Agents look to boost further on lates trend
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Online websites are looking to further cash in on the last minute booking trend with new campaigns after a survey found 67% of Brits are yet to book a summer holiday.
lastminute.com has embarked on a new brand campaign to encourage spontaneous bookings amongst consumers.
The ‘Love Living lastminute.com’ campaign aired on television last night and aims to build upon a consumer survey which named the online travel agency as the leader in the lates market. To reach the ‘30something’ professional market its advertisements include various storylines with ‘aspirational yet accessible destinations’ with a fun tone.
The new advert comes as the company sees more than half of its mobile bookings see a shorter lead-in time to book, while a Travelzoo survey found 67% of those planning to go away this summer had yet to book. Short-haul holidays continue to be popular while 41% said they would limit spend to GBP199 per person for a short break and GBP799 for a longer holiday.
“I wanted to stay true to the core of the lastminute.com brand with this campaign. We’ve focused on the brand’s strong last minute identity and listened to what our customers want, simply delivering on a promise of great quality and great value products at the last minute,” said Sarah Bartlett, chief marketing officer at lastminute. “At a time when spontaneous travel is more relevant than ever, it is a clear opportunity to affirm our position as the leader of the last minute space and our customer insight and marketing strategy has been the catalyst for a single-minded refocus of the brand.”
In the Travelzoo survey, which included responses from 2,400 people, Barcelona, Rome and Amsterdam topped the popular city destinations while Spain, France and Greece were top for beach holidays as well as Croatia, Thailand, Turkey, Indonesia and USA.
“It’s encouraging for the travel industry to see how many people are still planning to book their summer holidays and this should lead to a surge in demand for the best-value deals over the coming months,” said Joel Brandon-Bravo, managing director of Travelzoo. “Travel companies should also take heed of the increasing interest in shorter trips as consumers attempt to spread their budget across two holidays throughout the spring and summer period.”