Article
| by Jake Hudson-Wood 
This article is part of The Great British Staycation
The past two years have seen people being locked down on and off, stuck in their houses, unable to visit family and friends, cancelling trips, putting plans on hold and fielding a constant threat of infection with any outing.
2020 was the worst year in tourism history and 2021 was not much better. However, with restrictions finally being removed, and the fear factor of post-pandemic travel being diminished, now is the time where a lot of people are beginning to look for new adventures and to switch from their weekend TV binge, to holidays and trips further afield.
So where does “revenge” come into play?... People are looking to make up for lost time, fit in as many adventures as they’ve missed (and more), and go all in on their trips and holiday experiences. They are taking revenge on the time lost during the Covid pandemic, thirsty for travelling and the experience of new places. Experts predict that revenge travel will result in travel and tourism spikes, post-covid. This is great news for brands providing travel services, as long as they are prepared for the boom; companies need to not just assume travel is back, but take this opportunity to make it better.
Regardless of whether we’re talking about vacation or staycation, revenge travel brings opportunities for both. Although a lot of people will be looking forward to testing out their new-found Duolingo skills on a beach far far away, leaders in the industry predict that while vaccination rates vary internationally, many people are looking to dip their toe back into travel by staying domestic, avoiding flights, increased covid exposure, and pricey testing and tricky quarantine rules.
While the rest of the world is slowly reopening, the UK already benefits from being a nation free of restrictions, meaning the days of vaccine passports, social distancing and isolation periods are now over. Many travellers looking for a holiday will happily avoid the restrictions of other countries in favour of staying in the UK, especially in the short term, before the rest of the world follows suit.
UK staycations have already seen an increase during the pandemic, and people have finally realised that a holiday in the same country can be just as fresh, exciting, and enjoyable as one abroad, without the added hassle of stressful flights and pre-trip admin.
Our ‘how might we’ questions turn the opportunity into addressable questions, to spark new ideas. We're sharing them to help you trigger thoughts for how your brand may implement solutions.
Tip: When answering these questions, don’t only think about your existing services, solutions, and revenue streams, but also consider how you might create new ones for this market.
With revenge travel on the rise, brands should ask:
In the post-pandemic world, people have reevaluated what's really important to them and are now seeking out exciting new experiences, for which they are prepared to pay more.
Many people have vouchers and points accumulated from cancelled trips burning a hole in their pocket, itching to be used. We’ve saved up money over the pandemic, as well as spent hours dreaming of having the freedom to go away when we were stuck at home.
We’re ready to spend money and go big on it too. In fact 50% of Brits have been saving more since the pandemic, and 41% are planning to spend more on their holidays. Clearly people are prepared to spend to evolve their trip from standard vacation to luxury experience, extend their holiday stay, or get extras that they weren’t prepared to pay for before.
People have more money to spend, over a longer period of time, and have a huge amount of built up wanderlust excitement. So how do UK travel brands make the most of this opportunity?
They’ll need to ask themselves…
A few brands are already taking advantage of revenge travel. Black Tomato actually call out revenge travel as a call to action to prompt bookings - “Get your revenge”, while most other brands are more subtle when pointing customers towards holiday inspiration.
Black Tomato’s revenge travel CTA
Loveholidays.co.uk are offering price matching, ATOL protection, and monthly payment plans to ensure customers feel protected and can spend even more money, upgrading their holiday experience by spreading the cost.
From Loveholidays.co.uk
TUI have dedicated a huge part of their website home page to tapping into customers' revenge travel desires. They are offering discounts for the more money you spend, encouraging diligent savers to now splurge, while also providing peace of mind with their Covid flexibility policy. By dedicating so much space to addressing the concerns of their customers, they are able to appear as the best brand to go with if you want protection, discounts and flexibility.
TUI’s promise for revenge travellers
It goes without saying that the situation right now is great news for the travel sector in general, but how can individual brands take this to the next level, to hit on all the points mentioned above and differentiate their offering from local as well as international competitors?
The experience of the pandemic has increased the value of travel, and with restrictions still in place internationally, this value will be temporarily channelled into domestic trips. UK staycation brands have unique access to customers they previously did not. If they can impress with their user experience and booking journey, many of this increased pool of travellers will be retained and may continue to replace international travel with local in the future.
Companies will need to make sure staff resource, digital innovation, and peace-of-mind policies are all in place to help net as many loyal customers as possible in this short period of holidaying locally. Time and money will need to be invested to uncover the right solutions to solve the important questions brands need to ask themselves.
Brands will want to ask themselves…
Take a peek at more insights on UK travel ✈️