During the Digital Transformation Strategies in Tourism panel at the 2nd TÜRSAB Tourism Congress organized by TÜRSAB in Antalya, Deloitte's Tourism Sector Leader Osman Arslan highlighted changes in consumer demands in his speech and presented key findings from Deloitte's research on travel trends. Here are the highlights from his speech:
I can say that the research results are encouraging for the tourism sector. The period of revenge travel that started after the pandemic will end, and travel flow will normalize. We expect an increase in travel demands during this period.
The work-from-home or remote work trend that emerged during the pandemic will continue to some extent. Accordingly, long vacations will continue as well.
Corporate travels will gradually recover. We expect a significant increase here.
The return of the middle-aged group to traveling had been slow, but now this age group will start traveling again. Brands need to examine the holiday preferences of this age group and meet their expectations.
"Hotel stays will increase, activities will become more prominent"
During the pandemic, stays at hotels decreased, and renting homes, caravans, tiny houses, or staying with friends and relatives had increased. In the new period, we see that stays at accommodations will increase again.
An important point is that vacationers now want more activities. We can say there will be a search for more activity-based experiences to collect happy memories.
"They want to get their money's worth"
Consumers now want to get their money's worth in this era of high living costs and demand easy access to all services.
Actions towards sustainability will come to the forefront in consumers' eyes. Businesses being this way will increase their appeal.
Another expectation of consumers is the preservation of cultural heritage. Protecting nature, history, and the urban fabric is very important.
And the most important and critical expectation is, of course, digitalization. This has both a business side and a consumer side. It's very important for efficiency and a quality workforce.
