Simon Pardoe - Marketing & Business Development

A 2008 analysis by UNWTO from 71,981,000 departures reveal that Spain is still our top destination (with a total of 21.8%) of Brits visiting during the year, but here’s the breakdown for all regions:

Almost a quarter of those planning and booking a holiday will use a mobile device to do so, according to a TripAdvisor survey.

An astonishing 22% of the 1,200 people who responded to the travel site’s mobile device survey said they had used the hardware when organising a holiday, with 29% using it for researching or booking accommodation.

Some 27% researched destinations via their mobiles, 26% read peer reviews, 23% researched restaurants and the lowest figure, 18%, booked or researched flights.

TripAdvisor spokeswoman Emma O’Boyle said: “We’re seeing phenomenal growth in the number of travellers planning their holidays – both before they leave and during their trip – on mobile devices.”

Just under half (45%) of respondents said they used their mobile to research their holiday whilst they were abroad, reading about restaurants, checking flight status and researching attractions and tours.

Added O’Boyle: “Whether travellers are looking for the nearest attractions or top-rated restaurant, these findings show that smartphones and tablets are an increasingly important travel companion.”

Moral of the story? Make sure your holiday website is configured for mobile devices and take advantage of the opportunity of communicating with your customers whilst they’re on the holiday they recently brought from you.

The European Travel Commission (ETC) has just published its first quarterly report on European Tourism in 2011 – Trends & Prospects. The following gives a brief overview of the report for the first quarter of 2011.

• Destination and industry data indicate a positive start to 2011. Foreign visitor arrivals were reported higher through the beginning months of the year by most destinations.
• Both airline and hotel industry data confirm the continuation of travel growth to Europe, however at a more measured pace than experienced during the peak growth periods of 2010.
• International passenger traffic to Europe outpaced global growth over the first two months of the year. European airlines also report growth in traffic over the first 14 weeks of 2011, but growth has slowed over recent weeks.
• Hotel occupancy has improved further, but appears to have peaked. Average Daily Rates continue to push up across Europe in response to demand.
• ETC expect the overall growth trend to slow in 2011 as comparisons are made to stronger performance in 2010 and high energy prices affect both disposable income and transportation costs.
• Wage spiral inflation is unlikely in the developed economies as unemployment and spare capacity persist. Capacity utilisation is higher in emerging markets where food and energy prices are also having a bigger impact, thus more monetary tightening is expected. The aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake will affect the Japanese economy and consequently outbound travel considerably in the short run. Japan is likely to briefly re-enter recession in 2011 with a 10% drop in outbound travel. A considerable rebound is expected on both fronts in 2012.
• Capacity of European airlines continues to expand, carrying on the trend from late 2010. Capacity surged between late 2010 and early 2011, averaging a 7.8% increase in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) over the first 14 weeks of 2011. This should translate into competitive fares and act as a driver to travel demand over the next 6-8 months.

A flood of innovation involving smart phones, social media and local search will soon have a massive impact on what travelers do and how they spend their money while on holiday, according to a new study from a leading travel market research firm.

The report found that U.S. travelers last year spent a total of $26.8 billion on tours, skiing, sports events, amusement parks, spas, museums, zoos, concerts and other cultural and recreational activities.

The study, entitled “When They Get There, and Why They Go,” is soon to be released by PhoCusWright Inc. The firm surveyed 1,283 consumers, 340 suppliers of events and activities and 45 industry executives about the U.S. travel activities marketplace.

“Mobile technologies, social networks and location-based search are already having a huge effect on consumers’ trip planning. But the impact is going to be even more profound going forward as we reach a tipping point in the adoption of smart phones and tablet PCs,” said Jon Schepke, President of SIM Partners.  SIM Partners, a Chicago-based interactive marketing agency, is a sponsor of the PhoCusWright study.

In 2012, shipments of smart phones are expected to exceed PC shipments for the first time.  Additionally, iSuppli forecasts iPad sales at 43.7 million units in 2011 and 63.3 million in 2012, reinforcing the importance of being focused on mobile computing and application development (iPhone/iPad, Android etc.).

“These trends offer travel marketers new and cost-efficient ways of connecting with consumers before, during and after their trips,” Schepke said. “Consumers will be able to access targeted information, promotions and offers when they need them most and are making decisions, so they are more likely to buy.”

He cautioned that destinations, hotels and travel attractions should have a mobile marketing strategy in place now to adapt to the fast-changing digital landscape and ensure that they are well-positioned to take advantage of these opportunities. “Those who move quickly to develop engaging and consumer-friendly mobile applications will gain a significant advantage in a very competitive marketplace,” Schepke said.

The report cited mobile convergence – the explosion of GPS-empowered applications, mapping, search, digital camera, MP3 player and other capabilities available on smart phones – as a key trend that will significantly influence consumers’ future choices of activities in their travel destinations. Social media will continue to expand in importance as travelers increasingly depend on reviews, videos and personal recommendations from friends in making vacation plans and selecting activities.

Among the other findings in the report:

• Three in four active travelers use a mobile device while traveling. Two-thirds say they are likely to research, shop and book travel activities via their mobile devices.
• More than three in four active travelers cite traveler reviews and photos as very or moderately influential in choosing what to do. Nearly six in 10 cite user-generated video as influential and more than one in three cite content and promotions from companies.
• Consumers who spend the most on travel activities are the most influenced by web content such as interactive maps, blogs and social networks.
• One in two active travelers say they are likely to post comments to their social network. Four in 10 say they are likely to solicit advice from their social network.

