holiday standards report
Holiday Standards Report
Contents Introduction How Have We Changed? Where Are We Going? What Do We Expect? What If It Goes Wrong? Where Are The Problems? Travel Pet Peeves Package Holidays Travel Agents School and Family Holidays Conclusion Holiday Standards Report
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Holiday Standards Report
“I first became involved in Travel Consumer Rights about 18 years ago and, at that time, we were still very much in the heyday of the package holiday as there were no online providers. Fast-forward to 2015 and we live in a complex and sometimes dangerous world. I decided that we should commission this survey to ask those who have been taking holidays over the last 20 years what they thought about the holiday product. �The findings were revealing; we found that consumers were still concerned over quality, service, delays, cancellations and illness. There were two items of concern arising from our survey, the first was the increase in those reporting that they had been threatened when they made a complaint; the second demonstrated that many consumers are still unaware of their rights and that was the biggest surprise given the passage of time and how many holiday failures are featured in the press. The fact is that we still have a huge amount of work to do. “ - Frank Brehany, Consumer Director, Holiday Travel Watch
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Holiday Standards Report
Holiday Standards Report
How Have We Changed? Before we can understand whether or not we travel differently today, compared to 20 years ago, it’s important to appreciate how our travel opportunities themselves have evolved over the past two decades. While the majority of British holidaymakers admitted to taking more annual holidays now than they did in 1995 (55%), the proportion for whom holidays are now less common (equivalent to some 29 million people nationally) is both shocking and of great concern. The 2008 economic crisis hit the travel industry hard, forcing many Brits to rethink their now customary annual foreign travel. As is often the case with belt-tightening, perceived indulgences like foreign holidays and the trapping which come with them (eating out, taking day trips, etc) were some of the first casualties in the British household budget, with 64% citing reduced funds as a primary reason for holidaying less. But while many Brits are taking fewer holidays, many others have narrowed their destination scope, with over half of those surveyed (54%) naming the UK as their ‘most visited holiday destination’ over the last five years. Even though this is obviously great news for the domestic holiday industry, our changing perceptions of foreign destinations, paired with the higher standards that we expect from them as a result of greater exposure to foreign travel, seem to have narrowed our horizons. The world may have shrunk with the expansion of aviation and transport links, but British holidaymakers in 2015 have retreated into their shells. But can we really put this down to a simple question of cost? Holiday Standards Report
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Holiday Standards Report
Less than 5% of those surveyed described Alaska as their ‘ultimate’ destination
Where Are Brits Going? Russia is by far one of the least popular destinations among Brits, with just 1% visiting regularly and less than 3% wanting to go
The USA and Canada are the only destinations to feature in the top three ‘most desired’ and ‘most visited’ lists
Where Brits Travel To
The ’staycation’ trend continues, with the UK and Western Europe among the most visited destinations for a staggering 54% and 45% of British holidaymakers respectively
Despite continued economic growth, tourism in China is yet to flourish, with less than 2% of Brits visiting regularly
Where Brits Don’t Travel To Where Brits Want To Go Where Brits Don’t Want To Go
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Australia and New Zealand are some of the most desired destinations, yet less than 6% have visited regularly in the last five years
Holiday Standards Report
Holiday Standards Report
What Do We Expect? The expansion of easily-accessible destinations which UK travel companies brought about in the late-90s and early 2000s, teamed with a public desire to look further afield than the usual handful of Iberian resort towns and islands, has brought about a marked change in British holidaymakers’ expectations. Increased exposure to the travel and hospitality industry and the services which it provides all over the world has left the average summer traveller with a heightened awareness of good practice and, as a result, expect a certain standard. But one knock-on effect of this extended period of awareness is that some 31% of Brits say that overall holiday standards have dropped in the last 20 years. Wider scope and exposure to new destinations may mean that we expect more from holiday providers than we did in 1995. However, with the most commonly-cited areas of decline including both cleanliness (44%) and food standards (39%) in hotels, resorts and cruise ships, there are strong indications that some of the most fundamental consumer standards are falling by the wayside. It’s little surprise then that, despite just under a third of Brits reference falling standards, some 45% say that value for money when booking holidays has worsened over the last two decades. This is a startling statistic when you bear in mind just how many low cost booking sites and budget airlines have popped-up in that time, but the overall impression that we get is that we simply have higher expectations of every element of the holiday experience than we did in 1995. Holiday Standards Report
