Travel brands are more unpredictable than most other economic sectors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic downturns, lockdowns, and growing public unease with cramped public areas have combined to cause the biggest crisis facing the travel sector in over ten years.
But there's no time to give up now. Before February 2020, every trend was upward. The emergence of a middle class in the developing globe, new modes of transportation, new vacation locations, and new types of lodging all point to a boom in the travel industry once COVID-19 is eradicated. Keeping their doors open and maintaining a relationship with their clients in the meantime is a problem for travel firms.
Five Strategies for Travel Brands to Keep Customers Involved
Idea #1: Provide reimbursements
It's likely that you've already started the process of returning canceled trip reservations for your clients. When lockdowns began, if not before, the first wave of cancellations began. However, if travel restrictions continue beyond the summer, travel brands will probably face several rounds of cancellations.
When it comes to refunds, you must be proactive and prompt if you hope to keep your clients' goodwill. In the end, laws will prevent you from stealing people's money. Even if you could, though, consumers would remember this, which would eventually hurt your company. Effectively, how you respond to the requirement to reimburse missed holidays will have a significant influence on how you are perceived for everything else you do.
Advice: Take the initiative and provide coupons.
Reach out to your consumers instead than waiting for events to overwhelm you. By doing this action, you can influence that conversion. Many travel companies hopped on the bandwagon of using coupons to provide refunds. By doing this, those businesses are able to keep their current income and ensure that they will have access to those clients when the lockdown is over.
Getting clients to accept vouchers is a difficulty. We would advise giving clients who make a strong argument cash returns. However, you may win over worried tourists if you start by making offers that are unrestricted.
Vouchers issued at this time are now covered by ATOL (Air Travel Organiser's Licence), the UK insurance company that covers consumer losses in the event that an airline closes. Emphasize that security in your correspondence.
Finally, ensure that your coupons are issued in a straightforward and safe manner that is convenient for both your internal workers and your clients. A promotional code generator that connects straight to your CRM may already be in place in your marketing department; this is a perfect fit for the task.
Idea #2: Continue to be active online
While everyone is at home, site traffic may decline, but you don't want to lose your online reputation. You want to keep posting blog entries and tweeting as you usually do. The internet has become your primary means of communicating with clients, but what you post may need to alter.
Continue posting updates if you have subscribers to your newsletter. Updates regarding your brand are most likely to be of interest to these individuals. You'll need to be more inventive if you want followers on social media. Here are some suggestions:
Escapism is a desire brought on by crisis. Furloughed workers enjoy free time, and those who were unable to take a vacation might wish they could now. Travel companies have the chance to provide humorous material about how to have a holiday in your own house. For instance, creating a beach in your backyard, utilizing Google Maps to create virtual tours, or simply using sofa cushions to create a facsimile of the Eiffel Tower.
Additionally, people expect serious updates on current affairs. Due of their worldwide presence, travel brands are well-positioned to offer current information about how their brand is operating locally in various locations.
Idea #3: Perform virtuous actions
Is there anything that your company can do to support the coronavirus crisis efforts at this time? To assist, Unilever, for example, has sent cash and goods like soap and hand sanitizer. In order to concentrate on making sanitizer, the firm has also modified its production processes. Seniors recuperating from COVID-19 have been offered vacant space in vacant projects by retirement community company McCarthy & Stone.
various travel firms will have various things to offer, but doing nice things is not only the correct thing to do during a difficult time, but it also makes for good public relations. Here are some suggestions:
Hospital-area hotels may get in touch to provide more beds for workers or patients.
You may have cleaning products lying around that you may give to folks who are unable to access to stores or are serving on the front lines. A monetary gift, if you are able to do so, might have a significant impact.
Idea #4: Pay attention to potential travel
The fact that local responses to the virus have been so diverse and that towns and nations have been reacting at various rates is one of the most challenging aspects of it. For the time being, tourism may not be significantly impacted in certain locations, particularly if locals are opting to have stay-cations. It's possible that other locations are beginning to make progress in managing the illness and are preparing to open shortly. Business as usual or a little longer wait time may result from your obligation as a business owner to follow local trends.
Listen to the news. When it's safe to reopen, make sure your business is prepared for operations. Keep in mind that individuals will still be cautious about traveling. They will want to confirm that you are serious about cleaning and safety. You might have to restrict how many people you can accommodate in your dining establishments or on your tour buses. People will have the confidence they need to pick your brand if you follow these procedures.
Concept #5: Seize eCommerce opportunities
While this may not be feasible for many travel-related businesses, consider whether you have the opportunity to sell your goods online. Perhaps you might sell your soaps and shampoos directly to customers if they are consistently praised at your hotel. If there is a particular cuisine that people enjoy when they visit your location, there may be a method to transport it to them.
For individuals who live in well-known tourist locations where visitors are content to return time and time again, this might be very effective. Giving those visitors a reassuring reminder of what they adore about your region can be accomplished by offering some of your goods.
Better things can come from change.
Overnight, everything changed, and the sector has undoubtedly been affected. But we think now is the moment to be optimistic. Despite some significant setbacks in the past, this business has recovered even further. Consider how the 2008 recession facilitated more internet access to travel services. After then, the market flourished.
For another month or perhaps months to come, people could remain in their current shelters. You can only imagine how their already somewhat stir-crazy sentiments would worsen the longer this situation continues. As previously mentioned, every indication regarding the travel industry's future was positive. We anticipate a surge of individuals seeking to escape once travel restrictions are removed. The time to get ready for that future is now. People will desire to travel once more. All we can do is ride out the tsunami.
