take into account when trying to identify a
trend and that is to not just focus on a location. Instead, a travel trend can be the type of
accommodation people are looking for, the way they travel, the experiences they
are looking for, in actual fact it can be related to anything that is to
do with the tourist industry. This is where some people trip themselves up
as they focus on a particular country being popular and forget that
people still have to get there so they miss out on an important part of the entire process.
14.3 Examples of Trends
Trends related to travel and tourism are not as easy to follow as in other industries.
For example
Fashion trends change on a yearly basis, pretty much, and you are able to see it in the High Street.
However, it is not as easy as that when it comes to trends related to the travel and tourism industry.
When studying trends it is
important to remember that you are dealing with people that want to travel
around the world and that means you have to look globally when identifying
them. Also, we have to think about what was said in the previous section in that
a trend is not only connected to a location but also other key parts of
the entire industry.
A travel trend with transportation.
For example
We will begin by talking about a
travel trend that applied to 2016 and is purely connected to transport.
This trend is for slightly lower cost travel throughout the year and it is
related entirely to the fact that oil prices remained low and quite stable
for some time. This relates to cheaper fuel and airlines have been quick
to either keep prices at the same level as last year or even reduce them slightly to make travel cheaper and more attractive to a larger number of people.
This trend is clearly important
for the entire industry as it leads to more marketing, showcasing lower cost
holidays and more possibilities opening up for travellers thanks to them not
having to spend as much money to get there in the first place.
Changes in bus tours.
It used to be the case that the
bus tour, and by this we mean a trip that visits a number of attractions
and destinations, were very popular but that is no longer the case and to the
same extent. The reason for this is because of the way in which people
were becoming bored of moving their luggage around and, as a result, tours
by river became more popular due mainly to the practicalities involved.
As a result, river tours are a trend due to this one reason and it is a prime example of how you need
to look at the reasons behind a trend in order to fully understand what is going on.
An increase in multi-generational travel.
Another example of a trend is
connected to the people that are travelling together as 2016 has shown
that there is a greater increase in what is described as being
multi-generational travel. This basically means more than one generation
in a family travelling together, even though they may have different
interests or reasons for visiting a destination. This does mean that you have
to be even more aware of who is travelling and what they expect from going
there in order to provide them with the absolute best service possible.
We could have sat here and worked through different countries, cities, or tourist resorts that have
had an increase in bookings, but that kind of thing is very easy to find out and we do recommend
that you become aware of what people are looking for when it comes to that part
of the industry. As you can see the concept of a trend can be rather
different to what you were anticipating and it is a good example of how
you need to think about the industry in different ways to ultimately provide
the correct service to the correct people.
14.4 How to Take Advantage of a Trend
So, now that you have a better
understanding of how to identify a trend and also examples of them within the
industry, it is also important for you to have a better idea of how to take
advantage of them.
Once you understand the trends,
which means the countries or destinations that are the hotspots at that time, you need to have a way of telling others about it in order to take advantage of it. You have
to remember that every other individual that is working within your particular
part of the industry is going to be vying for the same people and to try to get a head start on these trends. In other words,
if you snooze then you do indeed lose and that is hardly going to bode well for your entire career.
So, how do you actually take
advantage of a trend? Well, the key is in your preparation and your general
awareness of how to tackle the trend itself.
To make life easier, we will look
at the examples of trends that were mentioned earlier to show you how to then
go ahead and take advantage of them.
The transportation trend.
First, the trend of transportation that is linked to the drop in fuel prices. This one is quite obvious as
to how you can take advantage of this trend because you can use this information to promote
cheaper holidays, and the marketing may encourage more people to travel.
Remember, one issue that people
tend to have with travelling is the cost so if they are aware that there is some kind of special deal or flights have been slashed by 20% to certain locations then suddenly it becomes more tempting.
From your perspective, it is important that you make people aware of those flights or destinations
that are now costing less money to get to. Create a buzz around them. Inform people of what they
can do when they get there so that the entire place becomes more attractive to
them rather than just the simple fact that it costs them less money than they were perhaps aware of. In other words, it is
not just enough for you to say that things cost less money as you still need to
provide them with a reason for taking you up on that offer, as that is the only way in which you can hope to take
advantage of that trend.
The bus tour and river tour trend.
We stated how there is a trend
for more river tours rather than bus tours now thanks to the way in which you
do not have to continually move your luggage around. So, how do you hope to
take advantage of this trend?
The key in this instance would be
for you to look at the advantages that are offered with either bus tours or
river tours and fit it in with what the customer is looking for and what they
would also like to avoid.
Do they get annoyed at the thought of moving their luggage? If so, then you push that there are now
more river cruises than ever before and begin to provide them with various
examples of where they can go, what they can do, and how much it will cost.
