THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY HAS BEEN HAMMERED BY COVID-19 .HERE'S HOW WE BRING IT BACK - Celtic, Inc.
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THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY HAS BEEN HAMMERED BY COVID-19... ...HERE’S HOW WE BRING IT BACK.
OVERVIEW
The impact of COVID-19 has been devastating to the travel industry. Recent numbers
from the U.S. Travel Association and Oxford Economics estimate the damage to be
around $519 billion!
And experts such as U.S. Travel Association and Tourism Economics are estimating
the journey back to pre-pandemic levels will take at least three years. And for some
sub-sectors, it may be even longer.
Indeed, these are dark hours.
Yet despite the many challenges and obstacles, there are also opportunities. And that
is the purpose of this whitepaper: to provide insights and ideas to help with recovery.
Of course, there are no silver bullets. No shortcuts. But for those willing to look at
the possibilities and consider new options...this could be the first step towards
long-term growth.
2
TREND 1: HEALTH & SAFETY
BEFORE WE SHARE OUR TAKEAWAYS AND TACTICS, WE FIRST NEED TO UNDERSTAND THREE TRENDS CURRENTLY
SHAPING TRAVEL. ALL OF THEM, WE BELIEVE, WILL HAVE A LONG-LASTING IMPACT ON THE INDUSTRY.
THE FIRST IS HEALTH AND SAFETY.
THIS HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE FOR SOME AREAS WITHIN THE SPACE FOR YEARS, SPECIFICALLY CRUISE AND
CERTAIN HOTEL CHAINS THROUGHOUT MEXICO. COVID-19 HAS ELEVATED THE LEVEL OF CONCERN.
WIN BIG MEDIA, A MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY, HAS BEEN TRACKING THE IMPACT OF THE
PANDEMIC SINCE EARLY 2020. THE VIRUS HAS TURBO-CHARGED THIS ISSUE PUTTING IT TOP OF MIND FOR
MANY TRAVELERS.
IN THE FIRST CHART (PAGE 4), YOU CAN SEE THE MAJORITY OF THOSE SURVEYED (52.9%) INDICATE THEY
HAVE A HIGH LEVEL OF CONCERN ABOUT THE HEALTH-RELATED CONSEQUENCES OF THE SITUATION.
AND THIS CONCERN IS HAVING A DRAMATIC IMPACT ON THE OUTLOOK CONSUMERS HAVE TOWARD TRAVEL
WITH NEARLY 81 PERCENT INDICATING IT WON’T BE UNTIL SPRING 2021 OR LONGER BEFORE “ACTIVITIES
LARGELY RETURN TO NORMAL.” SEE CHART 2 (PAGE 5).
WHAT’S THE TAKE-AWAY? THE DATA SUPPORTS THE IDEA THAT HEALTH AND SAFETY WILL BE WITH THE
TRAVEL INDUSTRY FOR YEARS TO COME.
3
4 SOURCE: WIN BIG MEDIA
514
respondents indicated
they volunteered their time
to the upkeep of the Trail.
SOURCE: WIN BIG MEDIA 5
TREND 2: OUR NEW STATE OF MIND
Since the pandemic, there has been a distinct shift in the way many of us now view the world. Prior to COVID-19,
consumer spending was driven by want vs. need. Accumulation of goods and material objects drove our economy.
And when it came to travel -- the focus was quite often on the popular destinations.
This has all been wiped clean. Today simplicity, minimalism and isolation can better sum up the current state of
mind for many.
The virus and its impact on the economy have done a major mindset reset. Since June there has been a major
pullback in high-ticket items. See Chart 3 below. Additionally, a recent study conducted by Bank of America,
found 64 percent of those surveyed say their spending habits have changed since the start of the pandemic.
Not surprisingly, categories that are proving to be big winners are Pets, Education and Home Goods. All three
have seen double-digit, year-over-year growth, while travel and entertainment have seen dramatic reductions.
And with travel specifically, there has been a shift toward isolation over popular destinations. This is evidenced
by the rise in camping, RVing and visits to second and third-tier destinations.
