ABTO is the association of Belgian Travel Organisers. Its members include some of the leading players in the market including TUI, Vacansoleil, MSC cruises, Sunweb Group, Caractere, Club Med, Corendon, Continents Insolites, Costa Croisieres, De vakantie discounter, Interhome, Imagine, Flybru, Lagrange vacances, Ponant, Solmar, Thalassa, Travel World, Transeurope, Tooku, USA travel, and Wings ’n Weels.
To support this varied group of operators, ABTO chose GfK as their research partner to help them gain an indepth understanding the Belgian traveller, their recent travels, their intentions and their customer journey. The result is two research projects tracking the travel landscape, one following the other. The first is an extensive database of consumer insight covering 43 criteria based on monthly interviews with 850 consumers discussing their travels in the last 12 months. Delivered monthly via an interactive dashboard, insights can be analyzed based on factors including destination, type of accommodation, travel style, budget, marketing touchpoints and demographics.
The second is delivered quarterly and focuses on intended plans for travel. This report can identify emerging changes in traveller behavior and broader macro trends, such as the impact of major events like terrorist attacks or natural disasters on travel plans. Armed with this insight, members can adapt and respond to changing patterns of demand from a solid foundation of evidence. For instance, they can adjust capacity, pricing and promotion as emerging trends and behaviors are spotted in Belgian travellers. A third project focusing on the customer journey is already in the planning phase.
