Jessamy Chapman, editor of Group Tourism & Travel Magazine, talks to Joel Brandon-Bravo, speaker at British Tourism & Travel Show, and MD UK of travel deals site Travelzoo. He will be appearing in the Keynote Theatre at 11.30am on 23 March. 

What is Travelzoo, and what does it do?

It’s a website for sourcing best travel deals. We’ve got 28 million members worldwide, which allows us to negotiate better deals with hotels and attractions.

It’s always had quite a journalistic approach in terms of actually doing the research – finding out if it really is a 50% saving and why it’s 50% off, and testing its availability, to try and provide that level of credibility, and make it easier for our members to find deals.

Do you often work with coach tour operators?

We’ve partnered with coach tour operators around the UK, including Shearings. It’s certainly something we’d like to be doing more of, because we’ve got people looking at all ends of the price scale. Coaches tend to be an incredibly cost-effective way of getting around and exploring multiple destinations. It’s a very good value-for-money product.

One of the things we’re doing more of is the ability to target different people based on where they are and what they’re interested in. Specific pick-ups for coach tours, based on where our members are, is going to be one of the key things we partner with travel coach companies on.

What will you be covering in your session at BTTS?

It’ll be focusing on two different areas: Firstly, what we’ve learned from our members over the last 11 years in the UK. There’ll be some stuff around what makes people tick, what they like, and what works and what doesn’t when creating a package.

We’ll also give some insights into what we’ve learned and how we’ve evolved over time in terms of being a bit smarter than the old spray-and-pray approach, and how to create much more personalised and targeted promotions.

What do you hope people will take away from the session?

How to think about broader partnerships, and how that will help them grow their business.

Do you think there’s a strong future for coach tourism?

We see two trends. Firstly, opportunities to have experiential holidays has been growing and growing. You can only do ‘fly and flop’ so many times before you want more in terms of experiencing and learning more about destination – whether your interest is in history, or architecture, or food. There’s also the social aspect of holidaying with other people.

The other big trend in travel is multi-generational travel: Grandparents taking the kids and the grandkids travelling. We’re hearing this more and more: “Let’s spend the inheritance and enjoy it as a family instead of leaving it behind.” That’s definitely a big trend that group travel can benefit from.

This is interview first appeared in Group Tourism & Travel Magazine, March 2017 (www.grouptourismtravel.com).

British Tourism and Travel Show will return to the NEC Birmingham on the 22-23 March 2017.  For more information and to register for a free ticket, please visit www.tourismshow.co.uk (direct link: https://registration.n200.com/survey/3merbygtnzi4j)