6
SOURCE: WIN BIG MEDIA 7
8 FERC 2020 | ICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE
The third trend is the rise of digital. According to McKinsey Consulting, “we have vaulted five years
forward in consumer and business digital adoption in about eight weeks. Every industry is relooking at
their digital footprint and trying to determine how to adapt in this COVID-19 world.”
Moreover, consumer reliance on digital services are here to stay.
McKinsey reports that “75 percent of people surveyed are using digital channels for the first time
indicate they will continue to use them when things return to “normal.” Therefore, companies will need
to ensure that their digital channels are on par with or better than those of their competition to succeed
in this new environment. If China offers us any lessons, digital laggards will be substantially
disadvantaged during the recovery.
TO
SUM UP Health and Safety Minimalism, simplicity
and isolation
The rise of digital
These are three key trends travel marketers will need to embrace going forward. So with that as our
baseline, let us now focus on how to use those trends to help in the recovery.
9
KEY TAKEAWAY 1:
ADDRESS HEALTH & SAFETY MEASURES HEAD ON
Given the high-level of concern many consumers have around health and safety in travel there cannot be enough time,
attention or messaging paid to this topic. To turn a blind eye or pay only lip-service to this critical issue will have
negative long-term side effects for any travel brand.
This is a big topic, so we recommend organizing your messaging in two separate but related buckets:
The Specific and The Ongoing. Let us explain.
Specific health and safety messaging deals with the exact steps and procedures you are taking to ensure visitors
are protected. Don’t hold back in this area. Spend the time to explain exactly what you are doing.
Here are some things to consider:
What steps are How many What types What specific Which CDC
you taking to hours are of protocols cleaning guidelines have
ensure health being allocated have you products are you put into
and safety? toward this? established? you using? practice?
10The second bucket is The Ongoing. The virus
is having an impact at different times and at different
levels. At the start of the pandemic, the coasts were
hit first and hardest. Little was happening in the middle
of the country. That has changed. Now the Midwest
has seen significant spikes. Nowhere is immune. As
we go on, there will continue to be new outbreaks and
areas experiencing decreases.
Each shift will bring about uncertainty – and
uncertainty is historically not good for business.
Therefore, marketers will need to commit to providing
the best and the latest information available. The more
marketers can provide the more trust they will earn.
And trust = more business.
11KEY TAKEAWAY 2:
GO DEEPER VS. WIDER
The entire travel industry is based on the “go wider” model.
In other words: there’s something here for everyone.
For years this has been the pillar of travel marketing.
It’s all about more.
The cruise industry has been the master of this model by
launching bigger and bigger ships. Las Vegas is a
destination that lives on excess. And the same goes
for Disney. All of these are built around the idea of... mass.
Remember the trends we mentioned above: camping,
RVing, visits to National Parks. All of these embrace the
idea of simplicity, minimalism and isolation. And they are
all seeing increases. In the case of RVing, their sales/rentals
are up a staggering 400 percent year over year.
So, what can marketers take away from this? They can
focus on small and personalized experiences. Switch
the narrative from catering to many to serving a few.
12IDEAS THAT SHIFT THE CONVERSATION
DEVELOP SMALL, FIND WAYS FOR
PERSONALIZED TOURS FOR VISITORS TO EXPERIENCE
MUSEUMS, OUTDOOR AND THE DESTINATION WITHOUT
LOCAL ATTRACTIONS. LEAVING THEIR HOTEL OR
RENTAL PROPERTY.
I.E, SPECIAL DELIVERIES FROM CRAFT
BREWERIES, DISTILLERIES OR RESTAURANTS.
EMPHASIZE
OFF-SEASON TRAVEL OR This is a profound shift...but it needs to happen in order to
OFF WEEK SPECIALS TO engage with those looking to travel. And when combined
BUILD ENGAGEMENT DURING with the health and safety measures, you have a much
better chance of closing the sale.
LESS BUSY TIMES.
