Staycations are making a popular comeback with current environmental changes and of course the "C" word restricting our travel and keeping borders closed. Staycations are also a very ecologically friendly way to have a break and visit some of our beautiful country. We are incredibly lucky in New Zealand to have such beautiful destinations and even for the most discerning NZ traveller there is still something new to discover.
As we ramp out of lock down, consider the New Zealand market and anticipate their needs in the coming months. As a travel business, how can you support New Zealanders wanting an escape and creating a suitable package to meet their needs?
Consider:
1. Key partners and suppliers your business can build a relationship with. If you don't already have products and partnerships to hand - how might you get started?
2. Develop a content strategy and consider the Customer Journey Pathway - how will you turn lookers into bookers and what do you need to get started on today?
3. Do you have a robust digital purchasing system set up and can you offer buy now pay later terms?
4. Have you implemented the right advertising pixels to your website and are you ready to re-target your audiences?
5. What is your competition doing? Are they ahead, behind or getting in your way?
Answering these questions is the first step to finding a way forward in the current environment. Keeping the lights on and helping your business to ramp out of level 4 will require careful thinking. It's unlikely that we will quickly return to the levels of free international travel that we experienced in the past. Even when New Zealand contains the virus outbreak and we move down to level 3 - level 2 we have the added challenges of offshore markets also being in lock down.
Remember, if you are not talking to your customers, your competition is. What is your plan for revamping your business?