To win the hearts and minds of tomorrow’s travellers, the industry must adapt continuously.
As travel returns, people will be eager to get moving. According to a global survey of 22,000 frequent flyers in Collinson’s Priority Pass airport lounge membership programme, which was conducted in July 2020, three in four frequent flyers (71%) wished to return to travel either immediately or within the following three to six months.
When it is possible to freely travel once more, consumers will be clamouring to get back to doing what they love.
To win the hearts and minds of tomorrow’s travellers, the industry must adapt continuously. The world has changed and so have the needs, desires and expectations of those who travel – and just because travel is currently limited, it doesn’t mean we can stand still. Now is the time to be agile, innovate and diversify.
Digging Into the Needs of Domestic Travellers
Amidst COVID, different types of domestic travel are booming all around the world. At the end of 2020, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, launched the country’s first federal domestic tourism campaign titled ‘World’s Coolest Winter’, inviting the public to explore the many attractions of the UAE. World’s Coolest Winter program is part of an effort to double domestic tourism’s US $11.25 billion contribution to GDP.
‘Saudi Summer’ was launched on June 25 last year by the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA), aiming to increase internal tourism at a time when Saudi Arabian residents and citizens were unwilling or unable to travel. Over the first seven-week period of the campaign, tourism spending was worth around USD 1.6 billion, according to STA, an increase of 26% year on year over the same period.
Domestic travellers want and deserve the same first-rate experience they have come to know and love from the airport lounge. The ability to access more benefits and experiences catered to domestic travel will continue to be important and once travel begins to gain momentum once more this adapted offering will be an important differentiator to show travellers what a premium journey can look like in all its forms.
Continually Innovating the Airport Lounge
Before COVID-19, lounges were already evolving to keep pace with the ever-changing landscape of travel: from celebrity chef-endorsed menus, to digital and contactless journeys, to in-lounge spa and massage rooms, to outdoor terraces with sunset views.
Today, the in-lounge experience is an even more important part of the airport journey; providing a place for comfort and safety, especially if new COVID procedures mean travellers must arrive earlier to the airport. Already, we are seeing exciting innovations hit airport lounges worldwide. The recent Lounge Legends video, which takes viewers behind the scenes to meet hardworking frontline lounge staff at four airports around the globe, is a great example of how airport lounges are evolving for the future, while still delivering the smiles, service and human touch that make travel special.
While health and sanitation are now baseline critical, airport lounges are also innovating in more ways. There are a raft of contactless solutions arising for in-lounge travellers, letting them order food, drinks and even duty-free shopping straight from their mobile device, to be delivered to them in the lounge.
Innovations like these give travellers a more contactless airport experience, while at the same time connecting them to the exciting and luxurious aspects of travel they have always loved. And, even as our health and safety needs continue to change with vaccine and testing rollouts, these kinds of solutions will still be relevant to travellers. It is COVID-driven innovation, which will change how we travel for the better.
Diversifying for the Future – Beyond the Lounge, and Beyond the Airport
Where once upon a time lounge access was enough for frequent flyers, they now expect deluxe experiences at every step of their journey. There are new stressors and procedures around health and safety to contend with, leaving an important opening for travel membership programmes to help passengers feel that whether they are inside or outside the lounge, their needs are being addressed from a variety of angles. This is particularly important as cost and availability of flights may mean trips are taken far less frequently – so when they do occur, the traveller will want the very best experience possible.
Beyond the lounge, more exclusive opportunities await. We are seeing luxury sleep pods in the airport, like those available in Hamad International Airport, Doha and Dubai International Airport. These offer travellers a unique, private space to rest and socially distance; personalised, real-time mobile offers for airport shopping and dining; and access to grab-and-go airport food service so travellers can order via an app and skip the queue. These services are proving immensely popular with guests, with guest volumes exceeding expectations since their launch in late 2020.
Of course, the journey doesn’t begin and end at the airport. In 2021 and beyond, we may see new kinds of travel membership programme benefits that let travellers rest, dine at restaurants or bars, work out and treat themselves throughout the entirety of the journey; both in and beyond the airport. When multiple services can be offered as part of a single programme, the consumer will feel truly catered to.
Looking to the Future
Ultimately, COVID has been a catalyst for change. As baseline expectations have shifted, travel membership programmes now have an exciting opportunity to deliver exciting solutions that re-imagine the new normal and champion the safe and effective travel recovery. As long as the industry can continue to innovate now and to speed up what was previously in development, we can meet the evolving needs of travellers and ensure that travel doesn’t just come back, but comes back with even better experiences than before.
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