A price-driven recovery from the Covid crisis would be a “terrible move” because customers are willing to spend more on travelling “better”, say experts from the Asia Pacific region.
Speakers on a Path to Revival webinar hosted by the UK chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) agreed customers were happy to spend more when they return to travelling to the region.
Sam Clark, chief executive of the Experience Travel Group (ETG) said data from a recent Aito survey found “people are planning to spend a lot more on their holidays” after Covid, “across the board”.
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He said experiences were proving crucial, such as walking and wellness, adding: “There’s a definite move towards travel that counts and really makes a difference.”
Clark said driving a recovery based on offering a cheap price would be “a terrible move”.
“From what everyone is saying [holidaymakers] are looking for experiences, looking to get out,” he said. “We need to go for quality. We can’t dive straight back into volume and numbers again.”
He also noted that issues around sustainability had “not gone away” and is “playing more with customers now”.
“We need to remember than in destination there’s a bit of a rush to think about secure travel but destinations have to also think about customer experience,” he said, adding that the things that put people off booking were restrictions on moving around, as well as quarantine on return to the UK.
Pete Mills, partnerships and distribution manager for Tourism Australia for the UK and Northern Europe, said sustainability was “really high up” the agenda for the tourist board. “We’re definitely encouraging conscious travel,” he said. “Travelling better doesn’t necessarily speak to travelling cheaply.
“People have money they want to spend. They want to stay longer and spend better – and they are prepared to spend more on slightly better experiences as well.”
