This month has seen amazing weather in the UK/Scandi and Europe so maybe holidays have taken a bit of a drop in many peoples plans. We are also battling high inflation, high interest rates and brutal energy costs. But it is not all bad news, demand for Australia and New Zealand is still very high and companies are building up travel agent and hospitality staff to meet this demand. We are still in a situation where demand is outstripping supply which brings higher prices and lower quality of product/service, but the gap is getting narrower all the time.

May was all about TRENZ and ATE.  These were both reported to be the biggest and best they have been for years as everyone finally made it back to New Zealand and Australia.  There was a great turnout by agents as they all finally have (nearly) full product teams, and they will be putting together fresh itineraries, brochures, and websites.  Lots of follow-up for me to do even though I wasn’t at either!

Supply and demand is still an issue here.  Great news that the demand for New Zealand and Australia remains strong, possibly better than ever but agents are still struggling to cope with the demand, flights and most ground products are still overpriced, and delivery is still below average.  This means customers are paying more for less which will create complaints and reduce future demand

PATA Exchange this month was a great catch up with 50+ agents from all over the UK.  This was followed by the Tourism Australia update on 23rd March which included a very in-depth summary of the market.  This was clearly aimed at Australia, but it is just as relevant for New Zealand.

February was a great month for seeing all sorts of great people working in travel as I made it over to Denmark and Sweden for a week.  The agencies over in Scandi are employing staff as fast as possible as demand is still outstripping supply.  Most agencies had 2/3 staff that had been there under a year and 1/3 experienced staff with more new staff on the way.

2023 has been a great year for sales to NZ and Australia so far with huge demand and bookings coming in faster than the travel agencies can manage.  Call times and email response times have dropped considerably but are still way behind 2019 standards.  This is due to agencies still being understaffed and also poor response times from NZ/Australian product suppliers who are also understaffed.  Everyone is employing and training staff as fast as possible, but this all takes time.

We have made it to the end of 2022 (guess who got a new coat and scarf for Christmas!) and 2023 looks like it will be a huge year.  There is clearly still a lack of staff out there but all agencies are settling down and coping with the staff that they have. Demand for Australia and New Zealand is still very high with a lack of flight seats and high rates being an issue along with high rates for ground products.

Quality of product is a concern for most agents as they have had problems with USA and Canada when they reopened.  The USA/Canada product issues were brought about by lack of staff for cleaning, service, etc and/or using vehicles, rooms, products that were not ready.  Concerns are the same for NZ/Australia as bed/vehicle numbers are low and demand is high which can lead to poor quality product delivery.

The UK is having a very tough time with political turmoil in the government and inflation increasing to over 10%.  This is exacerbated by the fuel shortage due to the conflict in Ukraine causing huge increases in gas/electricity rates along with petrol/diesel.  All the more reason to go on holiday ASAP!  It is much the same across Europe, but all agents are reporting being busy still. 

Travel seems to be back with a bang as we have campaigns running with Tourism New Zealand and Tourism Australia.  There are also events coming up; WTM in London in early November and Australian Marketplace in mid-Nov.  Both look to be very well attended so it will be great to see some faces from Scandinavia and Europe over in the UK for a catch up.  Very positive that this is all happening again.

Everyone is back from the summer school holidays and we are now right into brochure season.  Most agencies are flat out making brochures with product decisions happening now.  Brochures should all be formatted by now with copy/images decided very soon and proof reading and printing in October.  Staff training on new products (and new staff) in November.

There are more and more events coming up as tourism continues to build back up to pre-Covid levels.  WYSTC is on right now in Lisbon targeting student/youth travel, this is always a great event. Tourism Australia and Tourism New Zealand have trade updates coming in October followed by WTM in London in early November and Australian Marketplace in mid-Nov, really good that this is all happening again.

Australian and New Zealand Tourism has continued to gain momentum with consumer and trade events taking place this month.  There has been lots of follow-up from Kiwi-link UK for everyone that took part and also chasing up those that didn’t attend.  Recruitment is still going at a huge pace as all agents try to rebuild staff levels and quality.

