Giles Hawke, Cosmos Tours chief executive, said customers were receptive to increased “hand-holding”, adding the brand had already stepped up its own client care. “I think it’s a trend people will value as we go into 2022."
Hawke said his staff were regularly updating clients on travel requirements and making sure they had the necessary documentation. “We’re calling every customer a few days before they travel," he explained. "And the feedback has been really positive.
“At the moment, we have three touchpoints. We are looking to make that five or six, partly on the back of the pandemic, and partly to improve the customer journey by moving contact from being something functional to something that creates excitement.”
Hawke spoke to TTG ahead of next month’s Abta Travel Trends conference, at which he will take part in a panel discussion on customer behaviour.
“You can’t communicate enough. Probably more than ever before, that whole security thing is such an important element,” he said, adding agents “will become an even bigger part” of reassuring clients.
"We have got to 65% agency bookings – when I joined five years ago, they were way lower. The customer feedback is that they like the extra support and a person that they can talk to. I think that’s going to be a much bigger element in future.”
Hawke said the major remaining barrier to travel was the “uncertainty” around testing and other Covid issues, such as the risk of countries going red and the complexities of completing passenger locator forms.
While some have called for a government-based "travel with confidence" campaign to help restart the industry, Hawke said he was unsure whether it was the government’s role to do this for outbound travel.
“In normal times, we [Cosmos] bring 10,000 into the UK, so from a VisitBritain opportunity, I think they have missed a trick. Government should be supporting an inbound campaign.”
Outbound clients, meanwhile, have concerns about what destinations would be like and what rules would be in place. “They want to know whether it will be like a ghost town or a vibrant destination.”
Hawke added a trend towards destinations offering a lot of space had not materialised. “That surprised me; we launched London theatre breaks and have seen tons of bookings, people are not shying away from cities.
“It’s a really complex set of challenges; what one person is finding off-putting, another is not.”