“This study reveals that consumers are ready to embrace the mobile-social-local digital revolution,” Schepke said. “The travel industry has just scratched the surface of the powerful marketing mojo being created by itinerary tools, location-based networking, interactive mapping and other technologies. The potential is massive for reaching the right travelers with personalized offers and incentives at just the right time and place.”

Fitness First is now the largest privately owned health club group in the world with over 540 Fitness First clubs worldwide reaching over 1.4 million members in 19 countries.  Whilst Australia is the brand’s largest market (25%), this is followed by the UK (23%), Germany (20%), rest of Europe (17%) and Asia (15%).

In the UK, there are 160 Fitness First clubs with over 425,000 members with a 60 | 40 male to female ratio.

Partnerships provide new year boost for Fitness First in the UK

Fitness First claims to be off to a flying start in 2011 after joining forces with a number of key brands in the UK for its January campaigns.

Proximity marketing* with O2, on-pack offers with Nestle, promotions with News International and Fitness First’s own  Jump Start scheme are expected to produce a bumper January for the world’s largest privately owned health club group.

Fitness First managing director John Gamble said the group has also launched a high profile advertising campaign in London taking in key publications and London Underground digital sites.

“2011 is set to be a hugely important year for Fitness First and the fitness industry in general and we want to ensure that as many people as possible are aware of what we have to offer,’’ he said.

“The very latest in group exercise classes such as Get Fit with Mel B and Strictly Fit are hugely popular and ongoing investment in the very latest in new fitness equipment and innovations provide our members with an extremely comprehensive fitness offering.’’

He said the company’s successful Jump Start programme offering six week membership and three personal training sessions has also been relaunched for prospective members to really gain an insight into how Fitness First can become an important and integral part of life.

“Experience shows that Jump Start is an extremely effective way for people to kickstart their fitness regimes and with the help of our personal trainers they can find what works for them,’’ said Mr Gamble.

Jump Start costs £49.50 for a 6 week membership and includes 3 personal training sessions.

*Proximity marketing, also known as Bluetooth marketing, is used to send location based messages to the mobile phones of targetted local consumers.  This often highly effective marketing technique can generate an uplift in visitor traffic of around 40% compared with other forms of local marketing.

“Time is of the essence” is a popular expression, yet one rarely heard in discussions about holiday planning. Despite this, it now appears to be a mantra embraced by the growing percentage of American leisure travelers who take “last minute” trips.  I have not found equivalent information about UK travelers, but I would bet the results would be similar, though the type of holiday may differ.

Given the frenetic pace of contemporary life, it comes as no surprise that more Americans are taking “last minute” vacations. Simply coordinating schedules to get time away from work represents a greater obstacle than the actual cost of the trip for many travelers today. But who would have guessed that three out of every ten (27%) took a last minute trip last year? Equally surprising, who would have surmised they planned those trips an average of just six days prior to their departure?

One of the market forces accelerating this trend is the growing use of “flash sales” by travel service suppliers. These impulsive offers, delivered through unsolicited emails, have become more commonplace during the past 12 months as suppliers have tried to liquidate what would otherwise be unsold inventory. Some of the deals are so irresistible, it’s no wonder they drive impulsive demand (fully one out of seven recipients of these unsolicited emails reports purchasing a travel service as a result). While one might expect the recipients of these offers to book a weekend flight or hotel room on a whim, the booking of a complete vacation package (38%) or a cruise (21%) is unprecedented. Overall, the types of services booked as a result of a flash sale include:

• Airfare: 47%
• Hotel or other lodging: 47%
• Vacation package: 38%
• Cruise: 21%
• Car rental: 20%

Fully one out of four (26%) leisure travelers took a vacation in their local area as an alternative to vacationing in a destination that would have required more extensive travel (aka a “staycation”) during the past year. This type of vacation appears to be yet another manifestation of the trend toward more impulsive vacation behavior on such short notice.

The Ypartnership/Harrison Group 2010 Portrait of American Travelers is national survey of 2,524 U.S. households that was conducted in February 2010. The results provide an in-depth examination of the impact of the current economic environment, social values and media habits on the travel habits of Americans with an annual household income of $50,000 or more. For more information, you can visit the Publications section of http://www.ypartnership.com

Some interesting data (released December 09) in terms of overall spending trends and the performance of individual sectors, and the response to the recession by the UK leisure consumer.

• The recession has lead to a second successive year of declining leisure spending. In 2009, the leisure industry was worth nearly £70 billion (1.5% lower than 2008).
• With the proliferation of music concerts and festivals, it’s perhaps no surprise that these are up 64%.  This is the Leisure Industry’s top-performing sector.
• Eating out and drinking in pubs and bars – which together account for 70% of total leisure spend – have been experiencing contrasting fortunes during the past five years. Eating out (+16.6% by value) has seen growth (albeit with a greater focus on value since the recession began) whereas pub/ bar drinking (-2.8%) is on the wane.  Domino Pizza, in their first quarter trading statement for 2010 announced that like for like sales for the same period as last year are up 10.5%, further reinforcing the message that the budget sector is doing well in these difficult times.
• Drinking in pubs/bars and eating out (43% and 40% of adults respectively) are where people are most likely to have made cutbacks already, along with clubbing, cinema and traditional gaming such as betting and bingo.
• Looking forward, non-Lottery gaming looks set to bear the brunt of future spending reductions, along with visits to theme parks, clubbing and health club memberships (though, for example, no-frills operator Pure Gym appears to be bucking the trend – again re-enforcing the ‘flight to value’ by UK consumers).
• The family market has been particularly vulnerable. Consequently, sectors deriving an above-average proportion of custom from this source, such as tenpin bowling (-2.5%), theme parks (-3.6%) and zoos/wildlife parks (-4.5%) have seen some of the biggest declines in the past year.