Wish you were near

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Wish you were nearHolidays in the Age of Connected Travel

JWT Business Intelligence

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ContentsHoliday Focus 2012The Holiday Market in 2012Planned Destinations 2012: Sticking with what we knowThe UK’s Big YearOperation Holiday: The Blueprint – A Taste of Paradise – Meaningful Travel Holiday Booking Channels: The Online ExplosionPackage Holidays Unpacked

The Connected TravellerHave Device, Will TravelThe Personal Assistant in Your PocketThe Always-On TravellerThe Rise of Social TravelThe Poolside OfficeHolidays Unplugged

Top Take Outs for BrandsJWT’s Top Ten Travel Innovations

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3Business Intelligence is JWT London’s dedicated research and insight team. Led by Marie Stafford, a 17 year veteran in consumer insight, trends and quantitative analysis, Business Intelligence is the creativity behind the creativity at JWT. The team powers the agency’s thinking, making sense of changes in culture and society, bolstering strategy and delivering a shot of thought-provoking inspiration.

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There are budding signs that Spring has arrived. And with them come thoughts of warmer weather and longer days.

Yes. It’s that time of year. We need a holiday.

So with a beach idyll in our mind’s eye, and wanderlust in our hearts, JWT London did a little investigation into the British holidaymaker in 2012. We’re curious like that.

We’re also lucky enough to have our very own quant research service: SONAR. Our SONAR panel is made up of 10,000 UK households and allows us to glean unique consumer insights for our clients. We simply decide what we want to ask them and the results appear. Magic.

This time we asked them about a whole host of holiday related plans, habits, behaviours, attitudes and opinions.

We mulled and pondered and studied the results. What follows are the best bits; the most interesting insights and ideas that we pulled out of our mountain of data.

To set the scene, we look at key trends for the holiday market this year and what travellers really want from their trip.

Then we turn to the growing phenomenon of the ‘Connected Traveller’: a new breed of tourist which has emerged out of the everyday habit of being constantly connected to a mobile device. Or three.

Finally we share our thoughts on how brands can use these insights to really capture the attention of British globetrotters.

We hope you find it interesting, enlightening, thought-provoking – even fun. We’d love to hear from you to discuss our findings in more detail.

Thanks for joining us on our journey. JWT London surveyed 251 UK citizens in December 2011 using the proprietary SONAR platform

Foreword

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What can travel brands expect from holidaymakers in 2012? Will it be a long hot summer, or more of a wet weekend? We’ve explored the holiday experience from start to finish, including where people plan to jet off to, how they book their jaunts and what really constitutes an ideal holiday. Expectations have changed with the times so be prepared to deliver more than your standard sun, sea and sand combination this year.

Holiday Focus 2012 1

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So what kind of trips are people planning? Two thirds are set on at least one major holiday at home, with the same proportion looking to escape our borders. Short breaks abroad are less of a priority these days, with less than a third planning a jaunt.

Of all those taking any trip in 2012, 69% say that their main trip will be their holiday abroad. Evidently the concept of a holiday is still very much associated with foreign climes. Our notoriously unreliable weather surely plays a part, but perhaps a complete change of scene is another key factor? A whopping 78% of us agree that when we go away on holiday we just want to get away from it all.

“We are torn between a nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange. As often as not, we are homesick most for the places we have never known.” Carson McCullers, American Author

1 ONS, Overseas Travel and Tourism (12 months December 2010-November 2011), 12 Jan 2012

Despite the prolonged economic gloom, the British passion for getting away remains strong: over thirty-six million of us took a holiday abroad in the last year. That’s not even counting those who holidayed in the UK. Despite a heavy decline when the recession first hit, the holiday market now seems to be entering a phase of relative stability; traveller numbers have dropped a mere 1% compared to the same period in 2010.1

JWT’s research suggests that holiday travel should hold steady in 2012, both at home and away: 56% of Brits plan to take the same number of holidays and short breaks this year, regardless of destination. And a quarter of people say they will take more. So whilst times will still be tough, we don’t expect them to get any worse.

Holiday Market in 2012 Holidays & short Breaks 2012: Home or Away?

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In these tough times, holidaymakers are playing it safe and sticking with tried and trusted spots. In our survey, old favourites like Spain and France gained frequent mentions as planned destinations for 2012 and should perform well, alongside other evergreen European hot spots like Greece and Cyprus.

Value is also a clear if predictable focus this year. Many of the top choices on our list are those which offer holidaymakers excellent value whilst in resort. In a recent survey by Post Office Money, Spain ranked as the cheapest European destination for a basket of tourist goods, while Cyprus and Turkey also featured in the top twenty good value destinations.2

At the time of our survey, cruises were the chosen option for a number of respondents. It’s too early to say how the market may now be affected by the recent Costa Concordia disaster but some industry experts fear that ‘new-to-cruise’ passengers may be daunted.

