What travellers value in 2021 (From e-Hotelier)

Frederic Gonzalo69 postsPosted on Yesterday at 9:56 am278 views

traveller value index

As we emerge from over 18 months of this ongoing pandemic, we observe significant changes in customer needs and wants. This is particularly true for travelers, since travel and hospitality has been among the hardest hit industries. Moving forward, travel brands will need to adapt and adjust their products and services to align with these evolving customers values. Here are some key insights to take into consideration from The Traveler Value Index, a recent report from Expedia Group.

Safety and refunds trump low prices

The Expedia Group Traveler Value Index research was conducted by Wakefield Research among 8,000 nationally representative adults ages 18+ in eight markets: US, Canada, Mexico, UK, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia, between April 16 and May 7, 2021. Perhaps the biggest finding from this report is that the number one concern, or value, for travelers is the ability to get a refund if their plans change.

Top traveler considerations when booking for hotels. Source: Expedia Group Traveler Index

This was true not only for hotels but also when travelers sought to book for airlines, vacation rentals, car rentals and cruise travel. In other words, we seek reassurance that we can get a refund across the board in our travel experiences, should our plans change.

More so than seeking a cheaper rate! That’s a big finding, as “price” as traditionally been the #1 consideration for travelers for years.

Coming in as a close second is the whole enhanced cleaning preoccupation, which is a direct consequence of this pandemic and sanitary measures that have been put in place. Travelers now expect travel and hospitality brands to enforce vaccine passports, practice social distancing and ensure proper disinfection in all public spaces and common areas. Thus, whatever your property does to align with this preoccupation should be communicated on your website, social media and other digital outposts. 

  

 

 

 

 

Considerations vary across different countries

What’s interesting about this study is that it spanned across eight different countries with quite different cultures. Yet the “ability to get a full refund” was the number one consideration in all but one, Mexico. Interestingly enough, Americans have “enhanced cleaning” as their biggest consideration, more so than atypical low pricing and the ability to get a full refund, which are tied in second place.

Traveler considerations vary across countries. Source: Expedia Group Traveler Value Index

Consideration vary across generations, too

Beyond the top three considerations mentioned above, there were four other values evaluated in this research: having a contactless experience, environmentally friendly policies, flexible policies to change bookings and first-class benefits and upgrades. All these values contribute to how travelers shape their decision making, but another finding from this research was how these can vary between generations.

Travel considerations vary across generations. Source: Expedia Group Traveler Value Index

More specifically, and for example, it found that in Japan and the US, travelers under the age of 40 gave most value to enhanced cleaning while focusing less on low price and getting full refunds. Meanwhile, folks over 40 tend to see more value in low prices and don’t seem to care all that much fo contactless experiences or premium benefits such as upgrades.

4 takeaways for hotel and travel brands

So how do we make these insights actionable? Well, make sure you cover these four components, in case you are not doing so already:

1. Clearly communicate your cancellation policies

Since this is now the biggest consideration for a vast majority of travelers across different countries and generations, make sure to properly convey this message across your digital outposts. Is their a clear tab on your website referring to your policy? Have you done Instagram stories about this and are they highlighted on your brand account? Do you mention this regularly in your newsletters and official communications going out to both leisure and business markets?

2. Highlight how you clean and respect sanitary measures

Communicating about your cancellation and refund policies, along with cleanliness measures in place will go a long way in easing traveler anxieties, knowing how this pandemic remains in flux. Make sure to go beyond words and SHOW how your hotel, restaurant or venue applies these measures. Social media are perhaps the best tool for ongoing storytelling, showing your staff in action and demonstrating how things are happening on location through video, images and other formats.

Example of sanitary measures applied in hospitality

3. Offer a range of prices and options

The study showed a clear desire for new experiences. In fact, 75% of travelers surveyed said they would choose a destination they had never gone to for their next trip and 22% were seeking once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Thus, how can you deliver towards this expectation? Have you tweaked some of your products and services, or perhaps added new components and experiences? Then make sure to communication on these new features, as consumers are seeking them out avidly.

