New levy will improve credibility/Conferences are too often ego-driven: TravelMole Comment by Jeremy Skidmore

Operators seem delighted about the likelihood of a levy being introduced on
flights and package  holidays.

Bonding will go, which will reduce the financial burden on small companies. It will also level the playing field between those who currently offer protection and those that do not.

But a levy will also improve the credibility of the industry, because it is a simple system and it will provide a service to customers when something goes wrong.

Standards of service generally in this country are absolutely abysmal. Listen to executives from all industries speaking and they will tell you how much they are doing to look after their customers. The reality is somewhat different.

I recently had to check out the service offered by a variety of high street
stores for another project I was working on. In banks, DIY stores, record shops and underwear outlets, you name it, I was invariably left on my own while assistants happily chatted among themselves.

In travel agencies, I was actually approached and asked if I needed any assistance. But in the two I visited, there was little attempt to find out what
type of holiday really suited me.

Meanwhile, on the internet, it’s almost been an unwritten rule that the service will be virtually non-existent. Never mind the personal attention, feel
the price.

But that’s changing. People are demanding something more and, in future, they’ll expect financial protection.

Ryanair and easyJet say that not one of their millions of customers has ever
complained about a lack of financial protection. Of course they haven’t,
because people never think it will happen to them.

But when some airlines fail, as they inevitably will, people will squeal.

Competition is so intense that in future, internet companies that prosper
will be those that give people a bit extra.

If, for example, they allow customers to communicate with them via a call
centre which is not based in the third world and reward their loyalty, they
have a better chance of hanging on to them.

In short, they need to offer a better service and I think that includes
giving reassurances that customers’ money is safe in their hands.

——

Hoseasons chief executive Richard Carrick stirred up some debate by
suggesting that Barbados was not the ideal venue for an Institute of Travel & Tourism conference.

I thought his comments on conferences generally were also interesting – there’s no question that there’s too many of them and many are not telling us
anything  new.

I can remember when I used to have to attend every event. There were some memorable ones, but many just seemed to reinforce the same old tired messages: the internet is the future, it’s an opportunity not a threat, you have got to keep changing or you go backwards, blah, blah, yawn, yawn.

Also, the considerable egos running the events always thought their conference was the most important must-see spectacle of the year. Little thought was given to whether the venue or timing of the event was convenient for delegates.

I remember one year when two rival independent agent bodies decided to hold their conferences on successive weekends, one of which was a bank holiday.

Hello, some of us have got lives outside the industry, even if you saddos  haven’t!

These days, I’m lucky enough to be able to pick and choose which conferences I attend.

I’m  planning to go to ITT because, as Carrick said, it stands out as one
with high  quality speakers and debate. I suppose I’ll just have to put up with
the sunshine in Barbados!