Alberta Business Marketing

Tags: Canwest Global, CBC, CTV, media
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Tags: Canwest Global, CBC, CTV, media
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

Report on Luxury Travel during the current recession

Results are from survey of over 2000 luxury travelers and over 200 luxury hoteliers. What is interesting is that the trends identified in this report have relevance for the entire tourism industry regardless of whether serving a luxury or budget traveler. I’ll highlight a few points I gleaned from the report, but you may want to download and read the report pdf Luxury Travel during the recession from Marketing Matrix.

Word of Mouth Matters more than ever

Key Point: Almost 30% of respondents were inspired to visit a new destination on the recommendation of friends or acquaintances.

Interesting to note: Nearly 8 of 10 respondents said they have read user-generated reviews online, and 1 in 3 has posted a review after their stay. These rates of usage among luxury guests are higher than industry averages.

Take away: Be great and your guests will tell others. Refer to the post on boosting revenue 20% with Trip Advisor referrals.

Travelers are increasingly booking online

Key Point: For making hotel reservations, all segments have increased their use of the internet, but luxury hotels show the biggest jump in usage over the past two years.

Percent Booked on Internet 2006 vs 2008 (note – these are increases in percentage booking online, not % booked online – which unfortunately is omitted from the report)
Economy + 4.8%
Midscale w/ F&B + 3.5%
Luxury + 8.2%

Take away: Give your guests clear, simple navigation and let them book online! Paypal makes it easy for even small operators to take bookings online.

Seeking Enriched Guest Experiences

Key Point: People are seeking educational experiences and adventure travel that provides opportunities for “personal growth”. A key demographic that is leading the way is women traveling with female companions (sisters, mothers, best friends) in record numbers.

Take away: Develop female-friendly oferings and getaways focusing on special interests: (women and wine, adventure women, women’s golf, etc.)

Destination Decisions Changing

Key Point: As a result of the recession, about 50% of those surveyed indicated they would be changing or canceling planned trips in 2009. About half of the luxury travelers polled said they would reduce their expenses by making fewer or shorter trips, travel shorter distances or change destinations entirely.

Take away: Think local. While respondents indicated a need to cut costs, the focus is on cutting back on the cost of getting to the destination, while keeping high end accommodation / experience options.

In Summary:

• be great and continue to encourage your guests to share positive word of mouth.
• encourage online booking
• enrich your experiences (and increase value) by targeting your preferred niche markets.
• boost your marketing in nearby markets to capture those traveling closer to home.

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If there are fewer customers with less money to spend, it might seem obvious that your customer service needs to be top-notch to get more than your share of whatever demand there is.

That obvious lesson seems to be lost on the usual cast of characters according to the MSN Money’s third annual Customer Service Hall of Shame. It found that AOL LLC ranks as consumers’ top pick for the worst customer service — the second year in a row AOL has ranked worst.

The survey found that AOL received a “poor” rating for its customer service experience from nearly 45 percent of respondents. Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. ranked second with 41 percent of consumers rating their customer service experience as “poor.”

Banks also scored low for customer service. Bank of America, Capital One and HSBC all made repeat appearances on the Hall of Shame list, joined by Citibank, the only new company on the 2009 list.

Here is MSN Money’s 2009 Hall of Shame:

1. AOL
2. Comcast
3. Sprint
4. Capital One
5. Time Warner Cable
6. HSBC
7. Qwest
8. Abercrombie & Fitch
9. Bank of America
10. Citigroup

MSN Money also puts together an annual Hall of Fame list, with companies that score the highest for customer service. Military banking, insurance and investment giant USAA ranked No. 1 for best customer service. Here is the list:

1. USAA
2. Trader Joe’s
3. Netflix
4. Amazon
5. Nordstrom
6. Publix
7. Whole Foods
8. Apple
9. Costco
10. Southwest Airlines

What may be surprising is not that the Hall of Shame companies continue to do poorly but that their raw scores remain low at the very time other businesses are improving customer service in response to market uncertainty.

It probably is a good indicator of the quality of management that these companies have.  They may well be consoled by the mantra, we’re no worse than our competitors.  How much better they would do, if instead they were looking for ways of improving results.  Customer service is a powerful lever in such endeavors.

Post from: The Other Blokes Blog

Tough Times Demand Better Customer Service

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