13KEY TAKEAWAY 3:
ELEVATING THE TRAVEL WEBSITE
The pandemic has made websites the number one
marketing and sales tool across all verticals. In fact
websites, in many ways, have become our lifeline to the
1. Promote your brand message
outside world – informing, entertaining and educating us throughout the entire site
to a much greater degree than ever before. And this will Having a brand story is critical. It’s what distinguishes you
continue once the crisis is in our rear-view mirror. from the competitive pack. And when executed properly,
Within the travel space, the number of interactions and it WILL increase visitors and drive revenue.
touch points brands have with potential customers has As the number of customer connection points have been
fallen. The pandemic has derailed the travel business, reduced, your website must help carry your message and
and as a result, organizations have been forced to cut your brand voice more than ever.
back on marketing and advertising. Creating fewer Unfortunately, our research indicates the majority of sites talk
brand touches. about their brand in only a few areas like the homepage and
But the website remains. And it is THE key channel to about us. Moving forward your brand story should extend
connect with visitors going forward. With that in mind, to all pages of your site connecting with your brand story in
here are three enhancements we recommend copy, images, tonality and narrative – not just one of these.
implementing.
142. What’s open and what’s not
The impact of the virus is different depending on what
part of the country or world you are in. Here in the U.S.,
3. Health and safety measures
different states have different standards. Even within a
If you have made it this far you know promoting the
state, policies and practices can vary from one end to
steps you are taking to safeguard visitors is the right
the other. It’s confusing and this causes uncertainty.
thing to do and it’s good business. And your website
Uncertainty kills business.
is a perfect channel to carry that message. However,
Let’s face it, the more you can share with potential many sites don’t go far enough explaining the steps
visitors regarding what’s open and what there is to do, they are taking. Additionally, it seems like this content
the more chance you have to get that business. But is more of an afterthought vs. part of the overall story.
customers need to be able to get that information.
And your website should act as that hub of knowledge.
Not only will this help inform customers it will help your
brand ambassadors. See page 16.
15KEY TAKEAWAY 4:
RECRUIT BRAND AMBASSADORS
Going forward, the battle for tourism dollars is going to be fierce. Everyone is
going to be going after their share of the pie. To capture as much as possible,
destinations will need to focus on customer service. Ensuring visitors have a
great experience at each and every touchpoint.
Now, to pull this off will require a village...no literally. DMOs and CVBs will
need to recruit members of the community and provide them the information
they need to pull this off. Hard to do? Well, maybe not as hard as you think.
Start with the recommendations on page 17.
16RECOMMENDATIONS
Who are What’s their How do the
the brand purpose? ambassadors
ambassadors? To help and engage visitors on
get trained?
These are the men and women vacation. Ambassadors know A microsite or password protected
on the front lines with visitors. what shops and restaurants tab off the main navigation is all that’s
They are business owners and are open and what’s closed. needed. This will act as a central hub
employees. Community leaders, They know the places to go and the ambassadors can self train.
public servants and long-term and the things to do. They have In terms of the content, most DMOs
citizens of the community. recommendations. They ask and CVBs are loaded with this type
Connect with these groups questions. In short, they help of material. So much of that
and let them know how visitors feel like someone cares information can be repurposed for
important tourism dollars are about them during their visit. the ambassadors onboarding.
to the community and how
they can individually have an
impact on the economy.
For an example, check out Colorado Concierge.
17KEY TAKEAWAY 5:
RETHINK THE BUSINESS
Marketing departments have suffered. Many were thin to begin with. COVID-19 hasn’t helped the situation.
So, where to go from here?
Probably the worst approach in the days ahead is to do the same things that were being done before the pandemic
but just less of it. We do not recommend that strategy.
The game has changed. Not by a little...but by a lot. The playbook we all were using has been torn into a million little
pieces. And that makes it the perfect time to consider new opportunities and possibilities. And don’t limit your thinking
to just marketing tactics. Look at the broader set of possibilities. For example:
How is the department organized? How do you work How do you work within the
with outside vendors? community you are supporting?
There will never be a better time to experiment and try new approaches. But keep in mind, just layering more new
projects onto your plate is not the answer. To have a solid chance at success, adding new ideas can only work if you
have the discipline to stop doing other things. This is classic Apple. In today’s world, they look like they can do no
wrong. That wasn’t always the case. When Steve Jobs returned to take the helm, Apple was hemorrhaging dollars. Its
vendor structure was in tatters and they lacked the kind of product that would excite the market and ignite buying.
18Steve Jobs’ strategy to turn the company around…
Eliminate certain products and concentrate on the few
select areas where they had potential to succeed.
