Travel Convention: Companies told to target beer drinkers
UK companies should expand in beer drinking countries, convention delegates were told.
Chris Loughlin, chief executive of Travelzoo, which sends out deals to 24m subscribers and operates in 11 countries, told the ABTA Convention that it made sense to conduct business in countries where people had the same characteristics as those in the UK.
“I would advise people to expand in Canada, the US and Australia, because it is far easier to work in a country where the language is the same,” said Loughlin.
“They are beer drinking countries, which is good because people behave in the same way as they do in the UK. Wine drinking countries are different.”
Loughlin also warned people not to rely on search engine optimisation (seo) for growth in the future.
“Everyone will have to pay to attract business in the future, so I suggest companies work out how they are going to wean themselves off seo and how you can leverage social media,” he said.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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