Étiquette : packages

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Customer segments

Girlfriend getaways

femmes voyage entre copines une

A flourishing market

Although we were unable to find recent statistical data on women’s travel, a 2013 American Express survey reported a record number of trips involving female friends or family, with 56% of female travellers saying they had taken a « women-only » trip.

This booming customer segment led to a 230% increase in the number of US businesses specializing in women-only travel between 2008 and 2014, according to Marybeth Bond, author of the Gutsy Traveler blog and a women’s travel expert.

This booming customer segment led to a 230% increase in the number of US businesses specializing in women-only travel

Although Intrepid Travel, a small-group tour specialist, reports that 63% of the 100,000 reservations made through its Website in 2012 came from women 25 to 39 years old, those aged 60 and over make up a large proportion of female travellers. Now retired, they travel because they have the time and the resources.

According to Kelly Lewis, founder and publisher of Go! Girl Guides, guidebooks for female travellers, women are looking for more active travel experiences or those that involve volunteering. However, health and safety still remain key concerns. Let’s take a look at the tourism industry’s efforts to adapt to this lucrative market.

Girlfriend-friendly hotel packages

Many « girlfriend getaway » hotel packages feature traditional spa and massage sessions like the one at the Auberge Godefroy in Bécancour, the Hotel Spa Watel in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, and the Auberge de la Montagne Coupée in the Lanaudière region. The girls’ getaway at the Auberge and Spa West Brome even includes a chick flick and popcorn! Other packages like those at the Courtyard Marriott Niagara Falls and the Andrew Pinckney Inn focus instead on shopping and food.

For something a little less traditional, the Wellness and Workout Weekend in Charlevoix at the Le Germain Hotel in Baie-Saint-Paul invited women to a fall weekend of hiking on the surrounding trails. The full package included a yoga session, hiking, thermal spa experience and a lecture about nutrition.

If a little adventure and entertainment is what you seek, several member resorts of Resorts of Ontario offer activities like poker lessons, courses in cocktail mixing or jewellery making, an extreme course, paintball, hiking and mountain biking.

filles resort ontario

Source: Resorts of Ontario

Is the distribution network targeting the girlfriend getaway market?

Not exactly. However, it does offer products for groups of women with similar interests like outdoor activities or adventure travel. Wild Women Expeditions has been catering to women for over 25 years with a host of outdoor activities like canoeing, kayaking, rafting, biking, hiking and horseback riding on nearly every continent.

World Expeditions, which specializes in small group adventure tourism, has seen a substantial increase in the number of female clients over the past 20 years, with this group rising from 38% of its clients in 1996 to 54% in 2016. Even on the most challenging itineraries, such as mountaineering or long-distance mountain treks, women now represent 30% of the group. Because of this, the tour operator has developed a brand new range of women-only active adventures that will launch in 2017

Destinations promoting girls’ weekends

The Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau began marketing packages designed specifically for women in 2010, a year after the state of Tennessee launched its promotional campaign aimed at female tourists. Its girlfriend getaways include spa treatments, jewellery making, winery tours, meals in local restaurants and, of course, shopping, all with a « behind the scenes » aspect that offers something out of the ordinary.

Seetorontonow, the Tourism Toronto Website, clearly features its girls’ weekends, offering three itineraries involving luxury, spa, food, shopping, museums and entertainment.

femmes bar Toronto

Source: Tourism Toronto

A girlfriends’ fishing trip – why not?

To promote hunting and fishing activities to urban women, the Association des pourvoiries de la Mauricie launched the « Trip de filles » radio campaign that ran from February 29 to March 11, 2016. Female listeners had to answer questions about wildlife to be eligible for a chance to win a package for four offered by the outfitter Le Seigneurie du Triton.

Orvis, a fishing and outdoor equipment retailer in Vermont also runs a school and organizes trips. To celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, Orvis is offering a women-only fly-fishing trip to Belize’s largest island.

trip filles Mauricie

Sources: Pourvoiries Mauricies

Even the sharing economy is getting in on it

A product of the sharing economy, the Website Copines de voyage posts new travel products each week, offering those interested a platform to discuss potential trips with other interested parties before even making a reservation. Once the minimum number of participants has been reached, the trip is confirmed.

In 2015, nearly two million Canadian women 18 years and up travelled in Quebec. Why not take a greater interest in offering them a range of products and services, including girlfriend getaways? Give it a try and see what happens!

Image on first page: Pixabay

 

Catégories
Customer segments Trends

Tourism through the crystal ball

From time to time, tourism experts are asked to predict the major developments that will affect the industry in the near future. The following are some of the more significant trends they foresaw in world tourism, some of which are formative and practically inevitable while others are more in the realm of « possibility ».

Products and destinations

Online travel agencies will introduce service fees similar to those charged by conventional agencies.