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Holiday Standards Report
What If It Goes Wrong? Inevitably, with raised consumer expectations and an acute awareness of value for money, the possibility of these standards not being met rises. This can affect the holiday industry in two ways: either it can prompt them to redouble their efforts to maintain standards, or it necessitates an effective consumer care or complaints department. Too often the latter is true, as some 77% of British travellers make their holiday complaints known in some way if poor standards are encountered, usually either to the person at fault (53%), the travel company/rep (44%) or the facility manager (43%). However, even though 77% represents a strong majority, the volume of holidaymakers that the other 23% represents should not be understated or discounted. So why on earth are thousands of Brits keeping their complaints to themselves every year? Well, previous experiences seem to have played a part in the culture of fear, as more than 80% of those who have complained in the past said that they have experienced some form of intimidation (be it verbal, physical or otherwise) when raising travel, holiday or hotel complaints. Indeed, of those who do not generally complain, the two most common reasons given as to why were: they aren’t confident of a resolution to the problem (30%) or they simply lack the confidence to do so (28%). This paints a very concerning picture of the customer service culture of the holiday industry in 2015. For providers to reach and maintain the standards that savvy consumers expect, companies must foster receptive environments for the exchange of customer feedback, otherwise dissatisfaction can only continue.
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Holiday Standards Report
Holiday Standards Report
Where Are The Problems? So, what exactly are the issues with the holiday travel industry and where do they stem from? Well, to suggest that there is one particular company, or a single inefficiency which directly contributes to the vast majority of holiday consumer complaints would be nothing short of ridiculous. The sad fact is, that many of the greatest grievances that British travellers have today aren’t 2015 issues, they are the same gripes that airline users, package holiday bookers and parents had a generation ago. Potentially the most shocking outcome of the survey was that there has been so little effective action taken by the holiday industry to combat simple things like airport delays, extortionate term-time rates and poor value for money. It is almost as if the travel industry feels it can act like an airport newsagent: charging £5 for a bottle of cola in the departure lounge because its customers have no other place to go. However, the emergence of online booking sites and so-called ‘DIY’ holiday options such as Airbnb and CouchSurfing since the turn of the Millennium means that this monopoly has already been undermined. As a result, these companies need to place themselves under the same pressure that almost any other industry would: to provide the best service possible to secure repeat business. And while there has been progression in much of the travel and hospitality industry, there is so much room for further improvement. We have highlighted four distinct areas which reveal much about how things have changed and will continue to evolve in the future. Holiday Standards Report
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Holiday Standards Report
Travel Pet Peeves While British travellers’ tastes and expectations may have evolved regarding their destinations, facilities and resorts, our research revealed that our attitudes toward the journey itself, particularly regarding air travel, are as constant as the northern star. When quizzed about their airport ‘pet peeves’, all of the top three most popular answers concerned inefficient queuing systems at check-in, while loud or careless fellow passengers dominated the list of on-flight irritations. While blaming airlines for the latter is potentially a little unfair, given the infrastructure on the ground and the amount of money passengers invest in them every year, the fact that the simple act of checking-in a bag is still such a stressful experience in 2015 is, frankly, scandalous. Airlines need to understand that bad service leads to unhappy customers who, very quickly, become former customers.
56%
When asked what had ruined or negatively affected a flight they had been on, over half of respondents cited ‘a passenger in front putting their seat back continuously during a flight’
59%
Some 59% of those surveyed said that their greatest pet peeve in airports was ‘people not being ready when they get to the front of airport security’ (i.e. liquids not in plastic bags, laptops not removed from cases etc.)