4. Highlight commitments to social values

Last but not least, this research also unveils interesting findings with regards to traveler expectations when it comes to sustainability and inclusion. For example, did you know that:

  • 59% of travelers are willing to spend more to make their trip more sustainable
  • 65% are more likely to book with travel providers that identify their practices as inclusive

Thus what is your brand doing with regards to sustainability efforts? This is content that can very well be shared once again across digital outposts where your brand has a presence. Same for inclusion, where annual reports, official press releases and other official tools can tell a story, but often this is better conveyed through reels, posts and other images or videos in your online communication.

Original post here. Post Views: 278Tags: Traveler Value Index, values

About the Author:

Frederic GonzaloFrederic Gonzalo69 postshttp://www.fredericgonzalo.com/enFrederic Gonzalo is passionate about marketing and communications, with over 20 years of experience in the travel and tourism sphere. Early 2012, he launched Gonzo Marketing and works as a strategic marketing consultant, professional speaker and trainer in the use of new technologies (web, social media, mobile). Reach him at frederic@gonzomarketing.biz. Frederic is the creator of the popular video training series, The Future of Digital Travel Marketing, available through the eHotelier Academy.

“My Life as a Golf Marshall” : The Agony and the Ecstasy

You see it every outing as a Marshall. Lots of self blame and sometimes loathing flows all over the course with bad shots and putts often accompanied by foul language. And you see plenty of those to the point you might say golf is but a collection of bad shots and errant putts. I try and say to golfers on occasion forget that shot as you have some tremendous ones coming up and after all you are in a beautiful setting and enjoy your surroundings even if your golf game is not going well. That’s my personal philosophy about golf. Best to be mindful and let the bad shots go. Then there are those beautiful shots you know are beautiful the moment you hit them. I’ll give a thumbs up and say words of praise. Then there are the hole in one moments that can send a golfer to the great beyond. I have been there once in 60 years and will be there again soon…I can feel it. I feel it for each game and if there is a day I don’t why bother coming back?

But I guarantee for each shift I have as a Marshall there are shouts of joy and cheers but those overt moments of joy are always outnumbered by four letter words. There are the occasional downcast and beaten-up looking golfers and you know it is a golf tragedy going on in their mind. On occasion I’ll lighten their spirits by giving them a golf ball that has been “blessed” by me as a Marshall. Of course, that is baloney but it really puts a smile on their face and once or twice it actually improved their game. One happy recipient of this blessing actually requested I bless his newly purchased case of golf balls.

Let’s not forget the steady Eddy who neither shouts for joy or curses like a sailor. There are many of those silently struggling and rejoicing.

Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federally regulated transportation employees and travellers

From: Transport Canada

Backgrounder

October 6, 2021

Vaccinations are our best line of defense against COVID-19 and its variants.

On August 13, 2021, the Government of Canada announced its intent to require COVID-19 vaccination for employees in the federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation sectors and its travellers.

On October 6, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that, as of October 30, the Government of Canada will require employers in the federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation sectors to establish vaccination policies for their employees.

Also effective October 30, travellers departing from Canadian airports, and travellers on VIA Rail and Rocky Mountaineer trains, will be required to be fully vaccinated in order to travel. To allow travellers time to become fully vaccinated, there will be a short transition period where they will be able to travel if they show a valid COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours of travel as an alternative to providing proof of full vaccination. That transition period will end on November 30. If travellers have not already started the vaccination process, or do not start soon, they risk not qualifying for travel as of November 30.

The Government of Canada is committed to keeping the transportation sector, including employees and travellers, safe and secure. Mandatory vaccination for the federally regulated air, rail, and marine sectors helps limit the risk of spreading COVID-19 and helps prevent against future outbreaks.

