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Cruises and all-inclusive deals are making a serious comeback in 2010. We look in detail at why this may be happening, and also why, as traders, the people selling our travel products are more important than ever before.

Published: 17 Mar 2010

Cruises and all-inclusive deals are making a serious comeback in 2010. We look in detail at why this may be happening, and also why, as traders, the people selling our travel products are more important than ever before.

Crystal Cruises reported last week a 205% increase in sales compared to the same month last year. In fact, Crystal billed it’s biggest profit in January than it has in that same month for the last 5 years. This is no simple coincidence. Crystal has made a number of wise, trendsetting decisions within their marketing and sales teams to initiate this growth.

Never before have travel sales teams been faced with such vendor and consumer pressure to spend less and give more. Today’s consumers are more demanding (and rightly so - let’s face it, most of us don’t have buckets of cash to throw around). We all expect to “get a deal,” in an unprecedented way that the travel market has to learn to cope with.

As for hotels, PWC’s end of year report (UK only) states that “only those who adapt to the recession will emerge strong.” Perhaps a good example of this is IHG, who have concentrated long and hard on their sales structure and strategy in order to identify the key markets and the right customer platform. IHG’s VP Sales EMEA Nick Grandvoinet remarks, “It has to be customer driven. At IHG, we structure our pan EMEA sales operation based on a detailed segmentation of our customer base to ensure that we manage the right accounts in the right place.”

In other forming patterns, it is clear that European consumers are spending less on travel in the downturn. This has, of course, affected the demand for travel and tourism. This was almost certainly impacted by nervous business moves and a lack of consumer confidence in how much they can realistically spend in case they lose their financial security. The travel and hospitality industries need to react and adapt to these concerns by developing sales strategies that work specifically here and now, in whatever climate we find ourselves.

On a happier note, although it is expected that less people will travel in 2010 than perhaps during the mid dot.com boom years, bonafide research shows that different sectors are improving and making use of the financial downturn. For example, under and post graduate students have taken more gap years in 2008 and 2009 than any other year on record. Similarly, the emphasis on budget has been key for UK and European families and couples who are opting for all-inclusive deals, cruises and out-of-Europe travel (where the currency works in their favour). The all-inclusive deal, for example, offers complete security in the knowledge that everything is paid for in advance. The all-inclusive market was worth €46 million in Europe in 2008-2009 and is set to soar again in 2010.

Sales people have always been the front of a company; the customer facing negotiator. So, in this murky economy, those company representatives have never been so important. With sales forces decreasing in size and resources limited to a bare minimum in order to cut back costs, it is easy to understand why sales people feel de-motivated. Direct, internet and call centre sales people are all feeling the weight of the downturn, and many companies like Expedia, Hertz and Disney have all had to quickly adapt their sales attack in order to stay on top of the game.

As the consumer asks for more, the sales teams are forced to perform to higher expectations than ever, during which their commissions and incentives have hit rock bottom. Finding ways to motivate and retain the best sales team is no easy feat. Some companies like YHA, Choice Hotels and ArabellaStarwood have done a damn good job of retaining excellent sales people, and they will be sharing their expertise with the public in June (see below).

If sales management is a topic that interests you, you can find out more in-depth facts and figures from our A-List speakers in London at the Sales Management Event, co-located with the annual Travel Distribution Summit on 17-18 June. For a brochure which breaks down this topic in-depth click here