More choice instead of blanket
Travel Industry: Hotelplan is eliminating fixed-price packages for beach vacations effective immediately.
Travel industry Hotelplan is abolishing the fixed offer form for beach vacations with immediate effect. The leisure behavior of Mr. and Mrs. Swiss has made the travel industry flourish. Thanks to specialization, the major Swiss tour operators also enjoy a very good reputation abroad - albeit at a high price. The maturity of the Swiss travel market can be seen not only in the expansion attempts of the major tour operators across borders, but also in key figures such as advertising investment. As the largest segment in the travel-leisure-hotels-sanatoriums product group, the travel industry is one of the most intensive and fastest growing advertisers: according to Media Focus, it invested 55 million francs in advertising in 2004, eleven percent more than in 2003. Even in the crisis year 2002 - after 9/11, the Iraq war and Sars - and despite poor economic development, the Swiss resident population still spent around 23 billion francs on travel (- 22 percent compared to the previous year). Transportation costs are not yet included in this estimate of the tourism balance sheet statistics. This corresponds to annual per capita expenditure of a good 3,300 francs. According to surveys, every second trip is booked through a travel agency, if business tourism is taken into account.
Upheaval in the travel businessDespite an increase in sales and high growth rates in bookings, the tougher competitive conditions have caused earnings to shrink considerably. The travel trade is in a state of upheaval: overcapacity and crumbling margins among travel providers, who have had their agency commission cut by the new pricing models of various airlines, unpredictable consumer reactions to calamities, low-cost airlines making city breaks cheaper than ever, and more and more Swiss people booking their trips directly online. All these developments are forcing travel agencies to adapt and restructure. After fierce battles over concentration, many saw a brisk price war as the strategic way out of stagnation, but this unbalanced volumes and capacities and put the entire industry in even more trouble.
Hotelplan, Switzerland's number two tour operator, is responding to changing consumer behavior by abolishing fixed prices for beach vacations. In future, Hotelplan also wants to perceive consumers as VIPs - "Very Individual Passengers" - in the important area of beach vacations. "Customers' professional and private circumstances are setting the standards for vacation offers more than ever," explains Röne Bertschi, consultant and concept developer at the Winterthur agency Dachcom. More flexibility is now required than package tours can offer. The results of the annual Elvia survey conducted by the Link Institute on the travel and booking behavior of the Swiss prove him right. The increased number of people taking three or more vacation trips a year is reinforcing the trend towards multiple and shorter trips. Consumers are demanding more transparency when it comes to costs and are only prepared to pay for what they really want to use, says Thomas Christen, Head of Marketing at Hotelplan.
More individualityThe introduction of flexible pricing in the new "Ferien am Meer" beach holiday catalog is designed to meet customer needs and offer more freedom of choice. Since, according to the Elvia survey, more than one in four respondents have made a booking with Hotelplan at least once in the last three years, individualization is likely to be well received. The first step was to involve the travel trade in the product renewal, as sales success depends to a large extent on the brand and product loyalty of the travel consultant. At the same time, the end customer must be informed about the new form of beach vacation. The online booking portal is currently still in the realization phase.
Competition for customersThe task for Dachcom was to communicate not only the new form of offer but also the new freedom. To this end, the agency developed a concept that focuses on the beach holiday catalog and the core message "no compromises" with a competition. "Specifically, the catalog published at the beginning of February was equipped with a booklet on the front page. In addition to the new service and new fare system, it also explains the competition," says Röne Bertschi. This measure is framed by a wide-ranging poster display as a central advertising medium for the Hotelplan presence. For the realization of the four poster subjects, the creatives Andrea Grabher and Alan Castioni chose the ironic exaggeration to get to the heart of the headline: the envy-inducing sandcastle, the water skier who only needs a high-speed boat, or children with a giant ice cream.
The message is reinforced by means of advertising campaigns in Sunday media and quality titles. In addition, measures such as trade press advertisements and stickers, retailer mailings and window displays are used to intensify the care of travel agencies.