For those who are opting for long-haul, our survey points to the USA, the Caribbean and Australia as popular choices, while destinations in Africa also make our hotlist.3

Notable by their absence are Egypt and Tunisia. The unrest associated with the Arab Spring is having a detrimental effect on travel to the affected countries; indeed Thomas Cook pointed to Egypt as the source of its cash crisis in late 2011.4

Country destinations chosen by those who have already planned their 2012 holidayPlanned destinations 2012:

sticking with what we know

2 Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer 2012, Post Office Money, postoffice.co.uk , 16 Dec 20113 Cruise disaster: will it put off passengers?, Telegraph, 17 Jan 20124 Egyptian heat brings chill for Thomas Cook, Financial Times, 26 Nov 2011

Caribbeanitaly

Australia

Greece

FranceMexico

AfricaAfrica

indiaMalta

Cyprus

Caribbean MalaysiaUK

latvia new.Zealand

nigeriaCroatiaChina

Canada

europeisrael

Czech.republicCzech.republic

singaporePortugal

israel

Pakistan

PakistanThailand

CanadaGermany latvia

Turkey

AfricaCroatia

Malta

Malta

Japan

CruiseAustralia

italy

MozambiquespainMozambique

Cruise

Turkey

GermanyUK UsACyprus

Japan

ireland

singapore

disney World

switzerland

dubainigeria

Malaysia

italy

France

UsA

india

Japan

Chinalatvia

Japan

Croatia

Caribbean

Malaysiaireland

Cruise

Canada

europeThailand

indiaUK

switzerland

disney WorldMexico

Mexico

spainisrael

dubai

GreecespainFrance

Portugaldisney World

Mozambique

new.Zealand

irelandUsATurkey

Germany

Australia

China

CyprusCzech.republic

dubai

Greece

Already decided on a destination

for 2012

49%

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If 2011 whipped the nation into a frenzy of flag-waving, 2012 looks set to add more fuel to the patriotic fire. With major events like the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the World Pride festival and the small matter of the Olympics and Paralympics all taking place on UK soil this year, the domestic holiday market has the potential to crest the wave of our collective national pride, not to mention the continued popularity of ‘staycations’ for those tightening their belts.

With no sign of an economic bounceback on the horizon, just under a quarter (23%) of those surveyed claimed they would be spending a greater proportion of their holidays in the UK this year, with the over 50s and those with kids even more likely to be heading for Bognor rather than Benidorm.5

When August comes and the Olympic bandwagon hits the nation, many will seek cover; almost two million Londoners are on the lookout for an escape route from the city in August and could represent low-hanging fruit for travel providers. And alongside those lucky Olympic ticketholders, don’t forget the hundreds of thousands who failed to get tickets but may still travel for the atmosphere – this should mean increased visitor numbers in all Olympic venue cities. For culture vultures, there’s the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad in the London 2012 Festival, which will run from June to September. Clearly, competition for the custom of Olympic visitors is going to be tough, so brands will need to work hard to stand out from the crowd.

The Queen’s Jubilee hands the nation a double bank holiday weekend, also in June, and presents another golden – or should we say diamond – opportunity for travel companies to make hay while the sun (hopefully) shines.

The UK’s Big year

5 YouGov/Wimdu poll of 1000 Londoners, reported on telegraph.co.uk, 28 Dec 2011

So 2012 represents a major opportunity for domestic travel and leisure brands to challenge overseas destinations and cement the UK as a long-term holiday option. This year, UK travel brands need to ensure that every element of their offer and service is well and truly ‘on point’ as never before. This is the time to make a good impression on visitors, to encourage repeat business and good word of mouth.

The longer-term challenge for domestic players will be to maintain the boost once economic worries start to ease and sunnier climes become more tempting.

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When you go on holiday, what experiences are you looking for?

Some of us can remember the days when all we expected from a holiday was a nice sit-down and maybe some decent weather if we were lucky. For today’s savvy traveller however, the bar is set a little higher. But what exactly are holidaymakers looking for?

Operation Holiday: The Blueprint

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Top of the list of holiday experiences, ahead even of spending time with our loved ones, come the pleasures of good food and drink. While it may once have been the preserve of the gastronauts, eating well is something of a national passion today; no doubt fuelled by a constant TV diet of Heston, Jamie and Nigella.

Research by the Future Foundation supports our findings: two and a half million people in the UK were influenced by a country’s gastronomy when choosing their holiday last year.6 Resorts and hotels with a food offer, take note: quality cuisine is becoming a prerequisite and visitors will vote with their feet if yours is not up to scratch.

Travel brands in general could do more to provide travellers with the foodie information they crave whilst on holiday: providing location-based mobile apps to find great local restaurants or partnering with local cafés or bars to offer special tourist deals. There’s room for useful content too; many travellers may welcome information on the standout traditional ingredients and authentic dishes before they go, would be pleased to hear about the best places to find street food during the trip and recipes for authentic dishes or cocktails will stir happy memories when they get back.

One brand already wise to the power of food is Aéroports de Paris. In December 2011 they partnered with French cooking school Atelier des Chefs to give travellers passing through Orly and Charles de Gaulle the opportunity to try their hand at French cooking classes. Participants could try out quick recipes for classic French specialities like salmon papillotte and then take their dish away to enjoy in-flight.

Another brand upping its game is Virgin Atlantic which recently launched a new meal experience for Economy passengers that is intended to feel more like restaurant service. Passengers receive a welcome cocktail upon boarding and then peruse a brand new menu which includes a separate dessert service. Nicer than having everything shoved in front of you all at once. Treats and refreshments are also delivered usherette-style during in-flight movies.

