Forget service, price is king: Comment by J.Skidmore
A new survey of 16,000 internet users by Carlson Marketing Group makes interesting reading.
It found that easyJet and Ryanair are among the least trusted travel brands and that people feel they are the worst at handling complaints.
No surprise there as the airlines make no bones about selling on price, rather than customer service.
But, perhaps depressingly for the travel industry, some 43% of respondents said they had recommended easyJet to a friend in the past six months – the highest of any travel company.
It just goes to show that price is king. It doesn’t matter what kind of service you offer, the primary concern among holidaymakers is cost.
No wonder travel agents are pulling their hair out. No matter how good they are, unless they can compete with the discounters in the market, most will lose business.
There is a crumb of comfort for the industry though. Virgin Atlantic, which most people said was a brand they could trust, came 2nd in the poll, with 37% recommending them to a friend in the past six months.
But can the same be said for its trains, I wonder?
Read previous comments by Jeremy:
27-June-2003 Holidaymakers must help themselves: Comment by Jeremy Skidmore
20-June-2003 Survey must shock industry into action: Comment by J.Skidmore
13-June-2003 Agents need to raise their game on insurance: Comment by J.Skidmore
06-June-2003 Keep terror alerts in perspective: Comment by J. Skidmore
30-May-2003 Packages must be competitive: Comment by J.Skidmore
30-May-2003 Government must improve communication: Comment by J.Skidmore
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