How to be a Flexible Travel Brand

Being a fluid and flexible business is the way forward, no matter which industry you operate in. But with travel becoming more accessible again after the Covid pandemic, now is the perfect time for brands to evolve and offer a 2.0 version of themselves as the hospitality industry normalises.

But how do you improve and become a flexible travel brand? We’ve got the answers with this guide.

Offer remote working 🛖

One for your employees to start things off – the pandemic has led to an increasingly flexible working environment. Most employees expect some form of flexibility with how and where they work. That doesn’t necessarily mean a complete work-from-home setup, but some form of a hybrid approach is expected.

A YouGov poll shows that the majority of the workforce doesn’t expect a full-time return to the office, while several studies have shown that home working actually increases productivity. So when it comes to establishing your post-Covid setups, offering flexibility for where people work can help improve morale with team members and lead to better business results.

Offer flexible payments 💳

When it comes to showing your customers flexibility, there’s no better place to start than with alternative payment methods. The payment landscape is changing, and it’s another area supercharged by Covid as consumers change their tune for preferred ways to pay.

Around four in 10 Brits have already used payment methods like buy now, pay later (BNPL). An increasing number have also stated they would only use a retailer that offers flexible finance like BNPL.

In the travel industry, alternative payment methods can prove to be a winner. Holidaymakers have more ways to pay and can spread the cost of their payments over instalments. That gives them financial freedom and more confidence to go on the holidays they really want, as it removes the friction related to bigger-ticket purchases, such as travel. For you, it’s a chance to increase the average order size while offering travellers more options.

Be responsive on social media #️⃣

Any travel brand with grand designs for maximising its sales needs to have a presence across social media. And being flexible across platforms gives you the best chance of increasing sales, adding more followers and enhancing your brands.

Users expect social media to offer them a little bit of everything, from information about a company to customer service. Consequently, you should use social media for a variety of reasons, including a way to promote your best holiday deals, educate customers on all things travel and as a communication method that answers all their queries in a timely and efficient manner.

Gives you an edge over competitors 💪

Being able to adapt and be flexible gives you a competitive edge over brands that aren’t ready to offer fluid solutions. The ability to pivot at short notice and embrace the general changing trends of both consumers and employers will make you more attractive to both.

Employees will want to work with you if you’re a flexible travel brand, meaning you can attract the best talent in the industry. While consumers will trust in your services more and become loyal customers ready to use your brand when it comes to booking a holiday.

Helps you change strategy more easily 🔥

Being flexible is one thing, but you need to remain that way to stay at the top of your game. Flexibility should inform your tactical decisions, so you can be more agile in your approach and meet consumer needs.

Having a watertight strategy that allows for flexibility helps you make the best decisions for the business. Whether that’s pivoting to another social media channel, offering flexible payments or tapping into a particular travel trend, flexibility is key to progressing your business.

Benefits of a flexible travel brand

In a nutshell, being a flexible travel brand means you can:

• Increase customer loyalty
• Lower stress levels for employees
• Offer a better work-life balance
• Create a unique strategy
• Provide more payment options for customers
• See an uptick in business

Flexibility is the way forward for travel brands that want to compete with the best of them. It will allow you to keep up with the latest trends, have practices in place to pivot when necessary and offer more choice to consumers in search of the best experiences when they book a holiday.