As the travel and tourism industry continues to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, findings from the soon-to-be-released NextFactor 2021 Futures Study will provide some insight and opportunities for growth.
On July 14, Paul Ouimet, President, Partner at MMGY NextFactor, shared both trends and insights from the study, which was produced in partnership with Destinations International.
This year’s study is the fourth in the series, which was introduced in 2014. To conduct the study, Ouimet explained that interviews were conducted with individuals in six key areas: disruptors, industry and association thought leaders, clients (i.e. meeting planners and organizers), community leaders, supply chain leaders and other sectors (key sectors beyond visitor industry).
The 2021 Futures Study compiled a list of 100 trends that Ouimet said will have an impact on the industry over the next three years.
In addition to prioritization from the Destinations International Global Advisory Group, input was also sought from recent Destinations International 30 Under 30 recipients and hospitality students.
The full study will be released in the next few weeks, but here are four trends Ouimet highlighted during the session:
· 1. Greater industry, community and government alignment is driving destination competitiveness and brand. (First-time trend.)
· 2. Customers are increasingly seeking a unique, authentic travel experience.
· 6. Travelers are seeking more personal enrichment and well-being. (Number 16 in 2019)
· 15. Business event customers want better collaboration with destinations to achieve greater business outcomes. (First-time trend.)
Pointing to this year’s number six trend rising in position, he explained that there is “an increased desire to seek purposeful travel.”
Another area of growth and opportunity relates to business events. “No industry has been harder hit than the events industry,” said Ouimet. “There are big expectations in this space.”
Trend number 13 also related to business travel: air access to a destination is a key factor in attracting business travelers. Other trends that made the top-15 list related to the use of video in destination marketing campaigns, mobile app engagement and the expectation for highly curated and customized destination content.
Not surprisingly, trend number 10 is pandemic-related: travelers want assurances of high standards of cleanliness and hygiene.
After compiling the trends, they then plotted them on a futures map.
“We wanted to explore opportunities and mitigate threats,” he said. “There is a lot in your power, and your control to help the recovering and rebuilding of our visitor economy.”
Ouimet then moved on to discuss the top strategies that came out of the study. Topping the list was to focus significant attention on content creation and dissemination strategies.
He then focused in greater detail on four strategies:
· 4. Build the destination brand around the community’s goals, values and creative energy. (New strategy.)
· 6. Develop new KPIs to measure economic and social impact of the visitor economy beyond visitor volume. (New strategy.)
· 8. Be more involved in economic development initiatives (New strategy.)
· 12. Improve and align data management and digital strategy to optimize marketing ROI (Number 32 in 2019.)
Other top-15 strategies relate to advocacy, increased community engagement, authentic customer experiences, better integration of tourism, economic development and talent attraction, and the formation of strategic alliances outside of the visitor industry.
“When we look at all of this research, our team believes that destination organizations should focus on three transformational opportunities: destination alignment, sustainable development and values-based marketing,” Ouimet explained.
There are three types of alignment strategies that may be considered: coalitions, formal partnerships and mergers.
He reviewed other brand and marketing campaigns, including those from Singapore, Auckland, Scotland and Newport Beach.
“We believe that this is the time for destination organizations,” said Oiumet. “We’ve gone through hell in last 16-18 months. There is an opportunity to be more relevant and play a much more significant role in our communities.” ■