King Consumer in 2010 – You Still Rule
You can read all kinds of predictions on where the travel market is headed this year, but just as economists and weather forecasters can keep their job while still being wrong half the time, most of these writers have just a smidgen more forecasting ability than you do. With everyone waiting later to book and the prime spring break vacation season not upon us yet, it’s hard for anyone to know how this year will go in the luxury travel world.
I like this post from the blog of an upscale travel PR agency I’ve met with before, KWE Group: 2010’s Upside-Down Pyramid: All Hail King Consumer. Among the big themes are a marketing message that’s easy to understand, authenticity, customization, and quality that’s worth paying for—at the right price.
It’s geared to those serving you rather than you the traveler, but I think you’ll probably recognize some factors that are driving your travel decisions and I’d love to hear your thoughts on how the industry is doing. Forget airlines, we know most of them are lost causes. But have the high-end hotels you’ve stayed with or the tour companies you’ve hired been making the right adjustments in these turbulent times?
January 13th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Funny that you mentioned airlines, because that’s where the experience really sucks, no matter how good your trip is once you land on the ground. It gets way way better if you’re sitting up front on some airlines, but on the U.S. ones even that doesn’t help much. And on some flights to Mexico there’s not even a business class if you want to pay for it.
In the past year, every vacation I’ve taken has seemed like a terrific value compared to the past (after the flight was over) and in Mexico especially I’ve been amazed at what I’m getting for my money. In Europe though, they could use some attitude training at the hotels, especially in France and Italy. They’re still taking us for granted.