Now that 2018 is well underway, we’ve taken some time to reflect on key travel payment trends. Backed up by the recent 2017 ABTA Holiday Habits annual research, we bring you our top payment tips and hints, giving a valuable outlook for the year ahead.
Enrich trust
Nearly a quarter (23%) of travellers are planning to spend more money on their dream holiday destination. These higher value purchases require a higher degree of trust and more travellers are paying with credit cards to ensure their purchase is secured. 52% of customers use a travel professional to book as they feel more confident booking through them and another confidence booster is booking a holiday with an ABTA Member (76%).
Offer more choice
83% of travellers are booking holidays online. As a high street agent, you can tap into this market by connecting both off and online experiences seamlessly. But it doesn’t stop there, one key travel payment tip is to offer global travellers a greater payment choice which can increase conversions.
Additionally, 85% of British holidaymakers prefer booking on a PC or laptop, but the number of holidays booked on a phone or a tablet is increasing. For this reason, a customised payment experience across all devices can help capture revenue from multiple channels.
‘Go that extra mile’ by varying the channels you offer by enabling over the phone and online bookings.
Realise efficiencies
Access to intelligent reporting and transactional data can help you to predict valuable purchasing trends, aimed at realising revenue efficiencies. This can also be used for loyalty schemes. Furthermore, efficiencies can be realised by maximising your payment settlement flows, enabling you to access funds earlier. Importantly, increasing payment acceptance rates can add extra revenue to your bottom line by simply tweaking a few bolts in your payments strategy.
Check out the ABTA travel annual research for more valuable travel preferences insight.