Booking.com advises its partners to keep flexibility and transparency as top of mind when creating deals. Additionally, they should diversify the type of offers they put out in order to manage their cash flow.
Nuno Guerreiro, Booking.com’s regional director, South Asia, Oceania & Chains (pictured left) said hotels should not just offer different room types in packages but also different flexibility policies catering to the different needs of travellers.
“[Creating deals] are effective ways to simulate travel again, but travel operators should engage their customers with different options. You might have a flexible option where under certain conditions, you allow last minute cancellations; there might be another deal with a 30 to 40% discount that is offered at a non-refundable rate, but guarantees a great deal. The latter is a prepaid rate which allows hotels to sustain a better cash flow and allows them to build some occupancy in their books,” said Guerreiro.
Also key to restarting travel is public and private sector collaboration, said Guerreiro. He stressed the importance of every stakeholder in the travel industry playing its role in engaging governments to restart travel.
He cited Booking.com’s efforts to engage with the Japanese government to create a travel campaign to promote a safe way to travel. He also said stakeholders now must include those that provide safety and hygiene and security standards.
This week, Booking.com presented its findings from a survey it had done with 20,000 travellers across 28 countries as a report on “The Future of Travel”. Amongst the trends it identified was that future travellers will be largely price conscious. Some 70% expect travel companies to support travellers’ future travel plans via promotions while 59% will be more likely to hunt down promotions even while most said they are keen to support the industry in its recovery.
Some 74% said they want travel booking platforms to increase their transparency about cancellation policies, refund processes and trip insurance options.
The survey also confirmed the pent-up demand for travel continues to build – 95% of respondents said they had spent time looking for vacation inspiration during lock-down, while 38% said they looked for potential travel destinations as often as once a week. Up to 53% of travellers claim to now have a greater desire to see even more of the world and 61% are even more appreciative of travel and say they will not take travel for granted in the future.
When they resume travel, aside from looking for value, health and hygiene factors will be top of mind. Some 67% of respondents said they would travel to destinations that have health spot checks on arrival. Three quarters said they will favour accommodation that have antibacterial and sanitizing products; 70% would pick accommodation options that have clear health and hygiene policies in place; 64% said they would expect tourist attractions have social distancing measures in place, and 64% will accept wearing a mask in public.
The industry had been grappling with issues stemming from overtourism, but it appears that the pandemic has awakened travellers to the impact of travel on the environment. More than two-thirds expect the travel industry to offer more sustainable travel options (32% expect online travel booking sites to offer clearer signposting so that unsustainable businesses can be easily identified); more than half say they will avoid travelling during peak seasons.
A new segment of travellers will likely emerge as remote working has become the norm rather than the exception as a result of the pandemic. Workcations, where travellers combine work and holidays in one trip, will also give rise to new products like working spaces or packages sold by hotels that are well equipped for the working guest.
Describing what is commonly known as super apps, Guerreiro said new travel trends will mean that platforms that can offer a frictionless and contactless way to engage travellers before, during and after their trip, will emerge.
The survey also confirmed that tech innovation will play a big role in rebuilding traveller confidence and help people travel safely and responsibly. More than half said they were excited about technology’s potential to further personalize their travel experiences in the future, while 63% said accommodations will need to make use of the latest technologies to make travellers feel safe.
For the
full report, click here.
*Note that the full report reflects
Singapore figures, while those quoted in the article are global figures.
