Table of Contents
Issues in the Market
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- Key themes in the report
- Definitions
- Abbreviations
Insights and Opportunities
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- Extension of the package concept to all-year holidays
- Merit to package holidays’ rigid simplicity
- Specially-designed packages for the old and young
Sector in Brief
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- Over €6 billion (£4.2 billion) spent on overseas holidays in 2007
- Economic downturn likely to hit the holiday market
- Are LCCs becoming travel agents with fleets?
- Preference for foreign over domestic holidays
- European destinations top for Irish holidaymakers
- Beach holidays most popular, but city breaks growing
- Trend towards multiple holidays of shorter duration
- Internet the dominant channel for researching and booking
- Package holidays not yet a phenomenon of the past
Fast Forward Trends
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- Trend 1: Empowered Seniors
- What's it about?
- What we've seen
- What next?
- Trend 2: Local Knowledge
- What's it about?
- What we've seen
- What next?
Internal Market Environment
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- Key points
- Air travel: Expanding capacity = expanding options
- Britain the gateway to Ireland
- Low-cost carriers driving air travel capacity growth
- Wider range of services available to RoI consumers…
- …with particular concentration in Dublin Airport
- Passenger traffic through Irish airports on the up
- Decline in charter traffic amidst growing traffic overall
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- Figure 1: Air passenger traffic (millions of passengers), IoI, RoI and NI, 1997-2006
- Importance of charter flights concentrated among international travel…
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- Figure 2: Passengers (domestic and International) by flight type, NI airports, 2006
- …and even more so among those taking foreign holidays
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- Figure 3: International air passenger traffic to/from Belfast International Airport, selelected destinations, 2006
- Main low-cost carriers developing into ‘à la carte tour operators’
- More and more consumers ‘flying without wings’
- Consumers who entirely self-book
- Where does this leave travel agents and tour operators?
- Travel agents fight back
- Travel operators fare poorly in independent price comparison
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- Figure 4: Price comparison, selected city breaks, self-booking vs tour operators/travel agents, euros, 2008
- Travel companies fare even worse on flight-only deals
- Are ‘sleight of hand’ charges killing the goose?
- Subtle introduction…
- …then escalation and expansion
- Families suffering more than most
- Such charges now consumers’ greatest ‘bugbear’
- Yet seemingly here to stay
Broader Market Environment
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- Key points
- Bad and getting worse on the economic front
- RoI
- NI
- Crisis of confidence to sharpen focus on value and price
- Standing out from the rest
- Oil price volatility threatens continued low-cost travel
- Fuel surcharges unlikely to be introduced by low-cost carriers
- Tour operators feeling fuel pinch, too
- Ailing Sterling likely to send NI holidaymakers further afield
- Grey skies over eurozone for NI consumers
- Impact on 2009 travel
- Iceland on the horizon for 2009
- Ageing of Ireland likely to drive growth in package sector
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- Figure 5: International travel by RoI residents, by age, 2003-07
- Targeting third agers
- Airline consolidation to reduce competition and consumer choice
Strengths and Weaknesses
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- Strengths
- Weaknesses
Who’s Innovating?
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- Key points
- Entry into rail travel will enable Air France to compete on two fronts
- Packages with flexibility built in
- It’s a package but it’s authentic
- Consumer-to-consumer holiday accommodation
- Get me there for a tenner!
- Ryanair thinking outside of the box on ancillary revenue
- Bmi trialling boarding passes by phone
- Independent initiative
Competitive Context
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- Key points
- To fly or not to fly
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- Figure 6: Consumers that took a holiday in the last 12 months and a holiday abroad in the last 12 months, NI and RoI, 2008
- NI consumers opt for foreign in 2007
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- Figure 7: Domestic tourism, NI, 2006 and 2007
- RoI consumers remain loyal to the home market
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- Figure 8: Holiday trips, domestic tourists, RoI, 2003-07
- A forgotten alternative: Sea travel
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- Figure 9: International travel by RoI residents, mode of transport used, percentage share, 2007
- Benefits of sea travel are perhaps being overlooked by consumers
- Holidays now more ‘essential’ than ‘luxury’
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- Figure 10: Consumer responses to statement ‘When feeling the pinch, which of these are you most likely to do when trying to cut back your personal spending?’, NI and RoI*, January 2008
Market Value
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- Key points
- Approaching 7 million holidays taken in 2007
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- Figure 11: Number of overseas holidays (000s), IoI, RoI and NI, 2003-07
- SSIA effect drives RoI overseas holiday market
- Overseas holiday spending around €6.2 billion (£4.4 billion) in 2007
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- Figure 12: Expenditure on overseas holidays, IoI, RoI and NI, 2003-07
- Expenditure per trip higher among NI consumers
- €821 million paid in airfares to Irish carriers in 2007
Market Segmentation
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- Key points
- Europe the most popular holiday destination for Irish consumers
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- Figure 13: Location of last holiday/short break, NI and RoI, 2008
- NI consumers’ destination choice restricted by limited access beyond UK
- Far greater destination diversity for RoI consumers
- Air travel dominates holidaymakers’ means of transport
- RoI consumers travel for holiday, NI consumers to visit friends and family
- City breaks en vogue, beach holidays stagnant
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- Figure 14: Consumers taking beach/resort holidays or taking city/short breaks for their last holiday in the last 12 months, NI and RoI, 2003-08
- Traditional ‘fortnight away’ on the way out?