And talking of in-flight meals, airlines could do more to use food as a means to differentiate and really stand out from the crowd. Travelling is an important part of the holiday. And yet it can often be more of a trial than an experience to savour. So many airlines have a poor reputation when it comes to the tricky topic of in-flight meals and most no-frills airlines don’t offer much beyond pre-packed sandwiches and crisps. Cost is the oft-cited obstacle: many operators simply don’t believe that passengers are willing to pay for quality food. Our data suggests the contrary, that food offers a real opportunity for airlines to stand out and increase loyalty. We believe it’s an area that is ripe for innovation.

“Airplane travel is nature’s way of making you look like your passport photo.” Al Gore

A Taste of Paradise

6 nVision/Eurobarometer, UK, 2011

WA

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16 17

Men

Men

51%

52%

Soaking up different cultures and a country’s history are also popular experiences people look for when on holiday, particularly when it comes to the boys. Although travelling for cultural reasons is far from new, perhaps the current economic climate, along with the potential threat of restrictions on travel, is transforming what people want from their holidays.

When money is tight, it’s harder to rationalise lavish spending, so deriving meaningful experiences from our holiday, rather than just a tan and a few souvenirs, may help justify the large hole holidays make in our wallets.

There has been some speculation that in the long-term, citizens may be allocated a carbon allowance (and therefore have to reduce the amount they fly). This, together with growing awareness that many World Heritage Sites are now in danger of destruction, could also be driving up numbers of those seeking a cultural angle to their holiday. ‘Last Chance Tourism’,7 published in late 2011, notes the emergence of a new phenomenon: being one of the last to visit endangered destinations is now a new badge of honour.

What men and women want from the holiday experience

Authenticity and to experience

a different culture

Soak up some history

Meaningful Travel

WOMen

WOMen

35%

31%

7 Harvey Lemelin, Jackie Dawson, Emma J. Stewart, Last Chance Tourism, Taylor & Francis, Nov 2011

“Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.” Lawrence Durrell

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Continuing with the theme of meaningful travel, over a third of our sample expressed a desire to learn something new during their holiday. This is clearly a developing market. For example, the Guardian newspaper has launched its own online guide to learning holidays and recently featured a full supplement on Life Changing Holidays.8

Learning holidays tap into consumer desire for self-improvement. These days we busy ourselves with projects aimed at self-improvement: practising yoga, taking dance classes, reading self-help books and monitoring details of our health and wealth with life-tracking apps (Nike+, My FitnessPal etc). Learning holidays provide another opportunity to add further strings to our bow.

Currently, the market for specialist learning holidays is extremely fragmented with many small tour operators and specialist agencies dominating the space. Yet there’s clearly a wider appetite for learning experiences and room for major operators to integrate elements of what the niche players do into their own offer. This is an area where cruise lines excel. Have a look at Princess Cruises Scholarship@Sea® programme which offers up to forty classes per voyage, including singing, ceramics, photography and lectures.

Resort brands could partner with specialist or local operators to offer classes or courses, such as wine tasting, circus skills, and thhose inspired by the local surroundings: like pizza school in Rome, learning to play classical guitar in Andalucia or tango lessons in Buenos Aires.

The advantage of major tour and hotel operators integrating learning opportunities into their offer is greater flexibility - people would no longer be required to dedicate their entire holiday to one, intensive course and groups with different interests and needs could still travel together.

Teach Me something

8 http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/learning-holidays

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We bank, socialise and even find love online, so it makes perfect sense that when it comes to holidays and travel, we want to do it all online from researching to booking. Well over three-quarters of us are planning to book flights or accommodation online in 2012. The plethora of travel sites and apps available allow flexibility, independence and the ability to ensure personally that you get the best deal.

However the online experience is a fragile one, which can be quickly wrecked if a platform or website does not perform at the highest level, particularly at the booking stage. In a 2010 study by PhocusWright and Akamai, it was found that 57% of people will abandon a web page if it takes more than three seconds to load.9 Evidently, tolerance is in short supply.

It goes without saying that travel brands must deliver impeccable performance across all of their digital platforms in order to even consider competing. It’s critical to get this right.

The amount of time we devote to researching a trip has mushroomed with the advent of price comparison sites and traveller review sites. Where we once browsed a few brochures, we now trawl a multiplicity of sources, combing reviews for potential negatives, scanning candid photos, soliciting opinions in online forums and comparing prices.

A 2011 survey by YouGov found that a fifth were spending more than eight hours (or a working day) researching and planning their holiday.10 This suggests a degree of insecurity which travel brands could attempt to alleviate. For example, price match guarantees

reassure consumers they are getting a good deal, partnering with independent review sites demonstrates transparency and live video streams would allow them to virtually check out locations, resorts or hotels in advance before committing.

Proportion planning to book flights and accommodation online via laptop/PC in 2012

Holiday Booking Channels: The Online explosion

BOOKinG FliGHTs

BO

OKin

G ACCOMOdATiOn82%

77%

9 Akamai/PhocusWright, Consumer Response to Travel Site Performance, April 201010 British holiday-planners drowning in sea of online research, M2 Presswire, 27 Jan 2011

i like to check as many sources as possible when

i go on holiday

60%

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The youth Paradox Package Holidays Unpacked

A short diversion whilst we consider the younger traveller. Although the sample answering this question was small,11 our survey indicates that a proportion of younger people are more likely to use a high street travel agent to book flights and packages than other groups. This seems at odds with our picture of younger people as digital natives, fluent in online research and shopping.

