Alarmed clients head back to travel agents
Sunday, 15 Feb, 2011
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Holidaymakers are beginning to shift away from dynamic packaging and towards booking with one operator, according to a survey presented last night to an industry event.
They are also showing renewed interest in using travel agents instead of taking the DIY approach.
Last year The British Travel Awards conducted its third annual Travelvision survey, the UK’s largest on consumer travel habits, the results of which were revealed at the BTA CIMTIG Lecture.
The survey found that 10% of participants said they did not feel safe booking individual parts of their holiday from different suppliers.
And, for the first time since the BTA has been doing the survey, consumers who said they would still put together a dynamically packaged holiday fell by 7%.
BTA chief executive Lorraine Barnes Burton said: “This may be due to the extraordinary circumstances and press coverage of disrupted holidays during 2010 and the need for security when booking a holiday.”
The survey also pointed to good news for the travel agent. There was a 5% increase in the number of people who said they would seek the professionalism of agents and book through them.
Other findings of the survey, which involved some 27,000 participants, included an increased sensitivity to price – no surprise there – and consumers doing much more research from more than one source before making a booking.
Said Barnes Burton: “Price is an important factor but it is the extra information, security and knowledge about their holiday choice which is encouraging the consumer to make their final decision and feel confident that their holiday budget is money well spent.”
Consumers took part in the survey whilst voting for their favourite travel companies in the run up to the British Travel Awards ceremony celebrating the best firms in the industry.
By Dinah Hatch
Dinah
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