As the U.S. creeps toward recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression, there are some positive signs that Americans are beginning to loosen the stranglehold on their wallets and spend on "nice to haves" not just "must haves." TripAdvisor's 2011 Travel Trends Forecast brings this good news into more specific relief for the leisure travel category, saying that 90% of consumers plan to take two or more leisure trips next year, and over one-third say they plan to spend more on travel more than they did in 2010.
The 2011 travelers are going to be looking to justify why they should spend more, especially when there will likely still be many discount deals in the market. But they are willing to spend and it's entirely possible to capture those dollars. You just have the embrace the reality that if you are charging more, you have to actually deliver more. So what does purposeful premium look like in the travel space? It's taking the concept of value and redefining it beyond just dollars and cents. It's about value defined by experience, an experience that is so good that it justifies the money spent to access it. Southwest Airlines nailed it with "Bags fly free." Air travel has become fraught with angst for many people with the addition of so many restrictions and fees. Southwest quickly recognized the opportunity to alleviate one major stress point and did so. This promotion not only relieves a consumer pressure point but in a way that is perfectly aligned to its brand positioning and, most importantly, in a way that allows it to move away from price-point advertising.
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