Retail to remain competitive: Hunter

Retail to remain competitive: Hunter
By admin


The retail travel market will remain fiercely competitive over the next 12 months with low prices keeping yield under pressure, Travellers Choice chief executive Christian Hunter has predicted.

Addressing agents at the group’s annual shareholders conference in the Hunter Valley, he predicted the 2013 trading environment will be largely unchanged from 2012, with favourable exchange rates driving demand but competitive pricing affecting margins.

Online travel’s share of the overall travel market will continue to rise, he added.

But he said such a competitive market brings opportunities.

Hunter urged members to use the competitive nature of the industry to “differentiate yourselves from the pack, capitalise on your areas of specialisation and show your clients how much better you are… than all of your competition”.

He added that as in the US and UK, Australians are returning to agents for complex, long haul itineraries.

Hunter later told Travel Today: “It is a misconception that online is always cheaper and it’s not always about price. With an agent you get the value adds, the service and the reassurance that you are being taken care of. If there are issues you’ve got someone on the end of a phone. If you try and phone a website, then good luck.”

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