2010 Travel Industry predictions
2009 has been a better year than expected for most of us in the travel industry. A handful of major travel companies such as Holiday Options and Freedom Direct have gone bust, but who knows what is to come in the next few months as teletext closes its analogue service.
Many large call centres rely solely on teletext for their inbound calls, and may find it difficult to adapt, as other revenue streams such as Travel Zoo, may look to take advantage of travel agents and their fight for customer calls.
Turkey has already started selling well for Summer 2010, whilst Egypt is the strongest selling winter destination, both being outside the EU zone so exchange rates are good. In recent surveys, a great number of people said they will still be going on holiday next year, something that can only be good for the travel industry in 2010.
With England qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, South Africa should see a massive increase in tourists from the UK as they look to take in the atmosphere of the tournemont. Click here to book your World Cup trip to South Africa.
A quick re-cap on 2009.
Many people thought major airlines would fail, but they remain strong.
With Travel Republic winning their court case against the CAA, there has been a major boost in Dynamic Packaging.
The Government proposes increases in airport tax which will start from November 2010.
Ryanair are still with us.
The industry harp’s on about ‘going green’ and being ‘eco friendly’, but are they actually doing anything NOW to reduce carbon emissions like changing engines, or does everyone just charge the ‘Green Tax’ as a way of making extra money? Does the public actually care when buying a holiday?
2010 will continue to challenge people in travel no matter how big or good people think they are, and the focus will still be on price and service, as passengers still want cheap holidays and value for money.