Skift Take
The travel industry went from overtourism to no tourism in a matter of weeks. Why are so many brands acting like they aren't in the midst of an existential challenge and period of violent change?
With the travel industry and global economy buckling under the uncertainty of the coronavirus, it has become clear that leaders across travel failed in not only mitigating the scale of the crisis but have no idea how to engage effectively with their customers.
Aggressive marketing tactics employed by the travel industry confuse and alienate consumers, limiting customer loyalty in the process. Skift calls this phenomenon hate-selling, but the pushy online behavior of these brands has a serious real-world effect.
The arcane terms and conditions travelers accept are extremely anti-consumer in nature. Usually, it amounts to a financial hit on travelers who don't realize it costs money to switch flights or shift a hotel stay.
As the stability of the global travel sector has crumbled, and airlines have made their policies more flexible, consumers have begun to realize one thing very clearly: there is no actual reason for that $250 change fee or cancellation fee, it's revenues-for-the-sake-of-revenues on the part of giant companies. Hotels, too, have been hesitant to allow customers to cancel or postpone their stays. Only in last few days have policies been relented, after all their systems have been overwhelmed.
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Beyond the usual nickel-and-diming deployed by travel companies to boost revenue, the U.S. travel industry in particular has taken a bizarre stance to the panic gripping the world. Travel went from overtourism to no tourism in a matter of weeks and the industry leadership acts like this is just a bump in the road for their business.
More than 150 travel companies and groups signed a release earlier last week encouraging tra