Vaccine requirements for employees in the federally regulated transportation sector

As of October 30, employers in the federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation sectors will be required to establish vaccination policies for their organizations. Specifically, the vaccination requirement will apply to:

  • airlines and airports, and other organizations who have employees who enter restricted areas of airports, such as concession and hospitality workers
  • federally regulated railways, and their rail crew and track employees
  • marine operators with Canadian vessels that operate with 12 or more crew

Transport Canada will use its specific regulatory and oversight authorities related to operations of federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation service providers to ensure that the transportation system and these workplaces are safe through vaccination mandates. Each organization will be required to implement a rigorous policy, which must:

  • Include a provision for employee attestation/declaration of their vaccination status;
  • Include a description of consequences for employees who do not comply or who falsify information; and
  • Meet standards consistent with the approach taken by the Government of Canada for the Core Public Administration.

After a short phase-in period, each organization is required to guarantee employees are fully vaccinated or they will be unable to work.

The Government of Canada is engaged with industry and labour groups to discuss the details to ensure an effective implementation of the requirements.

Vaccine requirements for travellers

Effective October 30, air passengers departing from Canadian airports, travellers on VIA Rail and Rocky Mountaineer trains, and travellers on non-essential passenger vessels on voyages of 24 hours or more, such as cruise ships, will need to be vaccinated.

Effective October 30, travellers will need to be fully vaccinated in order to board. Specifically, the vaccination requirement will apply to all travellers 12 years of age and older who are:

  • Air passengers flying on domestic, transborder or international flights departing from airports in Canada
  • Rail passengers on VIA Rail and Rocky Mountaineer trains
  • Marine passengers on non-essential passenger vessels, such as cruise ships, on voyages of 24 hours or more

For travellers who are in the process of being vaccinated, there will be a short transition period where they will be able to travel if they can show a valid COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours of travel. By November 30, all travellers must be fully vaccinated, with very limited exceptions to address specific situations such as emergency travel, and those medically unable to be vaccinated.

In addition, this vaccination mandate will include specific accommodation to recognize the unique needs of travellers from small, remote communities (some of which are not accessible by road) to ensure they will be able to travel to obtain essential services in support of their medical, health, or social well-being, and return safely to their homes. This accommodation will be informed by engagement with Indigenous organizations and provinces and territories in the coming days.

Enforcement

Transport Canada will oversee compliance by means of inspections and enforcement tools—including Administrative Monetary Penalties—using oversight systems in place for each mode.

For those who falsify information or otherwise fail to comply, there will be serious consequences. For example:

  • Railway companies could be subjected to compliance actions up to $250,000 per violation, per day, under the Railway Safety Act
  • In the air sector, individuals—either travellers or employees—could be fined up to $5,000 per violation under the Aeronautics Act, and operators could be fined up to $25,000 per violation
  • In the marine sector, employees and travellers could be fined for being non-compliant with the obligation to provide proof of vaccination up to $250,000 per violation, per day, and operators could be fined up to $250,000 per violation, per day, for non-compliance to the Interim Order made pursuant to the Canada Shipping Act, 2001

Pan-Canadian Proof of Vaccination

A pan-Canadian, secure, and standardized proof of vaccination for international travel was announced on August 11, 2021, and is being developed in partnership with provinces and territories. This document, which will be available to travellers in digital formats, will be easily recognized and trusted.

This credential will make it easy and quick for travellers to provide transportation operators and border officials in other countries with their validated COVID-19 vaccination history needed to facilitate travel.

Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to fight COVID-19 and the Government of Canada will continue to take action to get as many Canadians vaccinated as possible.

COVID-19 RAPID TEST KITS: NOW AVAILABLE FROM THE CANADIAN SHIELD TO IMPROVE PUBLIC ACCESS TO TESTING

The test kits, which are significantly more affordable than other options on the market, take 15 minutes to use and are an effective screening tool for COVID-19 in our communities.
 