It could be that the younger members of this age group, who have less travelling experience and for whom the cost of a holiday is a greater investment, are reassured by speaking to an expert who can assure them they are spending their money wisely. It could also be that they have more complex itineraries which are simply too time-consuming or labour-intensive to manage personally.

The topic merits more in-depth research but it could be that there is an opportunity here for travel operators to target digitally adept but novice travellers by combining the elements of several booking options. For example, brands could provide the reassurance of real-life support via their digital platforms, perhaps using pop-up instant messaging with a travel expert. Simultaneously, high street travel agents could lure younger travellers by digitising their retail space, making it more akin to browsing the Apple store, with touch screen kiosks and roaming staff equipped with portable devices.

Reports of the demise of the package holiday may have been premature. The Travel Trade Gazette reported just last October that the ‘package holiday market share is in rapid and long-term decline’.12 And compared to their heyday, packages are a shadow of their former self. Yet based on share of all holidays, Mintel observed that the package sector actually outperformed the independent travel market in 2010 for the first time in a decade.13 One of the major causes was the increased popularity of the all-inclusive; no doubt this is behind First Choice’s recent decision to reposition as a purely all-inclusive operator.

According to JWT’s however, this year over a quarter of British holiday makers plan on booking a package holiday as their main trip, rising to over a third amongst 35-49s and those who have children. These are the key life stages to target for package operators: many are juggling greater responsibilities at work, children or other family commitments. Those in these demographics simply have less time to devote to trawling for the best possible holiday combination and value the convenience, ease and peace of mind offered by a package deal.

OF AdUlTs

OF FAMiliesOF 35-49s

“no man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.”Elbert Hubbard, Writer, Artist, Philosopher

Who’s planning a package in 2012?

60% 32% 36%

11 The sample responding to this question that were 18-34 was quite small and therefore findings should only be taken as an indication.

12 Travel Trade Gazette, Why niches and DIY are bigger than packages, 6 October 201113 Mintel’s report Package vs Independent Holidays - UK February 2012

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The near ubiquity of mobile devices is changing the landscape of holidays and travel. As critical to packing as your undies, with similarly disastrous consequences if you forget them, mobiles are becoming the indispensable holiday tool. We are growing so accustomed to them, that two weeks without these appendages is unimaginable. For many, there is no longer a distinction between being connected and disconnected, both for work and social reasons. And this trend looks set to grow with penetration of smartphones and tablets projected to increase in coming years. This section of the report will explore the habits and motivations of tech-savvy travellers and how brands can use this insight to stay in their customers’ pockets whilst they traverse the globe.

The Connected Traveller

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There is no getting away from it: the travel sector will increasingly need to cater for online junkies who just can’t leave home without their portable friends. As younger generations grow up with mobile devices constantly to hand, the idea of being ‘off’ or disconnected, even whilst on holiday, will become unthinkable.

A massive 88% of people surveyed told us they take some form of mobile device on holiday and use it to some extent during their stay. Most likely to be squeezed into the luggage is the uber-cool all-rounder tablet. Workaholic/teenage catnip-the Blackberry-is next on the list, swiftly followed by the digital equivalent of a yard of John Grishams, the Kindle. Smartphones are a mere whisper behind. Clearly it’s a combination of functionality and entertainment which we most desire.

As devices become ever more sophisticated it’s logical to assume that people will come to rely on standalone gadgets less and less. Only this month The Telegraph reported that sales of point-and-shoot cameras fell by 30% in value last year; whereas photo sharing websites are seeing growing numbers of users upload pictures from smartphones.14

This trend looks set to continue as penetration of mobile devices grows. A recent YouGov report revealed that the percentage of people who own a smartphone will double in 2012, reaching 68% in the UK.

But it’s tablets that we predict will be the killer travel gadget. Kantar Worldpanel ComTec reported in September 2011 that penetration of the devices had tripled in the previous nine months,15 with plenty of growth potential still left in the market. Tablets are the ideal portable travel gadget, serving up video, music, games, web and communication all in one go.

devices Owned

Laptop/netbook 68%Mobile phone 50%Smartphone 48%Tablet/iPad 11%eReader 11%Blackberry 9%

Have device, Will Travel

% of people who take and use the following mobile devices on holiday (frequently or sometimes)

TABleT/iPAd

sMArTPHOne

BlACKBerry

MOBile PHOneereAder

lA

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74%

61%

67%

47%

62%

35%

14 Compact cameras losing out to smartphones, The Telegraph, 13 January 2012 15 Apple dominates UK tablet sales, Financial Times, 11 September 2011

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Penetration of highly functional devices like smartphones and tablets are yet to reach tipping point in the UK. There are still millions of people out there using feature phones with limited functionality and connectivity. So it naturally follows that there is a spectrum of ‘connectedness’; those with more capable technology are more likely to be devoted and heavy users of their device. Industry data shows that smartphone users consume twenty-four times more data than feature phone users for example.16 Those who own phones which are more limited in terms of functionality are probably less likely to feel they can’t do without them.

However, as penetration of smartphones grows and as tablets and other devices become more ubiquitous, we can expect more people to move along the spectrum to become connected. Another important driver here will be the EU’s decision to cap roaming costs at 80p per megabyte which comes into force in July 2012 – the cost of using devices abroad is a major obstacle even for those who own capable devices: 50% say they are put off by the cost of using their phone abroad. The cap should encourage more travellers to dip a toe in the mobile data pool.