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- Figure 15: Length of last holiday (number of nights), NI and RoI, 2008
- Multiple holidays almost de rigueur among Irish consumers
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- Figure 16: Number of holidays taken during last 12 months, NI and RoI, 2008
- Package holidays account for half of all holidays abroad
Companies and Brands
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- Figure 17: Companies and brands, 2008
- Discount/low-fare carriers
- Aer Arann
- Bmibaby
- CityJet
- EasyJet
- Flybe
- Ryanair
- Traditional/long-haul carriers
- Aer Lingus
- British Midland Airways (trading as bmi)
- British Airways
- Tour operators
- American Holidays (NI and RoI)
- Budget Travel (RoI only)
- Direct Holidays (NI and RoI)
- Ebookers.com (NI)/ebookers. ie (RoI)
- Expedia
- Falcon Holidays (NI and RoI)
- First Choice Holidays (NI only)
- Panorama Holidays (RoI only)
- Sunway Travel Group (RoI only)
- Sunworld Holidays (RoI only)
- Thomas Cook (NI)
- Thomson Travel (NI only)
- Topflight (NI and RoI)
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Channels to Market
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- Key points
- Internet as a near-revolutionary development
- The world at your fingertips
- Internet comes tops for researching and booking holidays
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- Figure 18: Source of information, last holiday, NI and RoI, 2008
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- Figure 19: Method used to book last holiday, NI and RoI, 2008
- Agents trump operators for package holidays
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- Figure 20: How last holiday was booked, NI and RoI, 2008
- Role of mainstream media diminishing
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- Figure 21: Agreement with the statement, ‘Newspaper and magazine articles on holiday and travel influence my choice of holiday’, NI and RoI, 2003-08
The Consumer – Booking the Holiday
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- Key points
- A third of holidays booked within a month of departure
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- Figure 22: Amount of advance booking for last holiday, NI and RoI, 2008
- Planning holidays a pleasure for most
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- Figure 23: Agreement with ‘I enjoy planning holidays’, by gender and socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
The Consumer – Who Holidays Abroad?
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- Key points
- Most Irish holidaymakers take their holidays abroad
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- Figure 24: Consumers who have taken a holiday abroad in the last 12 months, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
- Couples the biggest market for holidays
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- Figure 25: Number of family members on last holiday, NI and RoI, 2008
The Consumer and Package Holidays
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- Key points
- Half of all holidays abroad are package holidays
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- Figure 26: Travelled abroad on package holiday, last holiday, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
- A fifth would never consider a package holiday
- Doubts about package holidays: insights from the UK consumer
- Not convinced by promises of quality
- Perception that package = herding
- Belief that an independent holiday is the cheaper option
What do Consumers Want from Holidays?
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- Key points
- Attitudes towards holiday destinations
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- Figure 27: Agreement with selected statements, NI and RoI, 2008
- Holidaying abroad still the favoured option
- Something old, something new: a demand for both
- Excitement and adventure – just not too much, thanks
- Lazing on the beach a bore for most
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- Figure 28: Agreement with ‘When on holiday, I only want to eat, drink and sunbathe’, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
- Small but steady number appreciate organised activities
Appendix
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- Broader market environment
- Economic outlook
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- Figure 29: Economic outlook, RoI & NI, 2007-09
- Market segmentation
- Type of holiday taken
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- Figure 30: Type holiday taken, last holiday, NI and RoI, 2008
- Channels to the market
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- Figure 31: International travel by RoI residents, method of booking, 2006 and 2007
- Figure 32: How last holiday booked, NI and RoI, 2008
- Figure 33: International travel by RoI residents, method of booking, percentage share, 2006-08
- The consumer – Booking the holiday
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- Figure 34: Agreement with selected holiday planning statements, NI and RoI, 2008
- The consumer – Holidays abroad
- Have taken holiday in last 12 months
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- Figure 35: Consumers who have taken a holiday in the last 12 months, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
- Figure 36: Consumers who have taken a holiday in the last 12 months, by socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
- Taken holiday abroad in last 12 months
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- Figure 37: Consumers who have taken a holiday abroad in the last 12 months, by socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
- The Consumer and package holidays
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- Figure 38: Travelled abroad on package holiday, last holiday, by socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
- Figure 39: Agreement with ‘I would never think of taking a package holiday’, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
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- Figure 40: Agreement with ‘I would never think of taking a package holiday’, by socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
- The consumer – Holiday accommodation
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- Figure 41: Type of accommodation, last holiday, NI and RoI, 2008
- Figure 42: Stayed in a domestic hotel in the last 12 months, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
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- Figure 43: Stayed in a domestic hotel in the last 12 months, by socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
- What do consumers want from holidays?
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- Figure 44: Agreement with ‘I like to take holidays in my own country rather than abroad’, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
- Figure 45: Agreement with ‘I like to take holidays in my own country rather than abroad’, by socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
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- Figure 46: Agreement with ‘I like to go back to familiar places for holidays’, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
- Figure 47: Agreement with ‘I try to go somewhere different on holiday every time’, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
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- Figure 48: Agreement with ‘I try to go somewhere different on holiday every time’, by socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
- Figure 49: Agreement with ‘When on holiday, I only want to eat, drink and sunbathe’, by socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
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- Figure 50: Agreement with ‘When on holiday, I only want to eat, drink and sunbathe’, by number of people in household, NI and RoI, 2008
- Figure 51: Agreement with ‘I like to go on holidays where activities are organised for me’, by age, NI and RoI, 2008
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- Figure 52: Agreement with ‘I like to go on holidays where activities are organised for me’, by number of people in household, NI and RoI, 2008
- Figure 53: Agreement with ‘I like to go on holidays where activities are organised for me’, by socio-economic group, NI and RoI, 2008
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