Eight global travel trends of 2011

Social media: how it’s evolving

Social media was at the forefront of tourism marketing activity during 2011. But uncertainty remains about how to determine a return on investment for it. Hotels are rethinking their marketing strategies to target online audiences in a more personalised and intimate way, by capitalising on the power of social networks and friends/followers to drive bookings and loyalty. Social engagement with customers became increasingly important. For example, Sofitel appointed media coordinators that research each property’s guest profile to send out targeted messages about local events, insider information and news. Marriott International set up an online concierge service through Twitter to solve guest complaints; and IHG created a ‘Social Media Customer Care Team’; to identify and resolve complaints across social media.

Asia: China’s growing influence

Asia’s economies continue to enjoy healthy growth. Spending by Chinese travellers on travel accommodation domestically and abroad is expected to increase by 20% over 2010/2015 to reach US$67 billion, second to the USA. Hotel companies are customising their brands in China, partnering with Chinese companies, and creating programs to cater to the Chinese abroad. In 2011, IHG renamed its Holiday Inn Express brand in China to ‘Zhi Xuan Jia Ri’ meaning ‘smart choice’ to better reflect the brand offering to Chinese travellers. Hilton announced its ‘Hilton Huanying’ programme which provides creature comforts to Chinese visitors abroad — including staff fluent in Mandarin at the front desk, congee at breakfast and Chinese tea, tea kettles and slippers. Hotel brands are expected to turn to Chinese social media websites such as RenRen to drive loyalty.

Americas: mystery trips

A drive to take the excitement of travel to the next level is fueling a rise in ‘mystery trips,’ especially for milestone holiday such as honeymoons and birthdays. In 2006 Luxury Link launched weekly mystery auctions where consumers bid on packages with an unknown destination, hotel name, supplier and inclusions. Bids start at $1 and travellers typically only pay 50% of the sales price. Suppliers benefit from selling excess capacity without undermining their brand. Meanwhile American Express launched Nextpedition where travellers take an online quiz and are assigned one of 20 travel signs. Specialists discuss consumers’ preferences and budget to create the mystery trip and receive a smartphone prior to the trip which unveils the itinerary day by day. Domestic trips for two start from US$ 1000, international trips from $2,500. Ellen Bettrigde, vice president, American Express, US Retail Travel Network explained that the idea was to “bring that element of the surprise back” for a generation that has spent most of their lives online. According to Euromonitor, travellers aged 20-34 offer strong growth opportunities for mystery trips as their average gross income increases and the 30-34 segment grows its share of the population.

United Kingdom: rent-a-garden

T he outlook for the UK economy is bleak. The IMF lowered its growth forecast from 1.8% to 1.1% in September 2011. While the London 2012 Olympic Games is expected to increase arrivals next year to almost 30 million and bring a welcome boost to the economy; the issue of pricing in the lead-up to the London Olympics is high on the tourism agenda. According to Euromonitor, some London hotels are charging five times more during the Olympic period, with the International Olympic Committee taking around 40% of hotel availability. Value is key in the travel decisions of Brits and travellers are searching for alternate accommodation options such as campsites and hostels. A growing trend is garden camping. Campinmygarden.com allows homeowners to rent their gardens as campsites for holidaymakers, providing extra financial support to cash- strapped homeowners and offering holidaymakers a cheaper alternative. Generation Z (teens and tweens) and baby boomers are the key target markets. “Traditional accommodation will be scarce and very expensive during the Olympic Games so campinmygarden.com, an affordable and accessible alternative, should thrive at this time,” said Victoria Webbon, founder, campinmygarden.com.

Europe: luxury without guilt

With Europe on the brink of a double-dip recession and the future of the Eurozone in doubt; a new kind of luxury tourism is emerging in Europe — a more authentic and ethical kind. Luxury consumers are now choosing providers that that enable them to holiday responsibly, environmentally and respectfully. Guilt-free consumers want to happily enjoy a luxury break having given something back. European travel retailers are putting increasing focus on helping local communities (for example TEP — a South African non-profit organisation which offers encounters with local craftsmen, musicians and communities with travellers from Europe being the largest source market.) Kenya and South Africa tourism boards have developed sustainable packages encouraging best practices regarding natural resources aimed at European holidaymakers; and Kuoni has launched Ananea (‘renewal’) a collection of socially and eco-friendly luxury holidays including volunteering, visiting rehabilitation centres in Vietnam and meeting farmers helped by Fairtrade organisations in Peru. Other ways of more sustainable travel is through “vertical farms” — using tall buildings to cultivate plant life, which could provide organically grown food for luxury hotels.

Technology: gamification of travel

Gamification — or the integration of gaming dynamics in non-gaming environments — started in the US entertainment industry and is now a growing movement in the travel and tourism industry. By encouraging consumers to join competitions and share their experiences, photos, and videos, the trend generates brand awareness and loyalty for destinations. It works through the offering of points, badges, and real-life gifts, with some websites allowing web users to explore a region’s attractions, complete challenges, and win trips to the desired region. Gamification appeals predominately to 18-34 year olds and allows destinations to target specific markets, build awareness, grow an online community, and add information, competition, games, and special offers. For example in 2011 Tourism Ireland launched a new social game on Facebook called “Ireland Town” which enables web-users to visit tourist attractions and complete activities. Tourism Ireland plans to engage over 60 million people the game. Games on location-based social networks Foursquare and Facebook Places will target travellers in the local area. Spending on gamification in the US alone is expected to reach $ 2.5billion by 2016.

Middle East: rebranding after the Arab Spring countries

The political and social unrest in the Middle East resulted in a 6.2% decline in tourism arrivals in 2011. The major challenge is how to now change perceptions of the region, but according to Euromonitor, comprehensive rebranding campaigns will yield a bounce back in travel for the Middle East — a popular region for travel from Europe. Egypt and Tunisia are placing considerable focus on rebranding exercises. Egypt’s tourism board implemented an international marketing campaign targeted at European and Middle East visitors with the tag line: Welcome to the country of the peaceful revolution. Tunisia opted for a provocative campaign targeting the UK and France: They say Tunisia is nothing but ruins which depicted ancient ruins. For Bahrain the importance of tourism revival is also stressed especially winning back the Formula One. Post-Gaddafi, Libya offers untapped potential but much of the country’s tourism infrastructure was destroyed during the war. Meanwhile, Syria’s tourism sector has been brought to a standstill while bloodshed continues. Democracy will be a key selling point in the future and despite the turmoil the region is still a key market for tourism development because of its oil wealth, high disposable income and resilience to a crisis.

Africa: m-commerce boosts travel

Africa is leading the world in m-commerce, with 489 million mobile phone users — and 7 million smart phone users — which is boosting demand for travel services. 60% of mobile web users in Africa use mobile phones to purchase goods. Mobile-phone money transfer service M-PESA in Kenya targeted unbanked Africans to book travel via phones. The upwardly mobile population means that Africa is leap-frogging earlier forms of media and taking travel to those who were traditionally excluded from it. WTM chairman Fiona Jeffery said: “The continent of Africa has tremendous potential for the global travel and tourism industry. With blue-chip corporations such as IBM and Vodafone involved in building a mobile commerce network, regional and global travel companies should be looking even more closely on what the region has to offer. Mobile payments systems are commercially and economically important for all sectors operating in the region, with travel and tourism ideally placed to take advantage.” In 2010, airlines such as Kenya Airways and Uganda Airlines joined M-PESA and Airtel Money to enable consumers without a bank account to buy air tickets.