This is the fifth of five articles co-written by Sandra Thomas-Comenole and Frank Belzer on the "New Travel Consumer". The articles in this series delve into the concept of how COVID-19 and the quarantine impacted the travel consumer mindset, preferences and expectations, as well as offer ways that travel professionals can meet these new expectations.
The travel and tourism industry is anticipating a return to travel and business as usual, yet it will be anything but "business as usual". Marketing professionals and leaders will be facing completely new challenges.
Throughout this article series, we considered how adopting new technologies over the past year would change the consumer mindset as we move into a post-COVID travel world. The main finding is that the new travel consumer will have a high level of expectation in terms of customer service, product offering and personalization. Though there are many possible solutions that can be implemented to mitigate the effects of their changing customer behavior, the question needs to be asked, "What will this mean for our industry and why does it present a possible problem?"
The facts are that because our industry was hit so hard by the COVID crisis, many companies had to implement mass lay-offs, furloughs and terminations. Anecdotally, many players in the hospitality industry report that they are currently operating at 30 percent or 40 percent of their previous staffing numbers. That alone creates an issue around providing the right level of service - if expectations are higher from consumers and the ability to improve is not possible because of reductions: then we are in for some "perfect storm" type of situations.
But that is not all. Many of the reductions have been taken in areas that have the most direct impact on how the guest will feel, the experience the consumer receives and thereby whether the box is checked for improved customer service. Let us face the facts that the C-level has little impact on these executions. It is the front-line employees, the call center agents and the service providers that make or break this, in the mind of the consumer. Unfortunately, those are also the areas and departments where most of the cuts have been made.
Additionally, most companies implemented cuts in their training programs. As staff and team members are called on to juggle multiple roles while dealing with more demanding customers - the lack of training or skills may become far too evident, far too quickly. Negative social media posts will also be amplified as prospective consumers (who are now more cautious than ever before) do more research and pay even more attention to anything deemed authentic or grassroots, as they make decisions around their travel.
Marketing teams and sales teams have also been reduced through this crisis, and that has resulted in diluted messaging and reduced contact with the end consumer or with third-party partners that also touch the end consumer. Less information will be getting to the consumer. Poor quality tools will be utilized. KPIs have been abandoned. And extraordinarily little, in the form of value-adds, will dwarf the needs of the new travel consumer. A consumer who has grown accustomed to personalized content and a regular schedule of spoon-feeding valuable information over the course of time, all with the goal of making them happy and making them feel special...not to mention a lack of demand generation at a time when the industry needs it most.
The truth is that current marketing and sales teams will struggle to be able to meet the needs during a pending release of pent-up demand. Moreover, the new travel consumer will have a higher level of expectation that we cannot begin to meet. And to make matters worse, some sectors of the industry will struggle to hire and train employees before a busy season. The average time to hire in the Leisure & Hospitality Industry is 20.7 days. Training runs between 10 and 21 work days. Meaning that on the low end, you will need a month and a half to hire and onboard new employees. Travel professionals across sectors need to consider these facts while making further personnel changes. It isn't the time to furlough and lay off. It's time to staff up.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
