Good News, Better News | Travel Research Online

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Good News, Better News

There’s good news and there’s bad news.  First, the good news. There is pent up demand for travel. Here’s the bad news – the effects of the  downturn will be with us a while longer – maybe a good while longer. People tend to become much more conservative in their spending habits not just during a recession but for some time thereafter. Every expenditure during the recession hangover is accompanied by the shadow of buyer’s remorse – consumers have resolved to be much more careful in their saving and buying habits. As a result, the pent-up demand for travel will be released unevenly over the next year as consumers try to figure out when and where the best values are to be found.

Here’s where you come in.

Consumers have never needed your assistance more urgently.  There will be plenty of “deals” out there. However, price alone does not a deal make. Yet, so many consumers will be obsessed with the notion of waiting for just the right deal, that they will miss out on some of the best opportunities to travel.  Consumers who decide to travel now will find themselves at top-notch accommodations at prices that, with any luck, we won’t see again for another ten years.

I’ll bet you have a client that has been wanting to go to Ireland.  Maybe it’s a first visit.  Maybe it’s a return to Ireland.  Just a glance at almost any tour operator will uncover programs that you as a travel professional can recognize as a real value.  Without your guidance, however, some of your clients are going to pass over programs like this hoping to find something “cheaper”. It’s absurd, but a very human response to the pain we have all felt during the recession.

Give your clients a hand.

Smart travel consultants should be working right now to develop a PR campaign in their local communities.  They should be assisting consumers to recognize what an amazing opportunity they have right now to travel. “Five ways to take advantage of Travel Now” is an article I would read. Wouldn’t you?  Why not write it and send it to your local media?  Send it out to your clients, to your local newspapers, to associations and groups to which you belong. Include in your article tips for getting the best value like working with established tour operators and utilizing the services of an experience travel consultant.

I should re-write the first sentence of this article – there’s good news and then there’s better news.  There is no bad news right now.  There is a tremendous opportunity and you should immediately take advantage.  If you don’t someone else will.

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