Executives from the hotel,
cruise, tours, retail, OTA and destination marketing sectors talk about
their assumptions and plans for the year ahead. The interviews
were conducted by Travel Weekly editor in chief and senior vice
president Arnie Weissmann.
Ninan Chacko, CEO, Travel Leaders Group
The consensus among [economic analysts] seems to be that the U.S. should expect gross domestic product growth of around 2.5% for 2018, with strong employment. Historical industry indicators appear to be really solid, and consumer optimism seems upbeat. Of course, any of this could change, but I have a long-term optimistic view about the industry and the travel agency sector in particular.
Among the macro trends that relate to the industry is the general sense that we continue to march toward the experience economy rather than the accumulation of capital or goods. Luckily, we're in the business of generating and delivering experiences, far and wide, broad and deep, all over the world.
And I think that, amidst all the reshaping of personal and industrial landscapes, technology plays a massively outsized role. But there's also an appreciation and respect for the human touch. Technology doesn't mean we move to a life devoid of personal contact and interaction; there's a healthy respect and appreciation that the experiences we're delivering are really human experiences. Reaching out to somebody for advice continues to be a trend that grows.
There's also an upward trajectory in the trend of millennials seeking out travel agents. It's gone from the high teens three or four years ago into the upper 30s, as a percentage. That speaks to the fact that, in the midst of all of this technology transformation, there's a place for accessing the right human expertise at the right place at the right time and in the right channel, to be consumed in the right way. And technology is an enabler of that.
[Going into 2018], there continue to be attractive acquisition opportunities [for Travel Leaders] both in and outside the United States. We're busy digesting the 11 or 12 acquisitions we've accomplished this year, and we expect we'll continue to focus on finding the right companies that fit with our business.
You know, one interesting part of being such an aggressive acquirer is that we get to look at a lot of businesses. We have a real-time running benchmark of our supplier economics versus any others in the industry, and it continues to reinforce our belief that we have the best in the business.
We continue to march toward the experience economy. Luckily, we're in the business of generating and delivering experiences far and wide, broad and deep, all over the world.
We've got good coverage in terms of the kinds of businesses we operate, be they corporate, luxury, leisure, entertainment, etc. At this stage, it's about expanding our geographic focus as well as strengthening our footprint in those sectors. We have a presence in Canada, we established a presence in Mexico through the acquisition of Corporate Travel Services, and the acquisition of Colletts strengthened our luxury position in the U.K.
Merging three of our enterprises to create Travel Leaders Network this year has been a success for us and our suppliers, and I think there's more opportunity to integrate our business. It exceeded our expectations, and there's more to do in terms of streamlining while figuring out how best to preserve the individuality of our brands and the cultures they represent.
We also have a major partnership with a leading financial services firm that we'll announce, probably in the second quarter. That financial entity will bring customers to be matched to a travel agent on our Vacation.com site. We think this will be a powerful opportunity to generate more business for both that partner and ourselves.
The airlines' New Distribution Capability continues to be a topic of conversation. Having spent time in different segments of this industry, it's clear to me that, really, our relationships with and reliance on our GDS suppliers will continue to be the best way for us and our agents to service their end customers, leisure or corporate. It ultimately doesn't generate benefits that are superior to what we already achieve through the GDS.