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Adventure Travel Tour Operator 2006 Pulse Check

Immediately prior the 2006 Adventure Travel World Summit, the ATTA captured some telling, confidential data from primarily tour operators and lodges.  This is the first of what will become an annual, industry-wide survey which currently includes the following data points:  

• Business/Organization Information (including revenues)
• General Business/Organization Operations
• Customer Demographics and Destination Interests
• Marketing & Advertising Practices & Budgets
• Sales & Reservations Structures
• Certifications/Training & Risk Management
• Responsible/Sustainable Practices
• (Adventure) Lodges & Resorts
• Positions on Adventure Travel
• Outlook/Barriers  

Mea Culpa…Due to ATTA performing an initial foray into the practice of industry surveying, unforeseen issues arose regarding data collection and response analysis. Because of this, the ATTA opted to delay the release of results, originally slated for release before the year’s end.  We regret any inconvenience this may have caused.  Rest assured, we’ve remedied the concerns, validated the data, and have taken away key learnings from this first ATTA study of its kind, and will work to ensure a more expeditious delivery of results to ATTA Members and survey participants in future efforts.    

Revealing Data…Survey Release Date Set for late February 2007
Below, please find a small sampling of interesting data points drawn from the survey, which will be made available in its entirety FREE to ATTA Members and survey participants late February, 2007.  Results also will be made available for purchase by non-members on the same date at www.adventuretravel.biz.  

Until then…Here are just a few snippets:  Did you know that among the adventure travel tour operators representing 33 countries surveyed in October 2006:

• Nearly three-quarters (71%) of respondents are very optimistic about business prospects in 2007 (level of optimism 7 and above on a scale where “1” is highly pessimistic and “10” is highly optimistic). 
  • Less than one percent viewed business prospects in 2007 with high pessimism.
    
     
• Respondents viewed the role of travel specialists/agents as still playing a role in the distribution of travel.   Specifically, when asked if the role of agents will increase or decrease in the next five years responses included:
  • Of the 26% who indicated they do not work with outside travel specialists/agents, half (50%) intend to work with agents in the future
  • The majority (47%) of respondents indicated seeing travel specialists/agents involvement and/or importance increasing
  • One-third (34%) see the role of travel agents staying the same
    
    
• The majority of businesses/organizations (41%) described their view of sustainability programs as “critical and makes sense for our business (saves money, allows premium prices, etc.)”.  Additionally:
  • 20% indicated “we do it but the cost/benefit balance is not clear.”
  • 16% of respondents view sustainability programs as “critical but costly – worth doing for ethical/moral reasons.
    
    
• A ranking of marketing priorities revealed the following:
  • More than three quarters (78%) of respondents indicated online marketing will remain a top priority
  • Nearly half (46%) placed media relations and PR as a second priority.
    
    
• Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the respondents find search engine optimization a useful information source for driving actual client bookings. 
  • 10% do not use search engine optimization. 
    
    
• Those business/organizations offering customers the ability to book at least some of their vacation online primarily through email (54%), followed closely by a web based platform (46%).
  • Almost half (47%) of businesses/organization’s not currently offering clients the capability to book on line, plan to do so in the next 6 months to 2 years.
    
    
• The 41-60 age group (42%) accounts for almost half of respondent’s client base, followed by the 20-40 year olds (29%) .