5 opportunities emerging for travel companies

Friday 18 March was a major milestone for the UK travel industry. All remaining international travel restrictions fell away, removing several severe headaches for travel companies and their holiday-starved customers. As optimism continues to build, here are five opportunities emerging for travel companies.

1 The world opens up It's not only the UK shredding red tape. According to IATA’s survey of travel restrictions released on 17 March, almost 40% of the top 50 destinations are open for fully vaccinated passengers without quarantine measures or testing requirements - a ten percentage point increase in less than a month. More and more of the world is open for business.

2 Building direct relationships After a horrendous experience of chasing refunds through a fragmented supply chain, our clients want less reliance on intermediaries for their core product lines. The war in Ukraine means a loss of high-yielding Russian tourists to major holiday destinations like Turkey, Cyprus, Dubai, and Maldives. Hotels have Easter capacity they desperately need help to fill.

3 Important stakeholders re-emerge In the past week we've placed two unsecured insurance bonds for new clients. This was unthinkable just a month ago. They're small steps but hopefully the first signs of life in the insurance market. Merchant acquirers are also flocking round the sector. There were five sponsoring the last ABTA finance conference and in the last two months, we've helped three clients find new providers with improved terms. Stakeholders are coming back to the travel sector, presenting an opportunity to de-risk and lock in better pricing.

4 Higher average spend at point of sale Average spend is through the roof this year. On top of that, ancillaries are flying. Customers seem willing to commit to upgrades, spa packages and attractions, at the point of sale. Make sure you have something to upsell or someone else will earn that money.

5 The late, late market Summer '22 is shaping up to be the mother of all late markets. After two years of uncertainty, customers are hedging their bets and making later decisions. If the sector holds its collective nerve and avoids unnecessary panic discounting there'll be good money to be made. But to do well in such a last-minute environment, your teams and your processes need to be tight. Marketing, finance, operations must align to cope with the fast turnaround.