Why just reading the news headlines doesn’t cut the mustard!

?Who doesn’t love a good news story and when that good news is travel related then surely that has to be even better right?

Last week’s travel publications and headlines were full of good news stories and as I lapped up each one, I soon realised that each story provoked more questions than answers…….

The story about one company’s exceptional sale result for July was to be applauded, but then I thought maybe a little number crunching might be called for. Taking the staggering sales number (it was a whopping figure), I turned to my trusted friend “Siri” and asked for the number of travel professionals working under their particular business’s umbrella. A quick calculation and I had a per person productivity figure to hand. This allowed me to benchmark their performance against our own business. That basic calculation revealed that as a company our productivity per homeworker was 30% more for the month of July in isolation.

The story was interesting and, when I dug, a little deeper was helpfully reassuring.

The next story was a tad more baffling and made me question if, after nearly forty years in travel, I had been missing a trick?

The growth of this particular business in recent weeks had apparently been fuelled by concentrating on the groups market. A very plausible strategy maybe, at first glance until you read the article in full. Groups were described as a target as they were so much more profitable than a standard booking (just for clarity my definition, basic understanding of what constitutes a group is a party of ten passengers or more – but remember, this is just my definition). Apparently, according to the article, the workload involved in making a group booking is no different to that of a standard booking so why not book lots of groups rather than smaller parties?

Where do I start with this one?

Let’s look at my previous experience of group bookings. We look after a number of groups each year. From ski to cruisers, overseas weddings to touring trips and then we have a smattering of special birthday celebrations, hen and stag dos and school trips. Each group is different in terms of their needs and wants. Find the right location, venue with suitable accommodation offering the right board basis and facilities then you just need flights (often from multiple locations) and you are on your way. All you need to do now is gather in the various names, passport information and Covid status, payment methods and any special requests and you may just be able to firm the arrangements up.

Pre-travel questions and queries are in general multiplied by the number of passengers travelling and then you just have to ensure a smooth departure, no in resort questions or post travel queries and your job is done. I haven’t yet taken into account part booking cancellations, re-costings, flight cancellations or amends, hotel changes (building work, facilities being updated or closed) ……….

Experienced travel professionals will read this type of article with huge scepticism. Practical knowledge will always win out and whilst most readers will wish the author and their business well my only hope is that less experienced travel professionals and other on-lookers considering joining our industry won’t be suckered in to thinking that such a strategy will earn them a quick buck (unless their own holiday is usually as part of a large group of course!)

The newspapers and travel papers alike do a great job of bringing us the latest news and headlines, it’s down to us as the reader to dig a little deeper on a voyage of discovery and to be fair enlightenment ………. If you have an interest in a story, read it, digest the content and then, if you have the opportunity go away and do your research it’s certain to broaden your understanding!