A new era of faith tourism is creating a niche for agents

 

For as long as people have believed in something, they have traveled to honor it. Pilgrimages are almost inherent to faith itself, whether it’s Jews making their aliyah to Israel, Muslims making their hajj to Mecca or Catholics visiting regional shrines or the Vatican. The effort of a voyage sets a specific goal for a traveler, and the payoff of the destination becomes a religious experience in and of itself. Thomas Cook, the great 19th-century travel agent, understood this: He started out as a minister, and his earliest tours were group excursions from his church.

 

 

But today, traveling for faith is growing into a new and unique niche. Although there are still penitents and pilgrims, many people going on faith-based journeys are looking to combine a vacation with their religious travel. “Faith tourism is now enjoyed by, taken by, purchased by all age groups—from youth to baby boomers to retired folks—all on equal levels,” says Kevin Wright, president of the World Religious Travel Association, which organized the first annual World Religious Travel Expo in October. This “new era” of faith tourism, he says, “is not driven by pilgrimages, but by missionary travel, faith-based cruising, faith-based attractions, leisure vacations, adventure trips, conferences and so on.”

St. Paul baby boomers Katy and Tim Levin put a priority on getting out of town.

"We go to Europe, we go to Wyoming a lot because we have a cabin. Sedona, San Francisco, wherever we can," she said. For them, travel is active, often involving skiing and mountain biking. Soon, they'll be headed to Chile and Argentina, and Katy is particularly excited about visiting Buenos Aires. * "I suppose we'd better take some tango lessons," she said. * Boomers, now ages 44 to 62, have disposable income, flexible schedules and tend to see themselves as denizens of the wide world. That's why they love to travel, with many seeing it as a necessity, rather than an extra, especially after their nests empty. And experts say boomers' vacations tend to be different than those of the previous generation. More than simply relaxing, they want to achieve something. *"A lot of times, boomers are looking for trips that will give them the cachet of being adventurous, that push the borders," said Corinne Asturias, 50, a consumer strategist who focuses on the baby-boomer generation for Iconoculture, a cultural trends research firm headquartered in Minneapolis. "They want to reinvent the typical vacation. Their destinations and experiences have to fuel their souls and feed their passion." * And, she said, they're interested in seeking out what's undiscovered — in their own social circle, at least: "When they can go out to do something that nobody has done, that's serious cocktail-party conversation."

More than half of all business travellers never leave their hotels, preferring to play with their gadgets than explore

Other-halves might not believe it but new research shows that it’s true – more than half of business travellers don’t leave the confines of their hotel when on a business trip. A new study of 1,000 travellers commissioned by Samsung found that 57% never left their hotels. What’s more, one in four never even leave their rooms.

Spouses – well, some of them anyway - will also be reassured to discover that 58% of travellers say the thing they miss most of all on their business trips is their partner. However, 38% say it is their pillow, 28% their home entertainment system and 12% their teddy bear.

Foviance’s research demonstrates how a focus on customer experience can help to create markets, drive sales and increase customer satisfaction, as 68% of respondents said they would travel on their own if they could find the right holiday.

A survey of 530 respondents, with an even breakdown between men and women, all of which had travelled at least once in the last year, found that half had in the past chosen not to go on holiday to avoid what they feared would be the typical ‘singles’ holiday.

The Hotel Networks Commissioned Study Tracks Hotel Guests' Media Habits, Programming Preferences and Advertising Receptivity
The Hotel Networks (THN), a subsidiary of LodgeNet Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ:LNET) , today announced the results of an independent study conducted by Zoomerang, the pioneer of online surveys, on the receptiveness to different forms of advertising in the hotel room by guests.

"It was our objective to discover the characteristics, preferences, and behaviors of hotel guests when it comes to programming and advertising in that environment," said Derek White, President of The Hotel Networks. "This study found some very encouraging results for advertisers and further validates what our own set-top box data has been telling us for years -- the hotel room is a highly effective out of home advertising platform by every conceivable measurement."

Let’s face it. With declining demand levels impacting travel and tourism, marketing tactics, strategies, and dollars deserve the utmost attention, especially when it comes to lodging.

The effect of fluctuating demand levels is further compounded in seasonal markets where an already challenging yield management situation may require creativity to achieve some sort of sales and marketing balance.

Amid these concerns, hotels of varying service levels, brands, locations, and price points have slowly taken to the idea of appealing to what could be considered a rather affluent sliver of the traveling population: people who travel with their pets.

A government agency, an airline, a bus company and several websites were among the recipients of Budget Travel magazine's annual Extra Mile Awards, honoring "noteworthy innovations, large and small, that make travel easier, more enjoyable, and/or more affordable across all aspects of the industry."

The winning innovations, listed in the magazine's October issue, are:

• The Transportation Security Administration's color-coded, self-select security checkpoint lanes that allow passengers to choose their lane based on their travel expertise.

When guests step into a Hyatt Place hotel, they’re met with an experience that reflects more than two years of extensive research and analysis to uncover the needs of contemporary travelers, 1 in 2 of whom said they were constantly multi-tasking. Now, with nearly 120 properties open and rave reviews from guests, Hyatt Place, ranked “Highest in Guest Satisfaction among Mid-scale Full Service Hotel Brands” in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction IndexSM, shares the insight used to develop its hotels.

Families make up a significant portion of the travel and tourism market. Understanding  customers’ family situations can help companies significantly improve the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.

Meet the Knight family – Stan, Sue and their two young children Emily and Tommy, ages seven and five respectively. They’re a decent bunch– hard working, good-natured, fictional. The Knights want to go on a holiday, so they choose a planned activities trip by the seaside. It’ll mean that the kids have plenty to do, and Stan and Sue can relax a little. Flash forward a few years. The Knights want to go on another holiday. A mail shot about a planned activities trip arrives, but the kids are older so that type of holiday is no longer attractive or appropriate. Inevitably, the message ends up in the bin.

Since women are the key-decision makers for travel, understanding how a woman processes information, makes decisions, develops relationships and behaves when interacting with travel brands is essential to developing communications that connect with her.

Women want to be “connected with”, not “sold to”. To connect with women, it’s important to understand the emotional, as well as functional, aspects that motivate and influence her behavior.

To gain insights into how to connect with women, Meredith Travel Marketing presents the following article written by Fran & Bill Lytle of Brand Champs, a premier Consumer Behaviorist and Brand Strategy Group that has particular expertise in marketing to women.

— Introduction from Peter Gross, Director, Meredith Travel Marketing