WATERLOO, ON | OCTOBER 14, 2021 — In an effort to make rapid testing accessible to all Canadians, The Canadian Shield will begin offering rapid COVID-19 antigen test kits for sale on their website in packs of 5, at $9.99/test. These rapid tests are an effective tool for the public to easily detect and help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“With the rising number of COVID-19 outbreaks in schools and workplaces across the country, we recognized the need for more accessible and widespread testing,” says The Canadian Shield CEO Jeremy Hedges. “Due to regulatory issues, everyday Canadians are paying some of the highest prices in the world for rapid testing – we strongly believe that we can play a role in making that no longer the case.”
 

Following provincial guidance, rapid antigen tests are currently only available for purchase from The Canadian Shield’s website in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. It is expected that rapid testing devices will become more widely available as provincial ministries issue interim orders and change the regulatory landscape.

For Ontario businesses, the provincial government, with the help of key stakeholders like Communitech, have rolled out free rapid testing programs in workplaces to limit outbreaks and keep businesses open. While these programs are important, they aren’t accessible to everyone and it’s important that other options are available to Canadians.

For those interested in purchasing Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Test kits from The Canadian Shield, customers must confirm they have reviewed the training resources to validate their skillset and abilities to conduct the test.

Rapid COVID-19 Test Kits are available in 5-packs on The Canadian Shield’s website for $49.95, which works out to $9.99 per test – up to 40 per cent less than other online retailers. Test Kits purchased online are currently only available for shipment in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia, or pick-up at The Canadian Shield’s head office, 640 Bridge St.W., Unit 1, Waterloo, ON.

Niagara-on-the Lake “Taste the Season”

October 14, 2021

Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake

Celebrate the season’s bounty with exceptional VQA wines and Holiday-inspired food pairings experiences at each of our member wineries during ‘Taste the Season’

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ON- Wineries of Niagara on-the-Lake is ready to welcome back VQA wine lovers to safely taste exceptional wines paired with seasonal culinary offerings. During the month of November on any Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, guests will be able to discover what makes this place and our wines so special through exclusive, pre-reserved and safe winery experiences.

As our sweaters get thicker, fallen leaves adorn our sidewalks, and we swap salads for soups and stews, we inevitably start thinking about the holiday season and all its festive cheer. This year the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake are especially excited to announce the return of their signature pre-holiday wine and food pairing event to help you get you into a festive mood.

“It is with great excitement that the Wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake get ready to welcome back visitors for our annual holiday inspired tasting celebration,” says chairperson, Andrea Kaiser. “This will be the first group event since the pandemic began and we are so pleased to be able to resume our signature event in some fashion. We also think the new format will be even more enjoyable as each participating winery is offering a more intimate experience and we continue to offer one-of-a-kind holiday wine packages for sale online for those who are not able to visit,” she explains.

TASTE THE SEASON PREMIUM TASTING TICKETS

Guests will be able to purchase a ONE DAY PASS ($75 plus tax and service fees) for a Friday, Saturday or Sunday in November and will have access to reserve FOUR WINERY TASTINGS on selected day to visit from over 20 partner wineries who will offer exclusive on-site winery experiences. Individual winery tasting experiences must be booked in advance at set times of 11:00am, 1:30pm, 2:30pm and 3:30pm each day based on availability. COVID-19 precautions and proof of vaccination are required all locations.

Taste the Season exclusive one day passports are available on our website, October 15, 2021.

HOLIDAY INSPIRED THEMED PACKAGES

Starting in November, our winery members have also created a one-of-a-kind Taste the Season themed packages to enjoy at home. Shop our wineries today and start stocking up for the Holiday Season. Stay safe and shop online – https://wineriesofniagaraonthelake.com/shop

“My Life as a Golf Marshall” : A Nasty Push and Swing then a Fist Rebound

Last year at my course I hear about another violent incident which did not bode well for the Marshall. The Marshall made some comment to a group of golfers which enraged a dickhead who rushed at the Marshall in a rage and pushed him back in his golf cart. The Marshall got up and started swinging. It is not known if he landed a punch but he broke the rule of no engagement with dickheads and was fired.  Dickhead 1…..Marshall 0. Do you understand what powerless Lord Chamberlin characters Marshalls are?

“Mutantism on The March” :Chapter 104 The Montreal Hexpos a CIA Espionage Unit!

