Travel industry survey reveals encouraging outlook for 2010
There has been a swell in consumer confidence over the past six months. Following the last consumer survey in November 2009, the year end’s assessment collected the views of more than 60 tour operators and paints a positive outlook for the specialist sector of the travel industry.
Consumer confidence is critical to the health of the economy and 90% of specialist tour operators report that they are more positive or that the status quo has been maintained. In a clear sign that travellers are more positive in their plans for the year ahead, the survey showed that 67% of respondents were experiencing an increase in bookings with a further 15% reporting similar levels to last year. The next quarter is expected to follow this trend, with 90% confident that bookings will be up or at the same level as last year.
Exactly 80% of tour operators reported that passenger spending was the same or greater than last year, and that travellers are less price-sensitive than before. The survey also reveals that consumers still consider the destination to be the most influential factor when buying a holiday – but the importance of customer service has now jumped ahead of price, suggesting that cheap deals are not the be-all and end-all in holiday plans. It appears that securing the correct holiday is far more important than a cut-price deal.
Derek Moore, AITO Chairman, comments: “2009 was a challenging year for travel companies and while Britain’s exit from the recession is slow, we know that people are less willing to forego holidays these days. It’s encouraging to see just how positive consumer plans are for travel in 2010; tour operator bookings show that the desire to take holidays in 2010 is stronger than ever.”
In a further encouraging development for the health of the travel industry, companies now report an increase in staff training, marketing and research to prepare for better times ahead, with some operators actually recruiting more staff.