By doubling down on the product lines that mattered,
Apple was able to make one of the most dramatic
turnarounds in the history of business. They had the
ability to say NO when and where it counted.
Ok, that’s fine for an electronics company…but what
about leisure travel?
It’s like rolling a 200-pound livestock tank up a hill.
Things are hard for destinations like Vegas, New York or
Orlando. Now imagine being Nebraska. WTF, right?
Let’s face it, this state has its challenges. And that was
before COVID became a household name.
The following case study points out the challenges and
steps the Visit Nebraska team took and is still taking to
bring visitors to the Cornhusker state.
19NEBRASKA CASE STUDY – PUSHING TOURISM CAN BE REALLY HARD.
Jennifer Simmons from Marketexture completed the research and authored strategy
behind Nebraska’s award-winning campaign.
OVERALL CAMPAIGN & STRATEGY
It’s a bit sobering when Portrait of American Travelers, the respected profile of vacation preferences and intentions,
reports that your state is the least likely for people to visit. Disheartening, actually, since it has held that unenviable
position for multiple years.
Delve into the reasons why, and you quickly realize the task ahead is something akin to rolling a 200-pound
livestock tank up a steep hill.
Consumers don’t consider Nebraska as part of the typical leisure travel category. It’s not just a lack of awareness
or familiarity. Many people are absolutely convinced there’s nothing to do here. So our state is simply not on the
shopping list.
But wait—there’s more.
20Because of indifference (“brand apathy” in marketing-ese), consumers said they
wouldn’t even bother to research Nebraska to discover something – anything –
that might make them consider visiting.
Suddenly, getting that livestock tank up the hill seemed like a walk in one of
our beautiful state parks.
We now knew we had to go beyond providing information – we needed to
change perceptions. We needed to interrupt deeply ingrained patterns and
directly challenge misperceptions. We had to be bold and edgy. Risky, even.
So, we dutifully informed our industry partners that our solution would
probably fall outside of their comfort zones.
We also had to aim at the right audience. Nebraska resonates best with
people who are intellectually curious and innately creative. Wanderers, if you will.
People who take the time to seek and appreciate nuance. They’re defined not by
geography or demography, but by a commonly held core value of honesty. They’re
approachable, candid, real, unadorned, modest, uncomplicated, self-aware and not
easily swayed by glitz and glam. Just like Nebraskans themselves. Our audience
accounts for only 11% of the population, which is certainly not everyone, (duh).
But it’s a big enough chunk of the traveling public to be a viable target.
Thus, the “Honestly, it’s not for everyone” positioning was born, giving the state
a voice and a platform for its self-deprecating, humored-filled campaign. Quirky.
Odd. Interesting. Beautiful. Qualities that Nebraska can honestly own.
21EXECUTION: CREATIVITY & INNOVATION
The essence of the campaign is rooted in values-based positioning. Identifying a core human value (honesty in this case)
that’s shared between a place and an audience is the road less traveled in destination marketing. The right value can be
the antidote for what people are missing in their lives. It creates a craving that people want and need more of. A marketing
strategist writing in Forbes appreciated the transparency of this effort and called the campaign “genius,” observing that in
today’s culture “Honesty is disruptive.”
But there was method to this madness. First, we analyzed all 210 DMAs nationally to find markets with the highest
propensity to deliver visitors. We indexed factors that included travel guide requests, web visits, past visitation and
required agreement with 16 different MRI (MediaMark Research, Inc.) psyche proxy statements. This exercise helped us
understand how to appeal to this audience and guided our media strategy.
We developed a multi-layered media plan to create as many touch points as possible with our less than adequate budget
(about $2.5 million), including TV, print, out of home, digital, and social – the usual culprits. Our targets: Denver, Kansas
City, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Wichita, Topeka and Sioux Falls – markets that ranked well in our analysis, but truly were all
we could afford. It was all very effective, and the results were solid.
But the creative execution made the campaign.
Watch TV Spot #1 Watch TV Spot #2
22Here’s why. Transparency is simply a buzzword
for “demonstrable honesty” – and requires being
very vulnerable – maybe uncomfortably. It’s risky
business. But being vulnerable has proven effective
for some brands to rebuild and create trust
(remember Starbuck’s Blonde Roast, Honest Tea’s
“Yes, that dress does make you look fat” and
Dove’s Real Beauty campaigns?)