  • The gap in terms of the services offered by regular and low-cost carriers will widen.
  • In addition to becoming more affordable, cruises will gradually turn into floating entertainment centres.
  • There will be a proliferation of low-cost, short-stay/long-haul travel, i.e., a weekend in Europe or a week in Australia.
  • Beach vacation destinations will be segmented according to specific consumer wishes: relaxation (no cell-phones), families only, celebrations or recreational activities.
  • New destinations will appear on the world tourism stage, with Qatar replacing the Canary Islands, Ljubljana, Slovenia ousting Prague, Slovakia taking over from New Zealand and Brazil set to become the next mass tourism destination.
  • Initially confined to adventure tourists, China’s Silk Road will become one of the world’s most popular destinations.

Clientele

  • A new kind of « hybrid consumer » will emerge who – for example – will combine a low-cost flight and a gourmet dinner, a stay at a 5-star hotel and a fast-food meal, all in the same trip.
  • As internet-users become more comfortable making online reservations, do-it-yourself travel and dynamic packaging will grow in popularity.
  • Low-cost carriers will make increasingly aggressive efforts to reach business travellers.
  • There will be a growing number of solo travellers making spontaneous travel decisions.
  • The industry will have to adapt to the reality of an over-50 set that still wants to act young.
  • Customers will want to go on a virtual tour of their vacation destination before they leave home.
  • Better-informed travellers will be more demanding with respect to product quality and services.
  • Travellers will become inured to crisis situations and will gradually become less affected by them.
  • Personalization features will enable travellers to design packages that reflect their individual preferences.

Sources :
– Thomson. «The Thomson Future Holiday Forum», [http://www.hospitalitynet.org/file/
152001280.pdf], 2004.
– Jarrett, Ian. «Travel Weekly’s hottest news predictions for 2004», février 2004.
– IPK International. «World Travel Trends 2003-2004», 10 novembre 2003.

Catégories
etourism and technology Trends

Why purchase online?

A 2005 tourism management study sheds light on the purchasing habits of North American Web users with respect to tourism products. The two primary factors motivating them to conclude online transactions are the quality and accuracy of on-site information and a simple reservation process.

Study context

The main reason consumers have overwhelmingly adopted the Internet is that it enables them to shop 24/7 in the comfort of their home. However, there are a number of factors that differentiate Web user purchasing habits. For instance, those who purchase travel products online are influenced by the complexity of the product. Other important considerations include the ability to compare prices, discounts and a user-friendly interface.

With that in mind, experts have studied the relationship between the purchaser’s motivation to buy and the complexity of online travel products. Since Web expertise plays a significant role in this, consumers have been divided into expert users and novice users. The study aimed to prove that ease of navigation was the primary reason for variations in purchase decisions between online products.

Airline tickets, accommodation and car rentals are considered relatively simple travel products. All-inclusive trips, cruises and tours constitute more complex products.

In an attempt to simplify navigation, many sites have become « content aggregators » that offer one-stop shopping. This strategy has been extremely successful for such agencies as Travelocity and Expedia. Dynamic packaging, whereby Web users create their own package while retaining a certain degree of flexibility, have added a new twist to the tourism landscape.

Motivating factors for Web users

The study examined the top six factors that motivate consumers to make online purchases (see Tables 1 and 2). The factors are as follows:

  1. The opportunity to earn points through a customer loyalty program. Some sites have even set up a special page for members to track their reward points (marriottrewards.com, for example).
  2. The availability of the desired product.
  3. Clear, detailed information that enables the user to make an informed decision.
  4. A simple reservation process is a key factor in the online purchase decision. Especially in the case of more complex travel products, customers must be able to find the information they need to make a decision.
  5. The reputation of the company or site’s banner, as this reassures the purchaser and may positively influence the outcome of the transaction. 
  6. Consumers are more sensitive to the price of online products than they are to conventionally purchased products. This is partly due to aggressive advertising campaigns that have gradually led consumers to expect discount products.


 
 


 

The experts used data from a Canadian Tourism Commission study conducted in November 2001 that surveyed 1,161 Canadians and 1,145 Americans. Although Web user behaviour has admittedly changed since then, the study’s findings nevertheless constitute a valid basis for comparing and understanding travellers’ online purchasing habits, based on their experience with the Web and the type of product in question.

Behaviour varies according to sector

A user-friendly interface is a key factor in the decision to buy any kind of online travel product, regardless of the amount of Web user experience, leading experts to conclude that consumers want a simple reservation process. Competitive prices play a greater role in the purchase of less complex products, such as airline tickets, packages or car rental.

The quality and accuracy of the site’s information was a deciding factor for travellers looking for activities, events, tours, attractions and accommodation. Company reputation was less important to those making « simple » transactions -such as renting a car- compared to those purchasing more complex products. Finally, customer loyalty programs constitute a greater draw for expert users and mainly affect purchases of airline tickets, car rental and attractions.

Sources:
– Beldona, Srikanth, Alastair M. Morrison and Joseph O’Leary, « Online shopping motivations and pleasure travel products: a correspondence analysis, » Tourism Management, No. 26, 2005.
– Ham, Sunny, « The Use of the Internet for Hospitality and Travel-related Activities, » e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR) [ertr.tamu.edu], vol. 2, No. 6, 2004.