Join us, Lucy and Nicole, as we review the 2018 Travel Trends Report. To date, our tourism trends content has been read more than 200,000 times and our annual reports have been downloaded over 50,000 times. In this webinar, we examine upcoming booking trends, discuss outbound markets that are expected to grow in 2018, and share insights from interviews with experts in the tourism sector. The goal is to help tour and activity operators apply these insights to their businesses around the world. At the end of the webinar, we also tackled a bunch of questions from attendees. Watch the recording: https://www.trekksoft.com/webinars/2018-travel-trends

1. 2018
TRAVEL
TRENDS
A TREKKSOFT
WEBINAR

2. SPEAKERS
Lucy Fuggle, Head of Content
at TrekkSoft
@lrfuggle
Nicole Kow, Senior Content
Writer at TrekkSoft
@queenkow

3. The booking solution for
tour & activity companies
in 130+ countries

4. CONTENT OUTLINE
Booking trends
Eastern markets
Solo female travellers
Sustainability & overtourism
Q&A
@trekksoft

5. BOOKING
TRENDS

6. More on mobile, less
switching to desktop
49%
of tour and activity bookings
are on mobile
That compares to 31% in 2016
@trekksoft

7. Similar data from
Google...
Source: Google/Ipsos Connect, April 2016/2017, "Traveler Attitudes &
Behaviors," 2017. U.S. travelers, A18+.
@trekksoft

8. Where are tours &
activities booked?
82%
of tour and activity bookings
are on provider websites
@trekksoft

9. Who is booking tours
and activities online?
64%
of tour and activity bookings
are made by women
@trekksoftData: Gender of customers booking via TrekkSoft, Q4 2016 - Q3 2017

10. Reviews keep getting
more important
4.81
is the average TripAdvisor rating of
the 20 most successful companies
using TrekkSoft in 2017.
(60% of these have a flawless 5.0.)
@trekksoft

11. QUESTION
1
I want to start marketing
honeymoon packages around
the Northern Lights tours.
Can you give me tips on what
I should bear in mind and
consider before entering into
this area?
Do you also have any tips on
how to provide the best
honeymoon experience?

12. EASTERN
MARKETS

13. Arabian, Indian and
Chinese markets
● Arabians prioritise luxury travel
● Indians lean towards
multi-generational travel
● Chinese travellers want an
authentic travel experience too
@trekksoft

14. Interview with Andrea
Schneider from Tourism
Interlaken
● Multi-generational
● Notoriously last-minute
● Research online, book offline
(especially for big purchases)
@trekksoft
“One thing that still remains a challenge is
educating Indian travel agents about Switzerland.
How do you sell a destination you’ve never been
to? With the internet, this is getting easier because
we can conduct workshops online, share movies
and pictures to give local agents a better
understanding of the destination. At the end of the
day, our goal is to appeal to the younger market
with more adventurous and active programmes
and to move away from the typical mountain
excursions.”
Andrea Schneider
Director of Marketing and Market Manager at
Tourism Interlaken

15. What do these
customers actually
want?
● Draw from past experiences
● Speak to customers from the
region, be curious
● Speak to international
students from the region
● Again, be curious
@trekksoft

16. How to reach these
customers?
● Be present on local OTAs,
social media channels and
TripAdvisor
● Ask for reviews in their
native language
@trekksoft

17. SOLO
FEMALE
TRAVELLERS

18. Lack of published
research on this market
● Relied on qualitative reports that
reflect behaviour
● Average monthly search volume for
the term “solo female travel” grew
by 52% between 2016 and 2017,
averaging 2,900 searches between
Oct 2016 to Sept 2017.
● Interviewed female travel bloggers
@trekksoft

19. Safety is the biggest
concern
● Women don’t feel safe and
worry about being sexually
harassed.
● These worries are not
baseless, there’s evidence.
@trekksoft

21. How to make it safer for
women
● Hire more female guides
● Write and share about
places and neighbourhoods
that are safer for women to
travel and explore
● Offer transfer services from
airports to accommodation
upon arrival
@trekksoft

22. QUESTION
2
Can you give us more
information about the effect of
destination branding on the
traveller’s purchasing decision?

23. SUSTAINABILITY
&
OVERTOURISM

24. Focusing on the people
in local communities
● Japan is using big data to
understand traveller behaviour
● Greece is spreading demand
throughout the year to take pressure
off the high season
● Fjord Norway is encouraging people
to visit less popular destinations that
are just as beautiful

25. The role of tour and
activity operators
● Create products and services that
are not bound to high seasons
● Build a network of operators in the
region and grow together in a
sustainable way
● Wouter Geerts: “One bad apple can
ruin the reputation of the whole
region.”
@trekksoft

26. QUESTION
3
I work in a museum that has a reputation for
appealing only to “old white guys” as a huge
part of our museum is on the American Civil
War. As times are evolving and a new
generation is employed here, we want to
rebuild bridges that were burned long ago and
move past the “old white guy” perception.
How do we move with the times and rebuild
those bridges that were destroyed?
I would love to market to the LGBTQ
community as well as African Americans. What
trends are you seeing that can help me attract
them? How can we also appeal to a younger
crowd (mid 20s)?
What can I do for outreach?

27. OPEN
Q&A

28. THANK
YOU
DOWNLOAD THE
REPORT AT
TREKKSOFT.COM/EN/LIBRARY