New Feefo eBook offers prescient insights into travel industry’s next 12 months from leading companies such as Thomas Cook, Sandals and Trafalgar Travel Group, while research also reveals serious gaps in customer experience
London, 8 May 2019: Seven-in-ten UK holidaymakers (70%) believe the travel industry provides a good experience for its customers, and 68% say the experience of booking their last trip was a positive one.
Feefo, the reviews and customer insights technology company, reveals the latest findings in a new eBook using research conducted among 500 UK consumers. The eBook also provides exclusive insights into fast-emerging travel trends from significant industry insiders such as Karl Thompson, Managing Director of Sandals UK & Europe; Austin Houghton-Bird, Online Customer Experience Manager, Thomas Cook Group and Gavin Tollman, CEO, Trafalgar Travel Group.
Although the research finds most consumers are positive about customer experience in the travel industry, 30% are either unhappy or unimpressed with what they paid for. Moreover, only a little more than half of the 16-24s (54%) have a positive word to say about their most recent experience of booking a holiday.
“There are still serious customer experience gaps in the travel industry, even though the research is broadly positive,” said Matt West, CEO at Feefo. “As our highly-respected contributors make clear, consumers in today’s experience economy value consistent quality and uniqueness over mundane factors such as price. The relatively low level of satisfaction in the 16-24 age group, for example, indicates how too often, younger travellers don’t find the unusual or spectacular ‘Instragrammable’ experiences they demand. Or it may be the full integration of technology which they take for granted, was not available.
“Successful operators know they must use cutting-edge customer insight tools to understand demand and keep ahead of changes in sentiment or taste.”
Feefo is already working with big names in the travel industry such as Thomas Cook, Expedia, On the Beach and Carnival Cruise Line, who deploy Feefo’s advanced customer insights platform to get closer to travellers and make smarter decisions that increase customer satisfaction and produce better business outcomes.