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Industry told to move with the times
The travel industry needs to adjust its product to cater for the new modern family and ethnic groups, ABTA delegates were told.
Speaking as part of a panel session on product design and evolution, Jo Rzymowska from Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines said the industry should no longer focus on two adults and two children.
"We should be tailoring our product to different types of family units. The cruise industry is already doing that, but other sectors of the industry have a long way to go," she said.
"The needs of different generations are shifting too. The 50s is the new 40, 40s are the new 30s, and so on. We have to make sure we react to these shifts."
James Berresford from VisitEngland said the domestic tourism market also needs to adapt to the demands of new ethnic groups living in the UK.
"The domestic market is changing with the arrival of new ethnicities," he said. "It’s no longer all about the white middle class car-owning customer."
He said travellers have become much more aware of how to get good value for money, particularly during the economic downturn.
"They’re much more savvy now and that’s a habit that’s not going to go away. It’s here to stay," he said.
Turning to the needs of overseas visitors, he said VisitEngland was looking to encourage more visitors to venture outside of London.
"We know that 55% of visitors do not put one foot outside London. London is such a power house, but there’s some fantastic product outside London and we need to find ways of encouraging people to see it."
The panellists said customer review sites like Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor were helping them discover what their customers want.
"Guest generated feedback is significant to the changes we make," said Rzymowska.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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