Customers name their favourite travel brands

Thomson is the preferred travel company for holidaymakers over the age of 35, but younger clientele prefer Booking.com, according to a new survey.

Research by DMA, a trade body for the marketing industry, found that Booking.com is also the second most popular travel brand with customers aged 55+, but for those aged 35 to 55 it’s Expedia.

Thomson came out as the most popular travel brand overall, following by Booking.com in second place, Thomas Cook in third, Expedia fourth and British Airways fifth.

The research carried out by DMA and Foresight Factory with partners Emarsys, Epsilon, Feefo and Wiraya found that good customer service is almost as important to customers as price and convenience.

When asked what they want more of from travel companies, 59% said value for money while 58% said customer service and 58% convenience.

The main reasons people stay loyal to brands are good service (53%) and good deals (40%). A good loyalty or reward scheme is also considered important by 40%.

Within the travel sector, hotel and accommodation brands are trusted by 65%, airlines by 55% and online travel booking/price comparison sites by 54%. However, this compares to 73% of consumers saying they trust supermarkets to do business fairly.

Also, 37% said it is important they feel that airlines weren’t lying to them, but only half that proportion believe airlines actually deliver on this.

Matt West, CMO at independent review site Feefo, said: "Trust is so critical to the travel business that successful companies such as Booking.com realise they must offer a platform that verifies reviews and presents them in a readily accessible but unvarnished format.

"It is no longer acceptable to plaster your website with phoney reviews praising your business. As the industry evolves further, authenticated reviews are going to be the touchstone for trust and transparency in the minds of increasing numbers of potential customers who can smell a rat when it comes to reviews that are fake or filtered."

The research also found that 52% of consumers are willing to use a chatbot to help with pre-travel or booking queries. Once in the airport, 51% of consumers would also be prepared to share their data to receive mobile alerts about boarding directions and flight timing.

More than half (53%) said they are interested in using a virtual reality headset to hotel rooms, and 44% would like to use augmented reality to get information about sites or attractions they visit.

Sam Madden, commercial director at software company Wiraya, said: "If you take anything from this report it should be the clear opportunity brands now have to take significant market share if they realise the issues at hand, and understand the need to focus on service and engagement rather than price.

"For these businesses it’s time to take advantage of the latest technology to stay one step ahead of the competition."