The Techno-Polar Conundrum The spectrum of Connectedness

16 Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2010–2015

of people disagree with the statement “i like the idea of a holiday resort where mobile

devices are banned”

Connected disconnected

of people agree with the statement “i wouldn’t

dream of turning off my mobile phone”

of people agree with the statement “i like the idea of a holiday resort where mobile

devices are banned”

of people disagree with the statement “i wouldn’t dream

of turning off my mobile phone”

39%

32%

31%

41%

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Anyone who has spent more than five minutes driving through Rome or Lisbon, trying desperately to find their hotel and somewhere to park nearby, will immediately appreciate the benefits of mapping, navigation and even translation apps.

Mobile devices lend themselves particularly well to practical usage for travellers. A handy source of information and tools in your pocket, you never need be lost or lost for words again. (Literally, if you make use of instant translation iPhone app Vocre which can currently cross-translate nine languages). According to a previous JWT survey, 49% of UK respondents agreed that “technology helps facilitate [their] travel experiences and makes the trip more enjoyable”.17

We asked our tech-savvy travellers which applications they currently use or plan to use on their next holiday. Appropriately, the travel-related activity we indulge in most, is *drum roll* checking the weather; all else trails in the mighty wake of this national obsession.Beyond the more practical applications, it’s notable that 38% are already comfortable purchasing tickets for events or attractions using their phones, demonstrating that there’s plenty of scope for transnational mobile commerce.

And a quarter already enjoy sharing their experiences by checking-in to locations using services like Foursquare and Gowalla – these channels present excellent opportunities for brands to reach consumers and visitors by developing a presence on these platforms.

The Personal Assistant in your Pocket

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% of people who have used/plan to use their mobile device for the following activities

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17 JWT Intelligence, Rebooting Travel, April 2011

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Perhaps most striking though is the discovery that a third of travellers are prepared to submit online reviews on the spot. This neatly illustrates the passion consumers now have for creating as well as consuming content. Many brands are already opening up to consumer feedback and this taps into a wider trend across business towards greater transparency.

Thinking more proactively, travel brands could anticipate the needs of holidaymakers by sending functional information tailored to their trip like weather updates or details of local events. They could also seek to exploit location-based technology to target consumers on holiday with sponsored content, deals and offers relevant to their trip. Imagine walking down the Las Ramblas in Barcelona and receiving an offer for two for one deal admission to Sagrada Familia, or a free main meal at one of the many local restaurants, direct to your mobile.

Launched in mid-January 2012, Australian airline Qantas is piloting (on selected flights) wireless inflight entertainment in the form of iPads for each of their passengers. The iPads will be pre-loaded with the airline’s own Q streaming app which delivers access to over 200 hours of on demand television and audio programmes. Towards the end of the trial Qantas says it will allow passengers to view the streaming content on their own iPad whereby they can also download video to watch within a 24 hour period of leaving the aircraft if the programme was cut short by the plane landing.

In Japan a number of Kyoto’s hotels offer guests the option of renting iPhones pre-loaded with useful information. The Kyoto Garden Ryokan Yachiyo hotel offers free rental of the iPhone concierge, which includes a number of apps intended to help make their guests’ stay stress free. For example, iDict translates street Japanese signs and menus.

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As mobile technology morphs into an extra limb for many of us, we are accustomed to not only keeping abreast of the lives of others but also broadcasting the minutiae of our own. Our survey suggests that even when on holiday we are unwilling to break away from such habits; we like to remain in constant contact with those back home.

Despite ever-more sophisticated devices, the top use of technology on holiday for now is SMS: 66% of Brits text family or friends at least several times a week whilst away, with 19% of people doing it at least once a day.

This is no doubt driven both by the low and fixed cost of sending texts as well as the preponderance of feature phones on the market. Things may change once mobile operators begin to introduce clearer and cheaper options for roaming and penetration of smart devices increases.

Interestingly, we also love to email, with over half of us sending messages several times a week or more and just over a quarter of us emailing at least once a day. For the time being, email could be an appealing way to communicate with travellers on the go, but brands should ensure that any messages are relevant and personalised to achieve cut-through. JWT found in 2011 that 53% of Britons were looking for “faster ways to get personalised recommendations and information while... travelling”.18 However, email alone is only a short-term fix and brands should already be looking to develop tools which put control in the hands of the consumer – allowing them to access the information they need on demand. Two-way dialogue is also key - as travellers love to share their views - so include a social element, which allows them to contribute their own comments and tips as well as see those of their peers. Take a look at US mobile app Trippy for inspiration,

which harnesses social network platforms to allow users to get advice and tips for their trips from people they know. Or try out TripAdvisor’s Mobile City Guides for Android which combines information from travel experts as well as fellow users for 20 cities worldwide.

The Always-On Traveller

send TexT

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54% 51%

% of people who engage in social use of technology several times a week or more

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18 JWT Intelligence, Rebooting Travel, April 2011

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But why is it that we can no longer go a week or two without feeling compelled to connect with our social circle back home? One explanation could be the ‘Fear of Missing Out’ (FOMO), a phenomenon JWT previously explored in 2011, which describes the social angst we feel when our peers are more in the know, or experiencing or doing something we are not.

