MEDIA ARTICLE
Travel Reimagined
PART ONE
We all know that history, like fashion, repeats itself. And leisure travel is back with a huge Roaring Twenties-style bang.
Following the devastating Spanish flu (February 1918 – April 1920), the Roaring Twenties was a time of celebration, partying and living life to the maximum. And now, more than a century later, we are seeing a post-Covid equivalent unfolding.
Beachcomber Tours SA MD Terry Munro confirmed that demand for leisure travel has skyrocketed.
The industry has gone from hanging on by a thread to being overbooked literally overnight. It’s been given a blank canvas on which to paint a reimagined way forward. Nothing is as it was before.
So, what are the key trends and how can the travel industry tap into this new sentiment, this new customer?
Flexibility is key
Currently a great deal of uncertainty exists because of the war in Europe, as well as the impact on the fuel price, making flexibility a priority for travellers. “Tickets prices are going up every day,” says Thompsons Holidays CEO Joanne Adolphe. “You have to make sure whatever you procure, there is flexibility, so that your clients can either get a voucher or change their minds about their trip or destination, especially in Europe.”
Travellers’ pandemic concerns have, however, been lessening and their confidence in planning trips is increasing, according to the American Express travel trends report for 2022. It revealed that nearly three out of four travellers (74%) are willing to book a trip this year even if they are forced to cancel or change it later. Last year only 56% of travellers were willing to take this risk.
Airlink CEO Rodger Foster agrees, saying they are seeing more travellers are committing to advance bookings. “If we go back to 2019, the forward-booking trend was literally about two weeks.
“Throughout the pandemic period, we’ve seen it as short as two or three days. But that’s changing in the post- omicron era; we’re seeing that there is a trend now to book further in advance, reason being, the cheaper seats are sold out first. This means people have to make a commitment, whereas before, during the pandemic, nobody was making that commitment. Today, forward-booking is 24 days in advance of travel, which is very encouraging.”
The Holiday Factory Sales Director Matthew Fubbs adds that while the business is quoting more for advance travel, in their experience, the conversion rate is higher for closer lead times. “The travel industry has to work efficiently to deliver packages from suppliers quickly but also explain to clients properly that they will have to pay more if they want more flexibility,” he says.
Lingering longer
Longer stays are becoming increasingly popular and demand has increased for so-called ‘bizcations’. This has been attributed to people having become more family-focused during the pandemic. They don’t want to spend too much time away from loved ones and are booking family leisure holidays and work holidays simultaneously.
“Operators are now packaging two to four weeks’ holiday, as people are doing two weeks’ remote work and two weeks’ holiday and taking the whole family with them,” says Adolphe. “Specific requests are also coming through now. High speed Wi-Fi must be in the rooms; it’s no longer good enough to have it just in the hotel. People also want desk space and interleading rooms for families or access to ‘Zoom Rooms’ in hotels.”
Young professionals, especially the millennials among them, may term this ‘bleisure travel’ (business and leisure), but it’s the same concept.
Travelling in family ‘bubbles’ has also emerged – extended families of 12 to 22 people are going on holiday together and seeking exclusive-use accommodation where they can stay together. “We’ve also seen a trend of moving away from the standard old-fashioned hotel building,” says Adolphe.
“People are looking at accommodation that’s more spread out. That’s why I think South Africa and the Maldives have been very popular destinations and even certain properties in Mauritius.”
Bush getaways remain high on travellers’ lists – in the domestic market, two-nights have become three or four nights, while international tourists are going away for three weeks at a time to the bush and to destinations like the Maldives for as many as 12 nights.
Says Otto de Vries, CEO ASATA: “Travel advisors have had to evolve rapidly to meet the changing demands of their customers. The trend towards remote or hybrid work is here to stay and will continue to impact the travel industry as travellers take longer trips, combining work with holiday time.
“Travel players must provide product offerings that cater for this new style of travel such as sourcing workcation-friendly establishments, extended stay package deals and/or family discount packages. This will enable them to find the most effective ways to meet their customer’s needs, capturing a growing demand for flexible travel.”
These are only a few of the important trends that have been emerging. In part two of this series, we look at the trends of disposable income post-Covid, as well as the allure of domestic travel.
***ENDS***
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To request an interview with ASATA CEO, Otto de Vries, please contact Claire Lathe on 084 245 2189 or email claire@bigambitions.co.za.
For more information about ASATA, please visit www.asata.co.za.
About ASATA
Established in 1956, the Association of Southern African Travel Agents is a representative forum registered as an Association of Persons, that promotes professional service in the travel industry for both members and their clients. Representing over 95% of the travel industry in terms of market share, ASATA’s membership is voluntary and includes South African retail travel agents, travel management companies, wholesalers and suppliers of travel-related products and services.
Issued by Big Ambitions:
Natalia Rosa
083 449 4334
18 October 2022