It has also been school holidays in Europe so many staff have been away from already depleted offices and teams so most agencies are behind on projects and sales.  The main target for nearly all long-haul agents is to get their brochures updated as most are running with 2019 brochures with many products no longer available and out of date rates for those that are still operating.  Now is definitely the time to get products in front of product managers, this has very much been my focus this month. 

Australian and New Zealand Tourism is very much kicking into gear this month with events, trainings and offers coming in July and August.

Tourism Australia reported that web searches for flights to Australia are 20% up on pre-pandemic times and forward bookings are continuing to climb and are now at 80% of pre-pandemic numbers.  Average spend is also on the rise, likely due to pent up demand and access to funds.

The general market situation in UK/Scandi and Europe remains with high demand for travel and not enough agents to supply that demand.  Lack of staff in almost every sector of every industry exacerbates this issue as airlines, ground handlers and hotels also struggle to operate efficiently with reduced staff numbers.

It is not all bad news as people are getting away on holidays but the majority of people travelling to Australia and New Zealand are VFR market and are not travelling much once in destination.

And obviously great news here: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-pre-departure-tests-into-nz-gone-on-monday/F5TCTPAWCEEFDGOX26WF56IGFY/

And New Zealand is open!!!  Very big news that NZ has followed Australia and the rest of the world and opened for visitors. It is obviously starting with family visiting friends and relatives but everyone else can now book for holidays later in the year. And I can tell you that they are booking!!!

Australian news is that Qantas have announced that they will fly non-stop from London to Sydney https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-61294894  this is clearly great news and good PR for Australia just before ATE

Trailfinders and South Australia Tourist Commission have joined together to promote the working holiday visas and getting backpackers to Adelaide with a £10 offer including flights! https://www.trailfinders.com/special-offers/fly-to-adelaide-for-just-10...

We are back to as close to normal as we are likely to get!!

We have had live travel trade events – PATA Exchange was this Monday in London with lots of suppliers and product managers attending.  Tourism Australia had a reception function on 6th March to launch ‘Don’t go small – Go Australia’.  It is great to get out and see everyone again and see our travel industry restart, really exciting times.

February Update

It is all starting to look like the new normal has started with all restrictions dropped in the UK and most of Europe. Travel is far more simple and no masks are needed.

Australia will open borders on 21st February which is clearly amazing news. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-60284491

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year’s. It was a bit messy in the UK but far better than last year, so we must be happy with that at least.

Everything seemed to be coming back together again and ready for a great year of travel and then we got the fresh new super-Covid. The good news is clearly that Omicron is far weaker than previous Covid incarnations, so the vast majority of people are suffering nothing more than cold symptoms if any, but it is spreading at a huge rate. So far, I have not had it and I am triple jabbed, so I feel some confidence in either not getting it or only having mild symptoms.

Everything is starting to come back together again seems to be the news for this month. And I have had my #3 booster jab, so I feel bulletproof.

Great to see Virgin and British Airways joining together to promote the USA being open for business from the UK this week https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/08/uk-flights-to-us-heathrow-british-airways-virgin-atlantic

Thailand is open now and Fiji is due to open next week. Australia and New Zealand remain closed for tourism, but both are likely to open early in 2022. No dates have been set, just speculation so far https://metro.co.uk/2021/11/08/when-will-australia-and-new-zealand-reopen-their-borders-15563024/

All sorts of good news this month as Europe starts to return to a new version of normal and countries are opening-up for tourism.

Thailand is opening from 1st November https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58838189

Fiji is opening from 1st December https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/14/were-ready-fiji-prepares-to-welcome-tourists-almost-two-years-after-closing-borders

The only snags are keeping up to date with rules and the risk of one member of the group/family failing the Covid test before or during the trip.  The rules are changing all the time which reduces customer confidence but the demand for travel and holidays is immense.