47% of our survey agreed that when on holiday they “feel the need to keep in contact with friends and family regularly”. Another possible reason is the growing compulsion for many to showcase their lives on social networks, working to maximise their social status. Holidays offer the perfect opportunity to gather social currency; your stock rises with every shot of you on a white sandy beach in the Caribbean, bungee-jumping a gorge in New Zealand or sipping a cocktail at a rooftop bar in Miami.

Consumers want unique and engaging experiences on holiday that they can communicate to their friends and family. Why? Because they know it’s the perfect way to both stand out from the crowd and make their social circle green with envy.

Brands need to think about how to engage consumers once on holiday and how to create an experience that’s high in social currency and worth communicating. If done correctly, this will not just benefit the consumer but also the brand by turning socially savvy consumers into instant brand ambassadors.

“The best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working”. Kenneth Grahame, Author

Fear of Missing Out

it’s important to me to communicate to others what i’m doing whilst on holiday

When my friends share travel experiences it makes me want to get in on the action

seeing my friends post about their travel activities tends to make me jealous

sharing my travel activities makes

me stand out in my social network

46%

45%

41%

29%

38 39

Social platforms also provide brands with an alternative space to talk to consumers: one which they have taken care to build. Holidaymakers are ready to use their social networks to research and plan travel. The Future Foundation reported that a quarter of us were planning to do this as far back as 2010.19

So why not go to them rather than expect them to come to you? This is exactly what Delta Airlines did in 2010 when they launched an online booking app on Facebook which enabled US customers to search, book and pay for flights all through the social networking site. An upgrade allowed friends to plan activities together, book rooms and decide where to travel.

KLM will go a step further in 2012 when the airline launches its ‘Meet and Seat’ service which will allow passengers to choose who they sit next to via their social media profile. Passengers will link their check-in information and opt-in to the service allowing friends, colleagues and perhaps even lonely hearts to meet up in the sky.

Social Flights (https://www.socialflights.com/) harnesses the power of both social networking and group buying to enable like-minded travellers to team up and buy flights together on private jets.

And don’t forget, social media provides an apt platform for customer service, with Twitter in particular allowing brands to respond in real-time to queries and complaints as well as providing immediacy in information updates.

The rise of social Travel

19 nVision/World Travel Market, Leisure: Travel and Tourism 2010

What is the point of holidays? A little bit of escapism? A time for getting away from it all, a complete break from the nine to five? For some of us, it seems it’s no such thing. To varying degrees, we’re gradually blurring our work with pleasure.

Significant numbers of us are harnessing mobile devices to work more flexibly in all kinds of ways: managing diaries, Skyping colleagues and even accessing the company’s intranet. More than one in ten of us even claims to keep working throughout the holiday. Which must be great fun for the rest of the family.

For those who work freelance or run their own business, it’s important to always be available for clients; one can never really switch off 100%. But what about everyone else? We asked our panel why they chose to keep working on their holidays. Can we simply not bear to be parted from Steve in Accounts? Can we not control that burning desire to file the quarterly sales report?

One might expect that workers are being pressured into it by demanding bosses, but that seems not to be the case for most people. More frequently, people are choosing to work on holiday for their own reasons.

The Poolside Office

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Using devices on Holiday for Work PurposesProportion doing activity a few times a week or more

All adults

TexTinG

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AC

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MA

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G diAry reMO

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CA

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KinG BUsiness CAlls

26%

16% 15%

14%12%

22% 19%

18%

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The most common response was that people want to avoid a backlog of emails and messages building up. It may seem counter-intuitive, but relaxation may be more achievable for some if they are still able to keep an eye on the day job and not have to worry about any nasty surprises waiting for them on the day they return to work. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.

Of course in a tough economic environment, with the UK unemployment rate at a 15 year peak, it’s no surprise that there’s also an element of competitive pressure: even over a short period of a couple of weeks, people worry about falling behind in their job, perhaps with an eye on colleagues jockeying for position in the office pecking order.

Once again, the fear of missing out is an anxiety which we seem to experience in our working as well as our social lives and drives us to obsessively check our emails and messages. To be out of the loop is unthinkable. Some of us seem to need to be permanently connected, to be ‘live nodes on the network’ as tech visionary Linda Stone puts it. To be present to others, even when we are absent - this is what validates us and gives us self-worth.

But tellingly, working on holiday has also become a habit for many, something which is so ingrained in their everyday behaviour that they simply find themselves doing it. For some people, technology use is becoming habitual, carried out on auto-pilot, as natural as breathing. It now blends so seamlessly with the rest of their lives that to stop would be unnatural. And why would anyone change their entire way of life when they go on holiday? They simply do more of the things they love – and many love being always-on, available at the click of a key and in the know.

Why do you stay in touch with work and colleagues, even though you are on holiday?

“i feel like it’s expected of me”

“i don’t want to come back to hundreds of

emails and voicemails”

“i don’t want to miss out on what’s happening”

“it’s just a habit i have got into”

“i worry about falling behind in

my job”

“T

hey need me”

17%

10%

31%

27%

22%

27%

44 45

‘LS:N Global’, the trend forecasting and consumer insight division of the Future Labratory, uses the term ‘Bleisurites’ to describe these predominantly young “entrepreneurial individuals who no longer see any difference or delineation between work and leisure” and who rely on multiple devices to maintain their always-on lifestyle. And Lucy Kellaway, the FT journalist, recently coined the term ‘worliday’ to describe her personal approach to taking holidays – working a little here and there throughout the day, but never really fully disengaging from her job.

