Richard Turen
We're about three and a half months into the new year. That means that almost all the data points about our clients' views in the previous year are now in, kept in storage on disks within a chamber where the temperature is closely monitored.
Obviously, some numbers are more reliable than others, but I thought it might be useful to review what we know about our current and potential clients at this point as they have expressed their beliefs in countless ways in countless studies. This is what some of the more credible polling data (Gallup, CBS News, etc.) shows:
We are proud. Two-thirds of us say we are extremely proud to be an American. But then again, 41% of us say it is likely that a hidden cabal secretly controls the world.
(My staff is trying to determine where the cabal is headquartered so we can open an office there. I think it will be helpful in future commission negotiations to have an office in the neighborhood.)
About 70% of our clients want marijuana legalized. Weed-based travel is already a thing; the growth potential seems rather significant, with the added benefit that clients may not really care where they are.
Slightly more than half of our clients, 52%, say they or someone under their roof owns a gun. Do not dismiss the possibility that some clients would like to visit a firing range or a gun show during their travels.
This is important: 75% of our clients use their smartphone on the toilet, 60% sleep with them and 47% panic if the battery level drops below 20%.
These I take seriously. Marketing through smartphones is now critically important. Your clients need to know you're traveling with them on their phone as they travel the world. You need to be available to them no matter where they are seated. There really is only one major question travel advisors should ask themselves as they get ready to enhance their online availability: What can I say online that is going to be more creative and entertaining than video clips of a Taylor Swift concert?
Here is what I am currently working on: a travel trivia contest that is entertaining enough to occupy idle moments on an aircraft, with prizes provided by favored suppliers.
A new poll shows that 61% of Americans feel that artificial intelligence poses a serious threat to humanity. But 38% feel, more specifically, that AI will replace all or some of the work they do. I am not at all sure that there is value, at this stage, in endorsing AI at the agency level. Clients need to be updated on the frequency and level of errors from the use of AI in online responses.
It will be smart, I believe, to demonstrate the research you have prepared for a client versus what an existing AI program has produced. If you don't use AI in your travel practice, brag about it and always ridicule those who favor nonhuman counseling.
The research last year showed a trend against the new, automated tipping culture. Polls show that 32% of Americans have a strong dislike for "tipping screens with suggested tip amounts," while 30% now say that our tipping culture is out of control. Travel sellers must address this concern by clearly stating local tipping customs wherever our guests travel.
One way to really get ahead of this is to have your agency produce a worldwide tipping guide, a small book that might be sent out as a holiday or birthday gift. It would be relatively easy to produce and the content would remain fairly static.