Implications and Trends around Travel’s Rebound in the Caribbean
Today the Trove team attended the webinar "The Trends Driving Travel's Big Rebound, Implications for the Caribbean" presented by Skift in partnership with the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO). The session was an incredibly valuable learning experience and it was great to hear insights from seasoned industry leaders.
Five themes relevant to the tourism sector today were presented and discussed in-depth. Although the discussion focused on the Caribbean, we believe the themes are relevant to any stakeholder in the tourism industry and important to be aware of when looking to the future of travel during COVID-19 and post COVID-19.
The first theme was "Leisure Traveler Cohorts in Spotlight." The speakers highlighted a few types of travelers or tourism products that are becoming increasingly popular. They spoke about how visiting friends and family (or VFR) is often overlooked as the main reason for leisure travel. With this in mind, marketing campaigns encouraging friends and family to begin to visit each other again can be incredibly successful as travel restrictions are easing.
COVID-19 has also created a large opportunity for office workers to become digital nomads and permanently work remotely. This creates an entirely new traveler archetype to target. COVID-19 has also caused a huge increase in road tripping due to restrictions on and health concerns with air travel. Although those concerns are decreasing, this trend will stick around and has the potential to grow.
Another “cohort” discussed was conscious travel, including sustainability and conservation based tourism. This is also a growing focus (through late 2020 and early 2021) for tourists as people want to create positive impacts on the communities they are traveling to.
Another theme was “Subscription Travel Emerges as an Opportunity.” Subscription based services have been around for some time now and gaining popularity as a business model. The panelists discussed how this theme has begun to gain traction in the tourism industry and has become increasingly viable. Already, we have seen companies like Inspirato, a luxury monthly subscription travel club that allows members access to accommodations and experiences at a reduced price, make headway over the past few years. And just recently Trip Advisor launched Trip Advisor Plus - a less expensive yearly subscription that gives access to a higher level of deals and discounts.
Destination loyalty programs are starting to gain traction. The Maldives, as a non-Caribbean example, recently launched the first points based destination loyalty program. It will be interesting to see how this subscription concept will spread and be modified to fit different types of travel related niches. In addition, the intersection between subscription concepts and emerging cohorts discussed previously like the “digital nomads” provides major potential for innovative marketing.
The last theme that was highlighted was “Travel’s Becoming Pricier and That’s OK.” The panelists made some very sound points - especially significant for Caribbean islands as they are very popular destinations that have to consider the conservation of their natural ecosystems as well as quality of life for their own residents. The panel stated that pricier travel allows for more efficient management of resources in an era of shortages in labor, material, and even food in many places. The importance of this implication is undeniable. The Trove team will continue to attend events like this webinar and engage in conversations about the future of tourism. To stay updated with our reflections on these events, check back on our “Thinking” page on our website where we post our blogs weekly.