This may herald a sea change in the way we all live, work and relax. For example, in future, we may see employees taking more frequent holidays but needing to keep in regular contact with work. This presents major growth opportunities for travel brands, so long as they can provide travellers with the facilities and the services they need to stay fully wired.

Many hotels, resorts and transport brands already cater thoughtfully to the business traveller, but need to recognise that this blend of work and play is becoming more widespread. Services like fast, reliable and free WiFi access and charging facilities will become hygiene factors; more quiet and private spaces to work will be essential; even room layouts and furniture will need to be refreshed in some cases to accommodate the working-leisure traveller and their gadgets.

None more so than younger generations aged 18-34, who claim to be working hardest of all on their gadgets while on holiday (see chart which follows). This suggests two things, first an even closer relationship with technology, but more interestingly, a potential shift in attitude towards work and leisure amongst this group in comparison with older generations.

Certainly, many futurists have noted over the past few years that there has been a gradual blurring of the distinction between work and leisure, driven by cultural shift and facilitated by the proliferation of mobile devices, improved network speeds and cloud computing.

“To be busy, to be connected, is to be alive, to be recognized, and to matter.”Linda Stone

Using devices on Holiday for Work PurposesProportion doing activity a few times a week or more

reP

lyin

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ils

Usi

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in

TerneT FOr WOrK PU

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Os

es

AC

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44%

40%

37%

30%

33%

44% 43%

40%

18-34s

46 47

A final word: 11% of our sample are what we might call ‘Gadget Rejectors’ – they don’t take any devices with them on holiday at all. And even among those who do, there’s something of a conflict between their actual and imagined behaviour. 48% of people claim that ideally, they’d like no one to contact them at all on holiday. And 31% say they like the idea of a holiday resort where mobile devices are banned.

So to the trend, here’s the counter-trend: there’s a proportion of us who don’t want to tweet our every move, to upload holiday snaps in real-time, who won’t be glued to their Blackberry instead of watching the sunset. And as our lives become increasingly intertwined with the devices we use, there will be an increasing space for little oases which are “off the grid”. It’s an active recreation of the feeling of inner peace you get when you’re stuck in the wilds of Cornwall with no phone signal.

Some marketers are already tapping into the blissfulness and nostalgia of the pre-tech holiday. The islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines recently launched a campaign to promote a device-free holiday experience which they describe as a ‘Digital Detox’. Visitors will be persuaded to hand over their phones and tablets on arrival and there’s a self-help guide to prepare you as well as a life coach on hand to deal with any wobbles.

By offering the option to ‘de-tech’, brands can offer holidaymakers the reassurance they need to take the option to switch off.

Holidays Unplugged

And for a generation for whom holidays are now about work, it naturally follows that work should be more about fun. There may be opportunities here for brands catering to business travellers to make their offer less ‘businessy’ and more akin to ‘real life’ leisure experiences. If we spend more time working, then perhaps our stays will become longer and our accommodation will need to be more like home?20

“it’s likely there will be a kind of hotel chain that you’ll be able to live in for six months. is it a house or a hotel room? And what services do you really need? There’s a huge opportunity there.”Rob Wagemans, architect for Concrete

20 Quote from Rob Wagemans: CitizenM Hospitality Evolves: The Global Nomad, Stylus, 25 Nov 2011

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Top Take Outs for Brands

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We know the holiday market should stay fairly stable in 2012, but be aware that many consumers are digging deep in order to keep travelling. Holidays with added value can help them justify the outlay. Our survey suggests growth for holidays and trips which offer extra benefits; the opportunity to learn a new skill, sport or language, to experience and cook truly authentic cuisine, even do something worthwhile for a cause. Ensuring that holidays are more than just holidays taps into the long-term trend of self-actualisation, being the best version of you that you can be. If you can deliver a sense of self-improvement this assuages the holidaymaker’s conscience and gives him or her permission to spend.

Black Tomato is an experiential tour operator, whose site allows travellers to search for trips based on the need for a purpose: holidays suggested include “learning the way of the ninja” in Tokyo and “cycling the Himalayas”.

In January 2011, Changi Airport Group and Singapore Post introduced the Speedpost@Changi service at all three Changi Airport main terminals. The service gives passengers the chance to save prohibited items found in hand luggage by mailing them home for a small fee.

The last decade has put power well and truly in the hands of consumers; they are better informed, better equipped and more savvy than ever before. Now many of them have less money to spend, but don’t think they have reined in their expectations as a result. Consumers still expect the best, but guess what? They don’t want to pay more for it. There is room here for travel brands to be generous and help cost-conscious consumers have a memorable holiday experience at a price they can afford. By casting themselves as helpful assistants during the whole course of the holiday experience, before, during and even after the trip, brands can win business and loyalty. Think of little extras that would make your service even more special: information and tools, helpful services and thoughtful touches; the more creative and unique, the better.

Be a Brand Aide

Give Me a reason

LITTLEExTRAS

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“loving my holiday in Paris, it’s #paradise”

March 1st 2012 from Traveller12

Today’s traveller is always-on, so brands must be too. If you have no digital presence or communications, then you’re not on the trip. Once consumers have a device in their hands, they will expect to find you there too, so you need to try to stay ahead of the adoption curve. This means having a live integrated and seamless presence across all mobile, digital and social platforms. And ensure that your services function at absolutely optimum levels; anything less and you will lose business. Smartphones and tablets are the key devices for travel brands and innovation and creativity should be focused here.

