Face-to-face: Victoria Bacon, head of Brand & Business Development, ABTA
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What do you believe needs to be done to enhance and refresh ABTA’s image amongst both the trade and consumers?
ABTA already enjoys a strong brand image with over 75% consumer recognition, rising amongst holidaymakers. In my previous role as Head of Communications at ABTA I worked on highlighting the benefits of ABTA Membership and developing the new “Travel with confidence” branding. We will continue to push this new branding out further within our Membership and cement it in the minds of consumers.
How do you plan to get the “travel with confidence” message across to consumers and what are your target markets and why?
Holidaymakers are our key targets across all age groups. There are a number of milestones that impact people’s booking habits, when they may look to a trusted travel provider, such as going away with a group of friends, getting married or starting a family, so we will also focus on specific groups and opportunities. We will get the message across through a range of online and offline marketing and communications channels as well as encouraging our Members to promote the message.
How will you engage the youth market who perhaps tend to book travel components themselves and don’t understand the protection issues? What role will social media play in engaging this demographic?
Research shows that agents and operators are popular with many young people who prefer to book with a travel company for the security and expertise that’s on offer. We need to build on this and highlight the benefits of booking with our Members. Part of this will be to explain the protection on offer, but the confidence message is much more about the assurance you get from booking with an ABTA member through a broad range of benefits such as our travel expertise in a crisis, code of conduct and independent arbitration scheme. Social media is important but its only one channel that we will use to target younger consumers, online, video and radio are all important channels for reaching this demographic as well as traditional media.
What gaps are there to fill in terms of getting more travel companies on board?
ABTA’s membership represents the diversity of the travel industry: Members include a whole range of companies from cruise lines to independent agents and operators to online travel agents. ABTA also has a strong Partner scheme, this scheme and other partnership opportunities will be important to help us to continue to develop and adapt our offering so that it stays relevant for all kinds of travel businesses.
What will be your message to them about ABTA membership benefits and how will you get this message across in more powerful and innovative ways than before?
The “Travel with confidence” branding offers a powerful message that helps consumers understand why they should book with an ABTA Member and helps Members to differentiate themselves from other travel businesses. My focus will be to build on the launch of this new branding, work with Members and partners to build understanding and engagement with it, and look at ways to develop it further.
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