Stanley Plog, Peter Yesawich, Lorraine Sileo
Top researchers at Travel Weekly Virtual Summit see travel as holding up as far as frequency of trips - but shorter stays and less spending the rule
Three top researchers in travel spoke at Travel Weekly's most recent Virtual Summit, which focused on family travel. Here's a snapshot of what they had to say:
Stanley Plog, chairman of BestTripChoices.com:
- The need for people to get away is very strong. Inquiries are increasing and bookings will follow those inquiries.
- Only 8% of consumers have actually cancelled a trip.
- Leisure is the place to be; there are more longterm problems with business travel.
- Group travel will come back but incentive travel will be a challenge.
- When it comes to discounting, 30% seem seems to be a magic number. 50% off is a huge driver.
Peter Yesawich, chairman of the Y Partnership
- 63% of respondents to a February survey were planning to take an overnight trip in the next six months compared to 60% a year ago. . Of those who said they would change the way they travel, 87% said they were going to book a packaged vacation to save money, and 84% said they were going to spend less. "Bundling is in. Unbundling is out."
- "Americans will be trading down but not out. That's why the steep declines in luxury travel."
- A slight majority say they are going to shorten their trips - explaining why hotel occupancies have plunged despite consumers continuing to travel. "The great marketing challenge in 2009 is not to try to convince them to take a trip they're otherwise planning to take, but coming up with creative ideas to extend the length of the stay."
- "Perceived affordability" of travel has shot up by 97% from October to February as Americans got the message that "just about everything is on sale."
- Consumer don't like to cut down on quality on vacations. There is more trading down in business travel.
- The only real growth in recent year has been multi-generational travel, presenting a remarkable opportunity for agents.
- Online agencies recent steps to drop air booking fees temporarily could drive more traffic to their websites.
- Younger travelers are spending more on online travel and reacting differently to promotions and deals. They respond to photos, videos and other visual media.
- Sites like Facebook and Twitter have great promise for travel agents but research hasn't yet drawn a corollary between people using social media and making travel decisions.