Willow Stella
Travel brands are more unpredictable than most other economic sectors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic downturns, lockdowns, and growing public unease with cramped public areas have combined to cause the biggest crisis facing the travel sector in over ten years.
But there's no time to give up now. Before February 2020, every trend was upward. The emergence of a middle class in the developing globe, new modes of transportation, new vacation locations, and new types of lodging all point to a boom in the travel industry once COVID-19 is eradicated. Keeping their doors open and maintaining a relationship with their clients in the meantime is a problem for travel firms.
Five Strategies for Travel Brands to Keep Customers Involved
Idea #1: Provide reimbursements
It's likely that you've already started the process of returning canceled trip reservations for your clients. When lockdowns began, if not before, the first wave of cancellations began. However, if travel restrictions continue beyond the summer, travel brands will probably face several rounds of cancellations.
When it comes to refunds, you must be proactive and prompt if you hope to keep your clients' goodwill. In the end, laws will prevent you from stealing people's money. Even if you could, though, consumers would remember this, which would eventually hurt your company. Effectively, how you respond to the requirement to reimburse missed holidays will have a significant influence on how you are perceived for everything else you do.
Advice: Take the initiative and provide coupons.
Reach out to your consumers instead than waiting for events to overwhelm you. By doing this action, you can influence that conversion. Many travel companies hopped on the bandwagon of using coupons to provide refunds. By doing this, those businesses are able to keep their current income and ensure that they will have access to those clients when the lockdown is over.
Getting clients to accept vouchers is a difficulty. We would advise giving clients who make a strong argument cash returns. However, you may win over worried tourists if you start by making offers that are unrestricted.
Vouchers issued at this time are now covered by ATOL (Air Travel Organiser's Licence), the UK insurance company that covers consumer losses in the event that an airline closes. Emphasize that security in your correspondence.
Finally, ensure that your coupons are issued in a straightforward and safe manner that is convenient for both your internal workers and your clients. A promotional code generator that connects straight to your CRM may already be in place in your marketing department; this is a perfect fit for the task.
Idea #2: Continue to be active online
While everyone is at home, site traffic may decline, but you don't want to lose your online reputation. You want to keep posting blog entries and tweeting as you usually do. The internet has become your primary means of communicating with clients, but what you post may need to alter.
Continue posting updates if you have subscribers to your newsletter. Updates regarding your brand are most likely to be of interest to these individuals. You'll need to be more inventive if you want followers on social media. Here are some suggestions:
Escapism is a desire brought on by crisis. Furloughed workers enjoy free time, and those who were unable to take a vacation might wish they could now. Travel companies have the chance to provide humorous material about how to have a holiday in your own house. For instance, creating a beach in your backyard, utilizing Google Maps to create virtual tours, or simply using sofa cushions to create a facsimile of the Eiffel Tower.
Additionally, people expect serious updates on current affairs. Due of their worldwide presence, travel brands are well-positioned to offer current information about how their brand is operating locally in various locations.
Idea #3: Perform virtuous actions
Is there anything that your company can do to support the coronavirus crisis efforts at this time? To assist, Unilever, for example, has sent cash and goods like soap and hand sanitizer. In order to concentrate on making sanitizer, the firm has also modified its production processes. Seniors recuperating from COVID-19 have been offered vacant space in vacant projects by retirement community company McCarthy & Stone.
various travel firms will have various things to offer, but doing nice things is not only the correct thing to do during a difficult time, but it also makes for good public relations. Here are some suggestions:
Hospital-area hotels may get in touch to provide more beds for workers or patients.
You may have cleaning products lying around that you may give to folks who are unable to access to stores or are serving on the front lines. A monetary gift, if you are able to do so, might have a significant impact.
Idea #4: Pay attention to potential travel
The fact that local responses to the virus have been so diverse and that towns and nations have been reacting at various rates is one of the most challenging aspects of it. For the time being, tourism may not be significantly impacted in certain locations, particularly if locals are opting to have stay-cations. It's possible that other locations are beginning to make progress in managing the illness and are preparing to open shortly. Business as usual or a little longer wait time may result from your obligation as a business owner to follow local trends.
Listen to the news. When it's safe to reopen, make sure your business is prepared for operations. Keep in mind that individuals will still be cautious about traveling. They will want to confirm that you are serious about cleaning and safety. You might have to restrict how many people you can accommodate in your dining establishments or on your tour buses. People will have the confidence they need to pick your brand if you follow these procedures.
Concept #5: Seize eCommerce opportunities
While this may not be feasible for many travel-related businesses, consider whether you have the opportunity to sell your goods online. Perhaps you might sell your soaps and shampoos directly to customers if they are consistently praised at your hotel. If there is a particular cuisine that people enjoy when they visit your location, there may be a method to transport it to them.
For individuals who live in well-known tourist locations where visitors are content to return time and time again, this might be very effective. Giving those visitors a reassuring reminder of what they adore about your region can be accomplished by offering some of your goods.
Better things can come from change.
Overnight, everything changed, and the sector has undoubtedly been affected. But we think now is the moment to be optimistic. Despite some significant setbacks in the past, this business has recovered even further. Consider how the 2008 recession facilitated more internet access to travel services. After then, the market flourished.
For another month or perhaps months to come, people could remain in their current shelters. You can only imagine how their already somewhat stir-crazy sentiments would worsen the longer this situation continues. As previously mentioned, every indication regarding the travel industry's future was positive. We anticipate a surge of individuals seeking to escape once travel restrictions are removed. The time to get ready for that future is now. People will desire to travel once more. All we can do is ride out the tsunami.