The past few months had been relatively calm for the panarchists in Montreal. The Vietnam War had ended. René Hecklevesque (aka Jiber) had surprisingly shrivelled from the popular eye. The 1970’s looked like a period of calmness. Most of the wild eyed SDS members had cut their hair and joined the Democrat Party. They drove BMW’s and snorted cocaine. That had been one of the weaknesses of the protest movement….it had been so middle class. On occasion Reseudo’s sources in Washington would give him a call and leak interesting information to him concerning U.S. policies throughout the globe. As a matter of fact just a few hours ago someone from Washington had given him a call and what a conversation it had been. It bordered on the fantastic and took some time to digest.

Incredible as it sounded the Montreal Hexpos professional baseball team was a secret CIA intelligence unit assigned with the task of infiltrating anti-American groups in Montreal and destroying their organization. They also specialized in kidnapping raft dodgers and smuggled them back to the USA through Lacolle Quebec on the Vermont border. This only proved the folly of organizations of political intent thought Reseudo. They could be too easily infiltrated. His informant was a minor White House staffer whose cousin was working as a cleaner in the White House and while emptying the garbage in Affliction’s office he had found a tape. Being a curious lad, he brought the tape to Reseudo’s contact and the tape was the voice of President Affliction. The next day the tape was in Reseudo’s possession. Squid was called over to listen to the tape he was near tears of joy and wrote an article for the United Mutations International Herald, a chronicle of the international mutant struggle published out of Bogota in fifty different languages. The article shocked the world When they read the headline American pride was shattered. The headline was “U.S. Espionage Unit Caught Red Handed in Montreal with their Pants Down”.

“My Life as a Golf Marshall” : Tales From the Edge : A Near Crippling Assault

One of our Marshalls noticed a suspiciously slow golfer. Upon further investigation it was one of those pre wedding celebrations with the guys. Well this golfer was pickled and when it was suggested he leave the course he came swinging at the Marshall with his golf club narrowly missing him. The Toronto police were called but never showed up. This was undoubtedly a very dangerous attempted assault coupled with a drunk and disorderly charge. Who is there to protect the Marshalls? The golfer stumbled off the course. May I not have the pleasure of meeting that dickhead.

” My Life as a Golf Marshall” : Racism on the Golf Course?

I am certain to some golfers I am perceived as a privileged white man settling into a cushy retirement job as a golf Marshall.

I can’t deny the fact I am white but that hardly makes me privileged. I suppose I have been a potential victim of golf course racism. Is it not the virulent kind and deadly kind you are more likely to see in the United States where we are led to believe by the media is solely suffered by minority groups like blacks, Asians and Latinos. I can’t say, except for one incident, that I have been subject to golf course racism. And a Marshall’s job is anything but a cushy retirement job. The working conditions are less than what a privileged white man endures such as washing down golf carts, filling up golf carts with gas, getting an earful from rude golfers and fellow employees and clearing branches from cart paths and the fairway not to mention working in sweltering heat or in snowsuits in the late autumn to attempt being warm! I took the job as a learning experience and as a challenge plus with COVID there were really very little travel options.

I will relate one story where I was victim of racism. I encountered three young black men who are twenty minutes behind schedule on starting the 15th hole. I politely ask them if they can be so kind and do me a favour by picking up their pace as a nasty jam up is accumulating behind them. Pretty please! One lashes out at me and says “Fuck Off. We paid our fucking money and we want to play fucking golf. Leave us alone and stick your retirement job up your fucking white ass.” They are met as they leave the course and ream into the Pro-Shop manager complaining of harassment by two Marshalls (one of which was me) and the starter all laced with many “fucks” and “fucking”. Someone got out of bed on the wrong side blasting me with blatant racist slurs. I thought of how to reply in a sarcastic and non offensive manner but are dickheads like that worth the effort? No.