We used a technique called “inoculation”
(marketing-ese again, please forgive). What this
amounts to is having the cojones to be almost
painfully candid in acknowledging negative
perceptions. Which gets their attention. Then we
put a positive spin on things to change those
perceptions. We chose “self-deprecating” humor.
It’s working. We knew it would, since our testing
(yes, we did that too) showed that humor was the
reason the campaign is so well received.
23OUTCOMES
Unbelievable. Immediately after we revealed the new campaign at our annual conference October, 2108, it went viral.
Colbert, ALIVE with Ryan & Kelly, CNN, NPR’s All Things Considered, Big Cheddar News, The Skimm, and even media
outlets in Australia and Germany noticed. The campaign even became the talk at numerous travel industry conferences do-
mestically and at two hospitality conferences internationally – in Malaysia and Geneva. Within 45 days, we reached almost a
billion people, with earned media value exceeding $7.1 million. Traffic to VisitNebraska.com leapt 195 percent and requests
for travel guides skyrocketed 317 percent.
All that’s fine and dandy, but what happened when added in paid effort? In a word, lots.
As background, we’re funded by a 1% percent lodging tax. That’s it. No money from General Funds. So the focus is on the
bottom line – lodging tax revenue. Right now, we’re beating the all-time record for lodging tax collections – a law put in place
in 1980. Bazinga!
We know that awareness, favorability, likelihood to visit and finally, visitation all are the result of driving increased visits to
VisitNebraska.com, travel guide orders, engagements, interactions, video completion rates, conversions, likes, shares,
searches, referrals and organic growth.
Reminder: our campaign goals were to increase awareness and engagement because, we were so not on people’s
shopping lists that they wouldn’t even take the time to research Nebraska.
24RESULTS
Overall traffic to Travel Guide Target Markets
VisitNebraska.com Orders Traffic to
Users up nearly 40 percent – Consumer generated VisitNebraska.com
about a 60,000-increase requests up 20% Colorado - +110.23%
year-to-date, year-over-year (not including bulk distribution) Missouri - +112.99%
Kansas - +110.07%
Minnesota - +96.21%
Iowa - +41.19%
South Dakota - +40.25%
Interestingly, because of media that spill into other markets, DMAs that cross state lines and growth in organic and viral
reach, site traffic from Wyoming is up 139.55 percent and Illinois (primarily Chicago) up 100.17 percent.
Nuf said. Stay tuned. Onward and upward.
25SUMMARY
As this white paper goes to print, there has been some encouraging news.
1. Multiple vaccines are rolling out and even more should follow.
2. Each new announcement helps provide hope and optimism that the worst is behind us.
3. Pent up travel demand is real and people are looking for the signal to travel about the world again. Hawaii’s reopening
may be an indication of what’s to come. Read The New York Times: “Hawaii’s Reopening May Be Good For Travel.”
The way back certainly won’t be an easy one...but what are the options?
We understand the losses that have occurred. We also believe for those willing to break the mold, look at the world with a
different mindset and implement the thoughts we have listed out, that bumpy road ahead may just get a bit smoother.
26ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jennifer Simmons: President of Marketexture, a consulting firm specializing in travel
Email: jsimmons@marketexture.com
Patrick McGovern: Director of Business Development at Ascedia, a digital strategy agency
Email: pmcgovern@ascedia.com
Brian Meehan: President and Owner of Celtic, a full-service marketing communication agency
Email: BrianM@celticinc.com
Kurt Lingel: Executive Vice President & Partner at Celtic
Email: Kurtl@celticinc.com
Sources
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/americans-have-changed-their-spending-habits-during-the-pandemic-heres-how.html
https://www.self.inc/info/coronavirus-spending-habits-statistics/
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/survey-us-consumer-sentiment-during-the-coronavirus-crisis
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/30/covid-vaccine-news-viable-vaccine-may-already-lifting-spending-economy/6399117002/
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-covid-19-recovery-will-be-digital-a-plan-for-the-first-90-days
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