Skift Take
Market specialists Accenture have released a report highlighting how hotels and airlines can catch the increasing need in leisure travel and finest position themselves for the post-pandemic recovery.
Accenture
With indications of stabilization on the back of vaccination efforts worldwide, worldwide travel markets are considering a strong post-pandemic recovery. Bottled-up need is driving a strong uptake in bookings, as leisure travel shows indicators of rebound in Europe and North America. Recent information from the TSA shows that April 2021 traveler checkpoints were more than 5 times higher than traveler checkpoints for the same time in 2015.
Nevertheless, things look various for company travel. Market consultant company Accenture recently released a new report: “Travel Industry Recovery: Service or Leisure,” highlighting both the growing demand in the leisure market and the loss of organization traffic as an outcome of the pandemic.
Almost half (46 percent) of the respondents in Accenture’s research study said they had no business travel plans post-pandemic, or planned to cut previous organization travel by half. Business travel is normally the “bread and butter” of the market, so these shifts will provide brand-new challenges for hotels and airline companies, which must rearrange themselves for a strengthening leisure market.
Nevertheless, new chances will undoubtedly increase also. According to a study conducted by Accenture in Q1 2021, 79 percent of remote workers said they’re willing to work from a location besides their work workplace or home, while 15 percent stated they would work from a hotel, such as a lobby, conference area, or guest room. This figure is much greater for remote employees in China, where 96 percent stated they would work from a third place.
SkiftX unloads Accenture’s essential findings, with insight from Miguel Flecha, Accenture’s handling director, technique and consulting, Travel, Europe, on what hotel and airline brands need to be concentrating on to succeed throughout travel’s healing.
DISCOVER NEW INSPIRATION
While the decrease in service travel marks a seismic shift for the market, Accenture’s Miguel Flecha sees the opportunities to fill the gap. He mentions the increase of “bleisure” and “flexcations,” or longer trips that fuse work and play– in addition to this increasing leisure demand– as shifts that brand names will need to adjust their messaging around in order to prosper throughout healing and beyond.
“Formerly, brand names didn’t need to head out in the market and gain the attention of the leisure tourist,” stated Flecha. “Those travelers concerned them. That might alter a bit during the recovery.”
Flecha suggests brand-new messaging methods through social media and travel channels to attract and motivate the brand-new clients. “The huge companies will require to have the ideal positioning in the inspiration stage through social networks and material. It will not be almost showing a photo of a room, or a dining establishment, or center– they will need to provide audiences with more experiential visual material. Perhaps using the destination, and what’s around it, to display the brand in a various way.”
USAGE SCALABLE MEDIA AND CONTENT
Additionally, hotels and airline companies will require to use a strong, personalized worth proposal– one that connects with the traveler consistently across all channels along the marketing funnel.
“Being able to use the one-to-one approach at scale with the best content and the ideal worth proposal is actually intricate,” stated Flecha. “However we require to make every effort to make it as targeted as possible.”
GO ‘GLOCAL’
In addition to developing a broader worldwide marketing technique, brand names might need to factor in more regional versatility into their messaging and item offering.
“We utilized to take a trip in a different method. We ‘d visit Paris and see the significant sights and destinations there,” said Flecha. “Now we have recognized the worth of local neighborhoods and the local tastes of destinations. We’re no longer just going to the Eiffel Tower– we now might drive one hour away from Paris and check out external.”
Brands would do well to test fresh methods in crucial markets, discover brand-new synergies, and tease out the new leisure opportunity.
GET READY FOR COMMITMENT 2.0
Consumer loyalty pre-pandemic relied on points-based programs driven by regular organization travel. Brands will now need to reassess customer commitment and use brand-new propositions for leisure travel.
“In the past, it was harder to develop a one-to-one relationship with these tourists,” said Flecha. “Lots of utilized to take a trip just when a year for a long vacation. But if we are anticipating these travelers to travel more, brand names will require to exercise how to develop a continuous relationship with them.”
Another consideration is how brand names blend this method with the existing organization traveler, considered that the lines are now blurrier than ever through increasing “bleisure” and “flexcation” travel. “The concern is how we can link all of the information required to separate, and take full advantage of appropriately,” said Flecha.
REIMAGINE CUSTOMER DATA
Discovering local needs, assisting the value proposal, increasing effectiveness, and prioritizing financial investments to unlock brand-new opportunities really comes down to harnessing excellent data. Brand names need to take advantage of their information tools to further drive engagement, deliver key insights, and improve customization.
“Brand names require to make information a priority to individualize the customer experience,” stated Flecha. “So when a customer arrive on the site, uses the brand name channels, and makes a reservation, the journey corresponds and enhanced for their individual needs the entire method through.”
OFFER SEAMLESS EXPERIENCES
If brand name affinity and loyalty is the name of the brand-new leisure video game, there’s a lot to be gained when the experience matches the guarantee. As Flecha discussed, brand names need to ensure their inspirations match the reality on the ground. Using quality and authentic experiences from end to end will drive ongoing loyalty and win further engagement, both through this short-term recovery period and the longer-term beyond.
This content was created collaboratively by Accenture and Skift’s top quality material studio, SkiftX.