The next day I am playing golf in a foursome with a black man half my age and we are neck and neck playing similar golf, enjoying ourselves and having a great time. We get to the 10th hole and the Korean couple we are golfing with gets hostile and launches into my companion saying he has no manners, is rude, does not understand golf and they have better scores than he does! The viciousness of the attack causes my companion to shout back and say, “ Get off the fucking course!” A small crowd is looking and I feel caught in the middle trying to calm everyone down. Eventually the Marshall comes and breaks up the foursome but the couple is behind us now and at the next hole I hear them ripping into each other. Hmm I say. They could have equally launched into me but why my fellow golfer?. It smelt of racism.

For almost all golfers, at least publicly, other golfers are simply other golfers. The incidents above are the only public displays of racism I have seen in months on my golf course.

Is there some sort of inherent racism amongst staff at golf courses? I am sure there is. I have been to some private courses if you said “global inclusion and diversity” they would look at you with a blank face having no idea what you are talking about. Amongst the Marshalls and Pro-Shop staff at my course just about are all white males over 65 and there are less than a handful of women. There are some Asians and one black. Does this match with the patron’s ethnicity and sex? Yes the majority are white men with a small percentage of women.35% of the golfers are Korean and maybe 5% are black. So there is no parity of gender and ethnicity amongst the Marshalls and Pro-Shop staff but is this some conscious choice or simply the fact that the majority of golfers at my course are white men many of whom then gravitate to Marshalling and working the Pro-Shop as they know the course so well? Many Marshall as they love the sport and talking to and helping fellow golfers. Marshalling applications are open to all with golfing experience particularly those who have played the course for years. It may take the non-Caucasians to age into golf Marshalling and Pro-Shop employment but that may take a couple of decades. In the meantime if you have a chip on your shoulder don’t take it out on the Marshalls and Pro-Shop employees but look at management hiring practices and the tool of suitable candidates on the market. If there is any kinship amongst golf course Marshalls and Pro-Shop employees it is based on a commonality of playing golf and a love of golf

“My Life as a Golf Marshall” :The Blame Game

After playing golf for some 60 years if there is a hold up on the course most often it is the group ahead of the complaining golfers that get the blame for the delay. In a perfect world given that start times are spaced at 10 minutes apart the flow should be seamless but this is where inexperience and lack of consideration by golfers come into play. Inevitably it would seem the flow is disrupted and there is always someone to blame and that is a truism. Quite frankly someone is disrupting the flow but while some golfers are astute enough to figure out the problem is not simply the group ahead of them most blame the group ahead of them. But as a Marshall you zip ahead and see who the culprit is. You ask that they move more quickly and in almost all circumstances they move more quickly. The laggards can be many holes ahead causing that painful jam up and the laggards are so self absorbed they fail to understand what an empty hole or two ahead of them means!

And if the jam up continues who takes the shit….the Marshall. The whipping boy of frustration despite the fact the Marshall is always ahead of the game seeing who the culprit of delay is. If that culprit is detected the Marshall can only ask politely to speed it up or in the worst situation ask that best ball policy be followed. You go to the best hit ball and all shoot from that point. Rarely one must ask the laggards to pick up their balls and move to the next hole if there is an empty hole(s) ahead of these golfers.

Who gets the blame for a slow game? Most often the powerless Marshall. And the folks in the Pro Shop will get complaints few of which have flowed my way. Is it because I have established a relationship with golfers by treating them as human beings instead of commodities to be hustled along. Yes establish a human connection as a fellow golfer who has been through tough wait times and you have made an ally.

Then of course there are the dickheads that give you shit like today where a semihysterical old bird gave me shit for not chasing cyclists off the course. I felt like saying “You **** piece of **** there is only one Marshall and I can’t be everywhere at the same time. Yes you have to swallow your pride and silently say under your breath “F*** off Dickhead”. However after many zips around the course you learn to avoid the dickheads.

Again my style is not to frantically zip around 18 holes each hour but to take an hour for each nine and establish a relationship. Golfers are my friends and not my enemies. We are on the same team. Old style Marshalling  interactions are rarely positive but negative. Speed it up to an ally resonates more than if you say it to an enemy.