Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

Despite the recent high-profile cruise ship disaster that took place off the coast of Italy, consumers will still be looking to book passage to their favorite destination. The industry has changed somewhat as a result of the recession and this has implications for marketing. Service providers looking to fill cabins may embark on some new types of promotion in 2012.

Fifty-six percent of Americans expect to spend more or the same this year as they did in 2011 according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker. Consumers say they expect to spend more on in-home decorating, travel, remodeling/home improvements and health & fitness. Over a third (35%) say they are optimistic about their finances and most have set benchmarks to help meet their 2012 financial goals (87% vs. 83% in 2011).

According to a new Travel Trends Survey, travelers are also willing to spend what is necessary for their desired vacation – over 91% of Travel Leaders surveyed say clients will spend the same or more on travel in 2012 as compared to 2011. Travel agents are seeing increased interest and bookings for small ship cruising, off-the-beaten path travel, and international family travel. Business travel is also expected to grow in 2012, fueled by Millennials and Generation X professionals who expect to take to the road more often, according to new research from Deloitte.

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Zoos and Aquariums. The following are the predicted Top 3 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

The typical hotel focuses on two segments of the travel industry: business and pleasure. The corporate travel budget has recovered somewhat since the recession ended, but hotel operators are using new tactics to get more from business travelers. This includes introducing a suite of services designed to assist the business traveler.

Recently, the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) reported that business travel will grow 4.3% in 2012 and reach $260.9 billion. The U.S. Travel Association is expecting a slightly smaller increase of about 3.3% which they attribute to general anxiety over the economy and the upcoming election. But, both of these forecasts are good news for the lodging industry which is recovering from a steep slide that took place during the recovery. In addition, lodging operators are expected to employ the latest marketing techniques to get ahead of the competition.