carolyn childs
Unlocking the Mystery Behind Travelers Planning and Booking
MyTravelResearch.com | May 15, 2018
Carolyn Childs, strategist at MyTravelResearch.com, says there are simple things travel brands can do to capture the traveller at the key planning and booking stages of the customer journey Moving the customer from planning to booking is the eureka moment for travel firms. It's the pivotal minute on the customer's path to purchase. That journey comes in stages: dreaming, the decision to go, planning, booking, anticipating, on the trip, and post-trip sharing. Travel industry specialists MyTravelResearch.com have written extensively about the stages of the customer journey. In a new report, Carolyn Childs, co-founder of the travel intelli...
How to Convert Travel Dreamers into Bookers at the Start of 2018
MyTravelResearch.com | February 2, 2018
At this time of year, millions of people all over the world start dreaming about their next holiday as they return to work after the December-January break. The travel industry needs to inspire those dreamers via an emotional connection then trigger them into making a booking, says MyTravelResearch.com, which shows travel destinations how to convert travel trend insights into actions that grow visitation and yield. "Many tourism businesses don't enjoy marketing," says Carolyn Childs, co-founder and strategist for the company. "They prefer to focus on delivering the experience. But to the potential customer, the first touch point is part...
How Destination Marketing Organizations Can Better Defend Their Budgets
Carolyn Childs | January 17, 2018
Don't wait for budget kick-back to happen. Here's how to be better prepared with data and arguments so you can retain valuable destination marketing budget By Carolyn Childs It's brutal reality. Many destination marketing organisations (DMOs) are now tasked with doing more with a lot less money. Marketing money is tight most places. US States are facing dramatic budget cuts. (Brand USA may even be scrapped.) Visit Britain has suffered years of cuts. There are many examples around the world. So what can DMOs do to better manage the process? Having worked closely with DMOs over the years, MyTravelResearch.com believes it's time for destin...
Why Customer Experience Is (Rightly) Such a Hot Topic in Travel
MyTravelResearch.com | December 14, 2017
Companies that anticipate and deliver what travellers want, when they want it, are more likely to command loyalty – and profits By Carolyn Childs Why is customer experience such a hot topic and buzz phrase in the travel industry (and others)? Answer: because in the age of the experience economy the quality of customer interactions at each stage of the path to purchase builds customer loyalty and advocacy. Both are closely aligned to profits. The reality is, big data and technology have enabled brands to understand us better – often better than we understand ourselves (I sometimes joke that Google knows me better than my part...
Talking Dirty: How Toilet Tourism Can Change the World
Carolyn Childs | July 29, 2016
by Carolyn Childs Every year I love reading about the Ig Nobel Award. This is an international science award that every year recognises a great truth about humans. If we can make an emotional connection to an issue, we are more likely to do something about it. The idea of the award is to recognise science that 'first makes you laugh and then makes you think'. The same is true of #toilettourism: the impact that toilets can have on the visitation of a place. Whenever we talk about it – including when Bron published her piece last year on the subject – people laugh. Then their face changes and they nod sagely. The next comment ...
Dark Tourism Comes Out of the Shadows
MyTravelResearch.com | May 16, 2016
Dark Tourism is throwing a new light on grim, sinister and sombre places around the world. Pablo Escobar's Medellin, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, Auschwitz, Jack the Ripper's back streets of London, the slavery and apartheid jail cells in Africa, all now attract visitors from afar. Dark Tourism is defined as any travel associated with death, suffering, murder, pain, disaster or the macabre. The increase in such trips and organised tours has led to the establishment of an Institute for Dark Tourism Research. It studies the ethics and complex challenges of a gloomy travel phenomenon that is gathering pace. Not everyone likes the trend....
Is the ‘Occupy’ Movement Changing Luxury Travel?
MyTravelResearch.com | September 8, 2015
Increasing inequality in wealth is one of the factors changing the nature of luxury travel. Social and political forces such as the Occupy Movement and government austerity cuts are driving some of the rich to spend their wealth more privately. The same forces have also encouraged the rise in socially responsible luxury travel activities. The trend to private consumption away from public scrutiny can be seen in the increase in purchases of mega yachts and private islands. Technological change and its impact on workplace communications has also triggered a counter demand among the rich to de-tech completely while on holiday, said luxury ...
