The traveller has more power than ever before: Carter

By Hannah Edensor

“To be successful you need to capitalise on opportunities and that means understanding travellers,” Amadeus Pacific’s MD says.

First it was the Golden Era of Travel in the 60s, then it was the Age of Mass Travel in the 70s, but what about today?

Agents are now more than ever faced with a brand new challenge, where the traveller holds all the cards, and it’s anyone’s game.

At a Discover Amadeus event last night, managing director for the Pacific region, Tony Carter, told agents it’s “necessary to look to the future,” unless agents want to get left behind.

“The traveller has more power than ever before, they know everything, and they expect to be treated special, treated differently,” Carter said.

Amadeus’ recent white paper outlined the types of travellers agents need to be on the lookout for as we enter the future age of travel, with some more valuable than others, but all requiring a fresh approach.

Reward hunters are ideal clients, because while they might be more demanding, they want to really reward themselves with expensive treats and exclusive experiences, meaning a high profit margin.

Social capital seekers are after gratification on social media, and Carter said “we believe we will see travel agents who are purely social media-based.”

Speaking to Travel Weekly, Carter added that this poses “a huge opportunity for agents.”

“Travel agents will continue to be the key way we organise travel in the future. But to be successful you need to capitalise on opportunities and that means understanding travellers.”

“Personalisation is the key,” he added. “Part of getting big business is understanding who the travellers are.”

“Agents can’t just offer a package and expect everyone will book it. They also need to do business when the consumer wants to, any time of the day or night.”

“It’s all about the upsell,” Carter told Travel Weekly.

“It’s not just about booking flights, booking a hotel; it’s about door-to-door. And your clients will buy this because they need to travel door to door.”

When quizzed on the future of travel and why it’s so important to study, Carter told Travel Weekly it comes down to new experiences.

“People want to do something different,” he said, before adding that space travel would definitely be one of those stand out experiences down the track.

“By 2030, there will be an extra two billion people in the world, and that means an extra one billion travelling.”

“We want to be ready for the future.”

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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