However, if they do not care about the luggage issue then you can flip it around to the bus tour
option and still take advantage of the trend. In this instance, it is connected to the fact that the price
of bus tours has had to come down so that they can still hope to compete and
appear to be attractive against the river cruises. This is the part where you can take advantage by pushing the idea that
they can see different parts of a country and it is also going to be cheaper so
they save money in the process. It really is a case of just pushing the positives and trying your best to avoid mentioning any
of the negatives.
The multi-generational travel.
We also mentioned that there is a
current trend whereby a number of generations are travelling together at
the same time and clearly with this there are various opportunities that are
available to you. With this trend it is important that you have even more
knowledge of a place, or are able to at least find out the information. What is there for each generation? What would draw them there in
the first place?
Multi-generational travel is going to be easier to handle than you imagine and indeed it is a
wonderful trend to get involved in. You need to take each generation as an individual and treat them
as such so you can push the positives of whatever service or product it is that
you offer in the correct manner for the people you are talking to.
Just with these three examples we
can begin to understand how you are able to take advantage of a travel
trend and to take the information that is contained within the trends and use
it in the correct manner. The important part is to look at the actual
specifics of a trend and ascertain how it has an impact on what you offer
in the industry. In other words, you need to be fully aware of your own role in the entire business and to
pick and choose parts that help you to do your job better and to ultimately
further your own career.
For example
If we look at the transportation
costs trend and how it has impacted on reduced flight prices, then clearly
this is going to be of interest to you if you operate within the flights or
bookings arena. You can take this information and apply it to how you sell
flights to your clients, especially those individuals that are not too
aware of what they are looking for in the first place.
When thinking about how to take
advantage of a trend you need to just keep the following five points in
mind.
1. Does the trend actually influence what you do in the industry?
2. Is the trend long lasting or do you have to act immediately?
3. How do you promote the trend to your customers?
4. Is it something that people will actually be interested in?
5. How is it going to change your approach to your job and your customers?
These questions and thoughts are
designed to get you to really think more about what you are doing within
your role and how to apply this new information and to do so in a way that has
a positive impact on both your own career as well as the services that you offer to the customers.
Trends are there to be taken
advantage of and it is just a matter of getting to grips with how you do that
in the first place.
FACT
In 2015, domestic travellers throughout the UK spent more than £13 billion on leisure travel.
Source: Tourismalliance.com
14.5 The Future of Travel
So, where is all of this heading?
Just as it is important for you
to have an understanding of trends it is also important for you to know the
future of travel. Being aware of this will also help you to better position
yourself for the sake of providing better services to your customers and, at the same time, also hopefully improve your
career as a result. Remember, this is about more than just a trend as we are talking about future predictions.
This is just as important as
being aware of a fad or what people are doing at any given time and looking
at the longer term picture.
In order to answer this
particular question we just have to look at how it has evolved in the last few decades. There is no doubt that we have a tendency to travel to a wider range of places, if you are
old enough then you will remember how Benidorm and Lanzarote were the two main
destinations for people wanting sun from the UK. However, it is now very
different.
Now, thanks to the Internet we are looking at different locations that are slightly off the main tourist trail. People are more willing to
try to do their own thing and there is a clear shift to more specialised
forms of travel rather than just following in their hoards.
People want to get to their
destination faster than before and are aware that technology allows them to do
this.
They want to get more value for
their money than before. They want to experience new things, see new
sights, try to find that hidden gem and yet still do it all within their budget
or other restrictions that they may very well place upon themselves.
This does clearly have an impact
on how you deal with customers and the products or services that you provide
which is why you need to be constantly aware of the future of travel as well as
knowing what is popular over a season or perhaps a year.
You have to spend a considerable amount of time looking closely at what you offer and see how it
has to be tweaked and re-tuned to fit in with what the world, and your
customers expect at any given time. If you are determined to stay in line
with how you were trained or how you started off in the industry then you are going to run into a number of problems and will do so in next to no time.
The travel and tourism industry
is forever changing and you have to change with it. People have different
ideas of what they want, and what they expect, from how they were a decade ago
or even less. If you fail to understand this
then there is every chance that you will be left behind in your career and
that is why so many people frequently go through additional training or invest
the time and energy in trying to keep tabs on how things are changing.
Understanding the future of travel is about more than just looking at where people are going. There
is information out there that you can really take advantage of and it will also
help you to further your own career down the line. In all honesty, there is absolutely no other option and you have to do this
if you are at all serious about your career and position within the travel and
tourism industry.
MODULE SUMMARY
In this module we have focused on
trends and how you can position yourself to take advantage of them.
Trends have to be handled
correctly as it does boost the entire industry when you understand what the
public want and are then able to provide them with it. This is going to clearly
boost your own career due to the way in which you are going to build a
reputation for satisfying customers and also making sure that they always
get what they want.
In the next and final module we
will look more closely at the different issues that you may have to contend
with when you work in the industry and how to handle them.
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