Global and Local Travel Trends

With each edition of AVEA News we will provide some insights into Global Travel trends – nothing too taxing but some broad brush insights that members might find interesting and provide food for thought on how they can adapt or innovate in your business to meet the trends we’ve come across. And we’d welcome your insights too so please share any trends you may have happened upon on your travels or in publications – sent to [email protected].

Luxury Travel

No more the preserve of the rich and famous, luxury travel has shifted from expensive things to exclusive experiences. The definition of luxury now also means different things to many different people. The market for luxury has never been broader or more relevant and a greater set of tourism industry suppliers can participate in luxury spend. This is the age of the upgrade and consumers use this tool as a means to acquiring luxury in hospitality and travel – upgrade is not just about a nicer room, it’s about offering an experience in a different, unique and ‘exclusive’ way to customers who are willing to pay a premium for more than the standard or ‘regular’ delivery . Travellers demand choice to ‘tune’ the experience to their own personal version of luxury. Enabling the visitor to have an authentic and prestige moment that they can share instantly through social platforms is a win:win! These are just some of the insights provided in report on Luxury Travel by LEK Consulting. Failte Ireland has also recently commissioned a report on Luxury Travel and we’ll let you know when it’s available to download.

Irish Tourism – 2017 Another Record Breaking Year?

Well all signs on that we are certainly breaking 2016 performance so far this year but all signs on that there is a BREXIT bump in the road as sterling hits a new low against the € at £0.93 (August 29th). The most recent CSO( Central Statistics Office) stats show that we continue to outperform 2016 as follows:

Niall Gibbons Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland said ‘The decline in the value of sterling has made holidays and short breaks here more expensive for British visitors; and economic uncertainty is undoubtedly making British travellers more cautious about their discretionary spending. This is impacting on travel to Ireland. Therefore, competitiveness and the value for money message are more important than ever in Britain right now. Tourism Ireland is placing a greater focus on our ‘culturally curious’ audience, who are less impacted by currency fluctuations. We are also undertaking an expanded partnership programme with airlines, ferry operators and tour operators, communicating a strong price-led message. And, we are extremely conscious of the decline in tourist numbers we’ve seen for the month of July alone (-1.1%).’

So let’s hope that these drops are only a bump in the road…. We’ll be keeping an eye on the figures as we progress towards the Autumn/Winter period.