? 800 Kg
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Holiday Standards Report
Holiday Standards Report
The Full Package In many ways, the package holiday is something of a national institution, with almost three quarters of us having been on one at some point in our lives and two thirds calling it ‘very typically British’. Alas, it seems that this isn’t necessarily a positive indictment, as the graphs below illustrate. But while old preconceptions can be difficult to shake, the package holiday market does appear to be one of the sectors in the holiday industry which shows signs of progression. Just a quarter of those surveyed have had a bad experience on a package holiday, which the majority of Brits freely admit that they offer a wide variety of travel options and that standards have risen over the last 20 years. The reason for this is simple: as the world has shrunk, package providers have been in direct competition with each other to provide the most appealing all-in-one bundle. This has meant that they have been under greater pressure to improve holiday standards than businesses like airlines, who consumers often choose by default as they have a certain destination, rather than airline, in mind.
70%
Seven in ten Brits have been on a package holiday at some point.
However...
51% £
£
Over half of those surveyed think that package holidays have a negative reputation.
63%
Almost two thirds believe that this reputation is justified.
While...
£ £
53% Holiday Standards Report
of those surveyed agreed that package holidays offer a variety of travel options to suit all budgets, while 32% say they offer the best value for money.
57%
believe that package holiday standards are better today than they were 20 years ago.
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Holiday Standards Report
Travel Agents: An Endangered Species One area of real concern for the travel industry (well, a very specific part of it anyway) should be the destruction of the travel agent’s natural habitat at the threat of extinction. It may come as little surprise, but the advent of the internet has changed society immeasurably, and the travel industry is no exception. All of a sudden, every one of us has the key to the travel agent’s information bank. The fact that we can now access every flight, hotel rate or resort review ever written via laptop, tablet or smartphone from anywhere in the world has negated the need to pop into the neighbourhood branch twice a year. The result is that agents are now just the fifth most trusted source of travel advice. Unless they can adapt their behaviour and be seen to provide a discernibly more comprehensive service than online holiday providers, they simply will not exist in 20 years’ time.
64%
of Brits have used a travel agent at some point in the past.
82%
of those who don’t use an agent think they can get a better deal themselves.
10
?
80%
have not booked a holiday through an agent in the last 12 months.
57%
think the travel agent will become a thing of the past.
Holiday Standards Report
Holiday Standards Report
Family Holidays While British travellers’ tastes and expectations may have evolved regarding their destinations, facilities and resorts, our research revealed that our attitudes toward the journey itself, particularly regarding air travel, are as constant as the northern star. When quizzed about their airport ‘pet peeves’, all of the top three most popular answers concerned inefficient queuing systems at check-in, while loud or careless fellow passengers dominated the list of on-flight irritations. While blaming airlines for the latter is potentially a little unfair, given the infrastructure on the ground and the amount of money passengers invest in them every year, the fact that the simple act of checking-in a bag is still such a stressful experience in 2015 is, frankly, scandalous. Airlines need to understand that bad service leads to unhappy customers who, very quickly, become former customers.
24%
An Independent Travel Ombusdman
33%
The Government
43%
The Travel Industry Itself Holiday Standards Report
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Holiday Standards Report
“The research that went into producing this report was eye-opening in so many ways. Not only did it paint a detailed and enlightening picture of the holidaymaker in 2015; their habits, their fears and their predictions for the future, it also showed a travel industry set in its ways and slow to adapt to its customers. “But possibly the biggest reason why the survey has proven invaluable to us is that it has further strengthened Holiday Travel Watch’s belief that the need for a more robust system of regulation in the UK holiday and travel industry is as pressing as ever. While the travel industry may appear wildly different today compared to two decades ago, the lingering issues, teamed with the increased competitions from online and low-cost alternatives mean that the established names in the travel industry need to be seen to be taking action. Unless they take further steps to understand their customers and the standards they expect, they risk being left behind by a consumer culture and a technological landscape which progresses at an astonishing rate. The first step that they take should be to embrace the idea of independent regulation, which will not only go a long way towards building a reputation as a responsible, consumer-focussed industry culture, but will also protect UK travellers from the eminently avoidable issues that they currently face for years to come.” - Frank Brehany, Consumer Director, Holiday Travel Watch
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Holiday Standards Report
The survey was conducted by Atomik Research via their online panel, Power of Opinions, between 26th February 2015 and 4th March 2015. The sample of the research was 2,513 nationally-representative UK-based respondents aged 18-65, covering England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The report was produced by 4mediarelations on behalf of Holiday Travel Watch.
Copyright Holiday Travel Watch 2015