Sometimes it seems that  that the only element of the marketing mix that the travel industry remembers from its school days is the P of Price. As soon as demand slows down, as soon as difficult times are announced, as soon as we think that we will not realize the desired volume there seems only one answer: slash the prices, bring on the discounts. Today,  we seem to start realizing that a 100% price focus will get us in trouble, not only this year but also the next years. 

That is why it is nice to notice that some companies do come up with creative ideas to convince the consumer to spend his/her money on travel. Some examples from a recent article in The Times:

This year, Kuoni UK has launched At Home with Kuoni. You invite a couple of friends round to yours, and Kuoni sends round a personal travel consultant armed with generous supplies of free champagne, fine wines and canapés.Another variation to the "home based travel agents", a growing segment.

There is no fee for the service or, the company insists, any obligation to buy . The only condition is that the party must consist of at least six people.

“Some people don’t have the time to visit one of our travel stores and don’t want to surf the net for hours,” the company explains. “We think they will like an alternative where they can speak to a real person in their own home.”

Other schemes focus on particular areas that get our collective travel goat. The adventure specialist Black Tomato for example, has just introduced a currency map on its website. Each week, it highlights five destination, giving cost-of-living examples so travelers have a more accurate picture of their holiday costs. Apart from the obvious places (South Africa and Iceland), it’s touting Costa Rica,where a main course in an upmarket restaurant often costs less than 9 € ; and Croatia, where hotels are about 20% cheaper than most other European destinations.

The upmarket Six Senses hotel chain is appealing to the altruist in us all, and has come up with the offer to beat all offers. If you book a fortnight between June and December at its A-list hangouts Soneva Fushi or Soneva Gili in the Maldives, and undertake four days of community work in local schools, hospitals or farms, it will extend your holiday for a further two weeks.

 We sell dreams. Our biggest mistake would be to forget that dreams can be anything, except boring.

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Gianluigi Cuccureddu said:

	... Great examples of authentic experiences which fit so well in the travel industry. Competing on price is the last thing a business wants to do, a real no-go. Not sure if there are such examples in the Netherlands and Belgium, opportunities for differentiation and competitive advantage? Best regards, Gianluigi Cuccureddu
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juni 09, 2009
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