Intercontinental Hotels have developed apps which allow on the go travellers to browse and book hotels via iPhone and iPad, Android phones and tablets, Windows Phone 7, Kindle Fire and Google TV.

In Summer 2011, Fiesta Hotels Group’s Ushuaia Hotel in Ibiza issued guests with RFID bracelets linked to their Facebook profiles so they could automatically update their status, check-in at events on Facebook Places and even upload photos.

Holidays and social media go together like coffee and cream, salt and vinegar – OK well that may be overstating the case but remember that travellers love to share their holiday experiences from start to finish. And for those who travel in family or friendship groups, a social tool is a positive asset to get their rendezvous organised, plan events and share their communal photo album. Holidays are vital social currency, one of the most talkable, tweetable, shareable events in anyone’s annual calendar. So make sure you get involved and have a social strategy: start a dialogue, get some followers, build some apps, share some rewards.

Get social

Be Always-On

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It is likely that in future we will continue to see a blurring of work and play. Could this spell an end to the divide between leisure and business travel? It’s something worth pondering. If so, perhaps the travel business will cease to be so reliant on seasonal peaks and will become a truly all-year-round market? Certainly, with a sizeable proportion of holidaymakers booking well in advance of their departure, there are already opportunities to stretch the brand/consumer relationship further, by providing travel related titbits to inspire and inform and get them in the holiday mood. This will help keep your brand top of mind all year long and stand you in good stead should holidays become more numerous and frequent for the UK traveller.

Partnering with LivingSocial, a deals and discounts website, Delta Airlines, in 2011, started offering passengers destination-dependent deals for the duration of their holiday. “The new LivingSocial feature on delta.com extends the personalized travel experience by providing deals beyond the airport,” said Bob Kupbens, Delta’s Vice President – eCommerce.

It could be us, but it doesn’t seem like many major travel brands are doing much with the information they hold on customers – or perhaps they haven’t bothered to find out. Opportunities to build long-term relationships are wasted by thoughtless email marketing programmes. Why not take the time to absorb the information you hold on customers, and build a more personalised programme of communication. Don’t email offers for Antigua to customers whose budget will only stretch to Amsterdam. And if your customer is a young hedonist, don’t suggest cruises to the Arctic Circle. We see examples of this inappropriate targeting all the time. Get to know your customer – build a dialogue with them, send them stuff they are interested in, reward their interest. And start to build long-term relationships with them.

Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club does a great job of communicating with its customers. Prior to travel, holidaymakers receive emails counting down to the day of departure and wishing them a great trip in their chosen destination. Tone is customised to the type of traveller you are and the trips you are taking. Virgin also cross-promote their other brands (such as rail) and contact is maintained throughout the year, not just at the time of travel.

Know thy Traveller

The Work/Holiday Mash-Up

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Ten travel innovations we love

Virgin Book by Weather is a concept developed for Virgin by students of the Miami School of Advertising; customers can book a holiday based on their weather preference. One day before departure the destination is revealed. (PSFK)

Room 3120 by Microsoft and Novotel creates the hotel room of the future. Using Microsoft Kinect technology, guests can control every element of their surroundings either by gestures or voice commands. (Novotel Vaugirard Montparnasse)

Ogomo allows you to bypass the issue of bringing liquids through security. Instead, simply purchase travel-sized versions of whatever toiletries you require and they will be delivered directly to your destination. (Ogomo)

Make Me A Holiday allows holiday makers to post details of the holiday they want and travel agents contact them with tailored offers and quotes. (Make Me A Holiday)

Nextpedition is a mystery holiday service by American Express. Users take a quiz to determine their ‘Travel Sign’ and experts create a holiday based on typology, length of trip and budget. An itinerary is gradually fed to the customer via a mobile ‘Travel Console’. (Nextpedition.com)

TripLingo is an iPhone app that helps travellers master foreign languages. It personalises content based on what the user actually wants to say and how formal or casual they wish to be. (Triplingo.com)

Nectar & Pulse gathers together locals who are passionate about their home town and have insider tips to share. Customers can browse individuals to find their travel ‘soulmate’. They receive a beautiful binder of suggested activities and destinations and a corresponding map. (Nectarandpulse.com)

WhaiWhai is a mobile treasure hunt-style game which texts players’ destinations in the city they’re visiting. The treasure hunt is based around a story of the city’s history and the next clue is only revealed once the previous destination has been found. (WhaiWhai)

Reach.ly connects hotels with potential guests. The service monitors Twitter for mentions of trips and feeds these through to registered hotels who can then contact travellers with a personal offer (Reach.ly)

Tom Tom and TripAdvisor have launched an app that allows travellers to access TripAdvisor’s huge database of destinations and reviews. Drivers can access the app from the device’s menu whilst they are travelling around. (Tomtom.com)

All icons are attributed to the thenounproject.com collection unless otherwise specified below;

p.13 ‘Umbrella’ by Olivier Guin, p.27 ‘Cell phone’ by Marwa Boukarim, p.50 ‘Mountains’ by Marco Acri, p.52 ‘Eiffel Tower’ by Olivier Guin

For more info contact:Carmen BekkerMarketing Director

JWT london1 Knightsbridge GreenLondon SW1x 7NW

+44 (0)20 7656 [email protected]

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