7.3.2019 TTG Show Daily ITB Berlin 20
Analysis
Personalisation
for good measure
Growing demand for personalisation has put DMCs and travel operators’ expertise
into sharper focus, but the tailor-made wave has opened up new concerns for players
and even put traditional industry relations under question. By Xinyi Liang-Pholsena
G
one are the days where travel
agents are needed to plan and
book simple beach vacations
or run-of-the-mill packages, a
trend that DMCs and tour operators are
only too keenly aware of.
But the earlier prediction of travel
agents going obsolete with the rise of the
Internet and OTAs did not entirely come
true. While some agents died out, quite a
few remain in business and offer a strong-
er value proposition than before.
The growing demand for immersive,
authentic experiences tailor-made to in-
dividual liking and preferences actually
bodes well for travel expert, driving many
tour operators to carve our clearer posi-
tionings and niche segments for them-
selves, anything from VIP services and
expert-led itineraries to bona fide, once-
in-a-lifetime voyages of discovery.
David Kevan of UK-based Chic Loca-
tions believes that “there is still good scope
for tour operators but (they) cannot be all
things to everybody”.
“For Chic Locations, independent ex-
perience-led touring holidays is the way to
go, combining at least three different plac-
es and maybe using three different airlines
– things that clients have neither the confi-
dence or expertise to arrange themselves,”
said Kevan.
The ability to curate and “find gems
that (clients) can’t find on the Internet”
is precisely how Asie Voyages’ Philippe
Roussel sees his strengths as a French tour
operator specialising in the Far East.
Particularly in South-east Asia, it’s “not
easy to find gems” without guidance from
a travel expert, he is quick to point out.
That is where the local destination
knowledge and expertise of DMCs
come in, said Stephan Roemer, CEO of
Diethelm Travel Group.
“We cannot sell (standardised tours)
anymore,” he said. “But what I can sell is
a simple noodle shop, where locals sit on
stools for lunch. It’s an authentic experi-
ence and (our clients) love it. It’s our job
to find the best noodle shop (in a destina-
tion)... and that’s how we make a differ-
ence and create added value.”
Harder work, but greater profitability
Travel players speak of the greater divi-
dends found in customising tours, an area
where many companies have devoted at-
tention and efforts to.
Even though classic tours still make up
business “volume” for Go Vacation Thai-
land, the demand for classic group series
and SIT tours have declined over the
years, shared director of business develop-
ment Tobias Fischer.
In place, Fischer sees a clear pivot to-
wards private group tours as travellers
can better dictate what they want in their
itineraries and elements adjusted to their
liking.
Along with “bigger profit margins” that
tour customisation has brought is “more
work”, admitted Fischer, who added that
Go Vacation has a tailor-made depart-
ment to cater to such requests.
“But that’s precisely where the future of
DMCs and travel agents lie. It’s the future
of what the market wants, especially for
repeaters,” he emphasised.
Likewise, Nicola Scaramuzzino, coun-
try manager of Panorama Destination
(Thailand) noted that the tailor-made
market, which is characterised by organic
growth, has yet to deliver volume for the
company. In the mean time, he asserted
DMCs still need both segments to stay vi-
able, with group series generating quicker
cashflow while tailor-made tours offer
bigger opportunities in profitability.
Complexity in ‘fitting puzzles’
The growing demand for customised
travel has opened up several concerns for
travel experts, including greater time, ef-
fort and knowledge needed to draw up a
value proposition for their clients.
Creating a customised programme
requires strong industry knowledge as
well as interpersonal skills, pointed out
Scaramuzzino, as travel designers “need
to know the psychology of customers and
ask a lot of questions in order to provide
correct products”. “It’s like putting pieces
of a puzzle together,” he opined.
At the same time, the growing tailor-
made wave has opened up a more “inter-
esting” career path for reservations staff,
noted Scaramuzzino. As reservations staff
acquire industry knowledge and hone
their skills by “learning tricks to create the
right package for the right people”, they
can eventually rise up to become travel
designers.
“You cannot be a chef without learning
to chop onions,” he added, drawing the
analogy to a professional kitchen.
Travel experts also spoke of constraints
in delivering quotations for a customised
itinerary within a short turnaround time,
the result of consumers having constant
access to information and their mobile
devices in a hyperconnected world.
Said Scaramuzzino: “(In an age) when
booking flights take longer than five sec-
onds, replying (to clients) within 24 hours
is considered a long time.”
The ever-shortening response time ex-
pected of travel agents is something Rous-
sel is all too familiar with. “But a la carte
tours don’t happen with clicks, it would
take more time (for us) to get back (to
requests),” he stressed. “(Furthermore),
it takes about 10-15 requests to translate
into one booking.”
That said, travel experts told the Daily
that totally fresh demands that require
conceptualisation from scratch are far
and in between, with most customised
requests falling in an area where existing
itineraries can be used and adjusted to
customers’ preferences.
Scaramuzzino shared: “Anyone re-
questing for something entirely new are
very few. You can classify customers into a
few broad profiles – nature, beach and cu-
linary – and from there send them sample
standard programmes (according to their
profile types) to gauge interest.
“There’s usually a 50-50 chance of ac-
ceptance,” he said.
Wither the DMC-tour operator
relationship?
As more tourism players get into the per-
sonalisation game, the supplier-DMC-
tour operator-retail agent-travel customer
chain also comes under greater scrutiny.
Kevan argues that the need for a DMC
is now lesser in a mainstream destination
like Thailand, which has a high repeat visit
factor and where clients’ itineraries are
generally less complex – characterised by
longer average length of stay, fewer stops
and local sightseeing booked on the spur
of the moment – than ‘newer’ destinations
the likes of Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
“If you are established in (a destina-
tion), you probably have a direct rapport
with your main hotel partners, so from a
financial and operational view you have
more control of the booking, which in
turn leads to a better (and more seamless)
experience for the clients,” said Kevan.
He added: “Most DMCs work to set of-
fice hours and (outside of that are) con-
tactable via an emergency number, but
that would not include booking tours. By
contrast, the hotel concierge is available
at least 18 hours a day and can arrange
something totally personalised within 30
minutes.”
But hotels’ encroachment into offer-
ing personalised travel services could pose
existential concerns to tour operators too,
Kevan acknowledged, while stressing that
competition is not new in the travel sector.
“The days of tour operators working in
tight collaboration with airlines and ho-
tels are gone; in many ways we are com-
peting against each other,” he remarked.
While tour operators worth their salt
would have built up personal relations
with hotels and have some kind of data
protection agreements in place to limit the
scope that hotels can approach clients di-
rectly” the reality is that many of the hotels
want direct bookings, he opined.
Ultimately, the best form of insurance
for business survival will be “added value”,
stressed Roemer.
“Any link in the value chain has to pro-
vide visible additional value, and that goes
from the travel agent to the DMC and the
provider. The client can nowadays book
his hotel and transportation directly with-
out travel agent. The added value however
makes the difference and has to prove its
value for money.”