A trend for travel agents to use to their advantage: younger travelers are turning to more frequent extended weekends over longer trips, and these travelers are often unwilling to trade down.
“Clients are not cutting back on expense or experience just because it is a long weekend trip and not one or two weeks long,” said Suzette Covell, director of the vacation division of San Francisco-based Casto Travel, Inc.
Ms Covell told Travel Trade her agency is seeing an increase in younger, affluent clients taking short getaways since they have difficulty getting away from work.
Many of these travelers are staying closer to home. “I would say three hours is what people are looking at,” she said.
To avoid losing business to plan-it-yourselfers, travel agents need to market weekend getaway packages, not just hotel stays. Packages can include dinner for two at a restaurant, a walking tour of a historic site or spa treatment in the hotel spa, according to Travel Trade.
Agents belonging to consortiums, co-ops or host agencies with hotel and resort preferred relationships can use the preferred amenities to create packages.
Given the choice between booking their own stay sans special treatment, or responding to an agency mailing touting a weekend stay inclusive of food and beverage credit or upgraded room, do-it-yourselfers may very easily opt for working with the travel agent.
Report by David Wilkening