Hotelplan AGThe 100% subsidiary of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives, Hotelplan AG was founded 70 years ago. The travel group owns companies and brands such as Easy, Esco Reisen, Escolette, First Business Travel, M-Travel, Dornbierer Reisen, the vacation rental agency Interhome and the charter company Belair as well as the Horizonte hotels and resorts and foreign companies in Holland, England, Italy and Spain. The company employs over 3800 people worldwide and generated a consolidated profit after tax of CHF 13.5 million in the 2002/2003 financial year (- 32.5 percent compared to 2001/2002). (la)
Hotelplan treats its customers on vacation as "Very Individual Passengers".
Luca Aloisi
Upheaval in the travel businessDespite an increase in sales and high growth rates in bookings, the tougher competitive conditions have caused earnings to shrink considerably. The travel trade is in a state of upheaval: overcapacity and crumbling margins among travel providers, who have had their agency commission cut by the new pricing models of various airlines, unpredictable consumer reactions to calamities, low-cost airlines making city breaks cheaper than ever, and more and more Swiss people booking their trips directly online. All these developments are forcing travel agencies to adapt and restructure. After fierce battles over concentration, many saw a brisk price war as the strategic way out of stagnation, but this unbalanced volumes and capacities and put the entire industry in even more trouble.
Hotelplan, Switzerland's number two tour operator, is responding to changing consumer behavior by abolishing fixed prices for beach vacations. In future, Hotelplan also wants to perceive consumers as VIPs - "Very Individual Passengers" - in the important area of beach vacations. "Customers' professional and private circumstances are setting the standards for vacation offers more than ever," explains Röne Bertschi, consultant and concept developer at the Winterthur agency Dachcom. More flexibility is now required than package tours can offer. The results of the annual Elvia survey conducted by the Link Institute on the travel and booking behavior of the Swiss prove him right. The increased number of people taking three or more vacation trips a year is reinforcing the trend towards multiple and shorter trips. Consumers are demanding more transparency when it comes to costs and are only prepared to pay for what they really want to use, says Thomas Christen, Head of Marketing at Hotelplan.
More individualityThe introduction of flexible pricing in the new "Ferien am Meer" beach holiday catalog is designed to meet customer needs and offer more freedom of choice. Since, according to the Elvia survey, more than one in four respondents have made a booking with Hotelplan at least once in the last three years, individualization is likely to be well received. The first step was to involve the travel trade in the product renewal, as sales success depends to a large extent on the brand and product loyalty of the travel consultant. At the same time, the end customer must be informed about the new form of beach vacation. The online booking portal is currently still in the realization phase.
Competition for customersThe task for Dachcom was to communicate not only the new form of offer but also the new freedom. To this end, the agency developed a concept that focuses on the beach holiday catalog and the core message "no compromises" with a competition. "Specifically, the catalog published at the beginning of February was equipped with a booklet on the front page. In addition to the new service and new fare system, it also explains the competition," says Röne Bertschi. This measure is framed by a wide-ranging poster display as a central advertising medium for the Hotelplan presence. For the realization of the four poster subjects, the creatives Andrea Grabher and Alan Castioni chose the ironic exaggeration to get to the heart of the headline: the envy-inducing sandcastle, the water skier who only needs a high-speed boat, or children with a giant ice cream.
The message is reinforced by means of advertising campaigns in Sunday media and quality titles. In addition, measures such as trade press advertisements and stickers, retailer mailings and window displays are used to intensify the care of travel agencies.
Hotelplan AGThe 100% subsidiary of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives, Hotelplan AG was founded 70 years ago. The travel group owns companies and brands such as Easy, Esco Reisen, Escolette, First Business Travel, M-Travel, Dornbierer Reisen, the vacation rental agency Interhome and the charter company Belair as well as the Horizonte hotels and resorts and foreign companies in Holland, England, Italy and Spain. The company employs over 3800 people worldwide and generated a consolidated profit after tax of CHF 13.5 million in the 2002/2003 financial year (- 32.5 percent compared to 2001/2002). (la)
Hotelplan treats its customers on vacation as "Very Individual Passengers".
Luca Aloisi
