Yesterday we gave a presentation at World Travel Market (a trade show for travel trade and customers), on what we believe it will take for travel companies to be successful. The marketing blurb we sent obviously worked well as we had over 120 people in the room, standing room only, with many more turned away. I think the good attendance is also a reflection of the growing awareness of Travel Counsellors, but also that people are searching for a way forward in these turbulent times.

We were at pains to point out that we are not a perfect business – in fact I read recently that what turns people off brands is when the brand tells the customer how great they are (I guess the same applies to individuals), but based on our success and with reference to leading consumer brands, there were some clear indications about what it takes and will take to thrive and prosper.  Fundamental to that is having a clear sense of purpose around which customers, staff and other stakeholders can relate to, want to belong to, and then focusing all of your activities on tapping into the fact that we sell dreams and deal in emotion. In fact a recent survey found that of the 14 top things that make people happy, 10 were associated with going on holiday or booking a holiday.

It’s our job in the industry to help make people feel happy. What a great job to have!  But to tap into that emotion, we need to fuel our customers by making them feel special, by offering the little touches that ensure that what we are offering is ‘just for them’. Fundamental to that, is having the quality of people that have the inherent professionalism, care and commitment to want to make people feel special and do that naturally.  The assumption therefore is that people buy people not products.  So as Richard Branson says, the key to a successful business is looking after your staff; do that and the business will take care of itself.  Whilst Travel Counsellors is at the forefront of the innovative use of technology – in our presentation we proposed that to be successful it requires four fundamental things; a relationship based business model; building trust in the brand; the use of technology to connect people; and the use of social medial to engage with customers and build friendships first and sell second – I believe putting people at the heart of the business remains the central essential ingredient to business success. However in this age of technological advancement, not all would agree.