A Hoot for all the whole family

HOW do you rejig a winning formula to ensure you remain relevant to your customers?

NEW FOCUS: Hoot has divided its holidays into six different family categories to cater fo

HOW do you rejig a winning formula to ensure you remain relevant to your customers?

That’s a question Sydney-based travel company Hoot asked themselves last year when they began to consider how to respond to a rapidly changing and highly competitive family holiday market.

The company began 28 years ago as a specialist in family package tours to Fiji, before branching out throughout the South Pacific, into Bali and Thailand and the US.

However, with an increasingly sophisticated travel market demanding a move away from a one-size-fits-all family holiday solution to one that offers a more bespoke approach, the company last month undertook the biggest shake-up in its history.

Most obviously, this involved changing the company’s name from Holiday Specialists, general manager for marketing and product Farid Hacene said.

However, it has also involved a move towards offering holiday experiences that are tailored to the needs of individual families rather than pushing them towards a particular resort or destination.

“There is less of a destination focus, more of a demographic focus,” he said.

“We want to focus on what type of holiday people want, rather than the destination.

“For example, if you have a teenager, we can say that these are the great things you can do with them.”

While still offering the option of destination-focused trips, the company has now divided its holidays into six separate family categories.

These categories include typical family favourites, holidays suitable for families with children under five, holidays for families with teenagers, holidays without the kids, wedding or birthday getaways, and holidays for extended families. The company has also provided additional training to its specialists so they are familiar with the full range of options available to families across all their destinations, rather than just one.

“We recognised that if a particular agent had provided really good service, a customer would like to come back to them regardless of the destination that they’re going to,” he said.

“This means that they can help them across the range of our destinations and experiences.”

Hoot’s decision to zero in on the individual needs of family clients comes during a difficult period for conventional travel agents, with the growing power of online juggernauts such as Webjet and Expedia that make it easier than ever for people to book trips.

However, Phil Hoffmann Travel owner Phil Hoffmann said that ,while convenient, many of these websites offer little scope for a customer to sit down and talk with a specialist in a “collaborative” way that takes account of their needs.

Hoffmann said there remained a place for travel agents who take the time to understand exactly what their clients want and can provide detailed advice on the type of holiday which is right for them.

He said this was particularly true in providing holiday options for families, with the decline of the nuclear family meaning the concept of a family holiday is much more diverse than it used to be.

“The relationship with the travel adviser has become increasingly important as a good one can really understand your needs and offer you a whole range of options you didn’t know about,” he said.

--

“Like” Escape.com.au on Facebook

Follow @Escape_team on Twitter