New research suggests that tours, activities, and attractions will be one of the brightest spots in the travel industry’s recovery. Consumers say that price is the last thing they’re worried about when shopping for travel experiences this year.
“It’s really clear that travelers want a lot more out of their experience in 2022, and they’re willing to pay for it,” said Douglas Quinby, founder and CEO of Arival, which surveyed 1,000 U.S. travelers.
Shifts in Consumer Behavior
Another change in traveler behavior during the pandemic has been how they buy tickets. In 2019, the typical consumer going to a museum or other attraction would walk up same-day to the front door and buy a paper ticket. Now consumers are going online, often on their phones, to book tickets ahead digitally.
“We’re seeing 10 years of shifts in consumer adoption of online booking packed into an 18 to 24 month period,” Quinby said.
Attractions and other operators need to level up their digital games in response.
Last-minute Bookings
“We’re seeing a lot more early research but late booking, meaning that people are doing online research more often and earlier than before,” said Brad Weber, president of Gray Line Worldwide. “But they’re still booking last-minute.”
Needless to say, at inDest we are happy to read this research as we have developed our solution exactly for this. We are the connector that provides the digital solution for the travel operators to instantly offer the travelers the ability to book their activities in-destination. Our quick-start solution reaches the travelers a week before departure and after they arrived with sms/chatbot and personalised suggestions of things to experience, providing a great way for travel companies to earn extra revenue on each booking.