The luxury travel market is undergoing a decisive transition. Once associated with poolside holidays where leaving the vicinity of the hotel was a rarity, travellers are now seeking more immersive, cultural activities. That’s according to Jean-Christophe Guerin, CEO and travel designer at luxury travel service Continents Insolites. “The traveller is looking more and more for experience”, he says. “That is why, today, Continents Insolites is increasingly sought after by a high-end clientele that wants to experience a whole world of discovery trips. A trip with Continents Insolites is a nomadic journey filled with cultural discoveries and outdoor activities that tap into the local culture.”
That shift, combined with rapid growth in the luxury travel market, is shaping and driving Continents Insolites, which offers tailor-made holidays to a high-end market. The luxury travel agent is carving out a niche that is distinguishing it from the larger players, whose pre-made packages can leave customers yearning for a more unique experience.
€11.6m
Continents Insolites turnover, 2011
€14.5m
Continents Insolites turnover, 2014
By going beyond the basic elements that most travel agents focus on – namely flights and hotels – Continents Insolites is able to create a personalised package for travellers. Taking care of everything from meals to airport transfers, activities to trains and tour guides, the travel agent prides itself on helping customers by taking away the hassle that organising a complex trip can entail.
Those different elements can quickly add up for those planning a long trip. “A journey around the world with Continents Insolites can involve anywhere between five and 15 different travel components per day”, says Guerin. “For a six-month trip, that could mean around 1,800 components.” By working closely with the customer to arrange the trip, usually over the phone or via a one to two hour consultation over coffee, Continent Insolites ensures each of those components are aligned with what the customer wants. During these meetings the agent’s dedicated travel designers are also able to share their expertise, on everything from the destinations themselves to hotels and specific activities.
Custom service
For Guerin, creating the perfect trip is an art form. “Our business approach is like that of an architect”, he says. The specialised travel designer will put together the basic details of the trip, which usually takes between a few days to a week, before checking it all over with the customer. “We will then work on a more detailed design, refining it and adding any specific elements to make the trip unique”, says Guerin. With 50 to 75 percent of customers booking a trip through Continents Insolites after a face-to-face meeting – compared with only nine to 10 percent following a web enquiry – it’s clear the agent’s unique strategy is working.
That strategy is one the company developed in response to fierce competition from big, package holiday travel agents. A couple of years ago Continents Insolites wanted to reach a target turnover of 30 percent, but it lost out to pure play companies whose sole aim was to capture as many customers, and thereby bring in as much profit as possible. The company soon realised that by branching away from the basic package market, and offering a more customised service, it could overcome such competition while helping those on the hunt for a hassle-free, more unique booking service. It also meant the company could spend less on Google Adwords – just 0.3 percent of its turnover, compared to the five to seven percent figure for pure play travel companies (equal to 35 percent of their gross margin, according to Guerin).
One major area where the company has come to distinguish itself from those is in the amount of time it dedicates to customers, according to Guerin. “Continents Insolites values the importance of taking time”, he says. “For pure play companies, it’s a case of the faster the better.” Customers therefore get more value for money, by being offered a more comprehensively thought-out plan.
Another key area helping Continents Insolites to stand out from the competitive environment is its ability to cater for different segments of the market. “We understand the market in which we operate is one with different customer segments and expectations, for which we need to make very clear choices”, says Guerin.
Big spenders
It’s perhaps those factors that helped Continents Insolites weather the storm of the economic crisis and come out stronger than ever. “The crisis in Europe actually had a positive impact on us”, says Guerin. It was then that the business shifted its focus from having a large customer base, and offering lower-cost travel options, to a smaller, but higher-spending, market. “From 2008 we lost a large quantity of our customers and focussed on those with the highest possible contribution”, says Guerin, “from whom we can expect real growth.”
Continents Insolites made several changes in order to achieve that goal, adapting its marketing strategy, offering more substantial training to its teams, and replacing its catalogue with a luxury travel book aimed at a smaller, more niche sector.
That strategy worked, with turnover increasing as a result. The number of people booking cheaper holidays through the company (under €4,000 per person) shrunk by 63 percent between 2011 and 2014, but turnover increased – from €11.6m and €14.5m. That was driven by a rise in the number of people booking more expensive vacations – bookings for holidays costing between €5,000 and €7,000 per person increased by 34 percent, and bookings for those costing between €7,000 and €20,000 rose 30 percent.
Guerin says that the crisis also created opportunity for Continents Insolites in that the number of professionals seeking luxury experiences as a form of escapism increased. “We noticed a growing demand from hyper-active customers interested in taking time for themselves, especially for longer journeys”, he says, adding that pure play travel companies benefitted in a different way and from a different market – namely cash-strapped consumers seeking more affordable travel options. By capitalising on the more niche trend, the luxury travel sector was able to pluck valuable opportunity from the challenging economic environment.
A focus on technology
Continents Insolites is plucking other opportunities too, not least in terms of capitalising on the most advanced technologies in order to ensure the highest standards of service. “New technologies are at the heart of our customer service”, says Guerin.
In 2014 the company brought its global phone system into the cloud, for example, helping its workforce to stay connected wherever in the world they happen to be. “Our teams are fully mobile, and every one of us can access our database via tablet”, he says. “This means we are able to recognise the customer before picking up the phone, so we can prepare by opening up their file – from anywhere in the world.”
Continents Insolites is also embracing technology in other ways, for example by presenting certain proposed trips in the form of a digital tablet, encased in a gift box. “We are also developing an angel-guards network with our database from the cloud, so we can follow our customers and be kept up to date with what is going on at all times. That ensures we can deliver the best service possible”, Guerin says. And a key area for focus in 2015 is on developing new technologies to assist with marketing – in order to provide a unique, exceptional service that distinguishes the company from others, from the very first point of contact.
In order to achieve that, Continents Insolites is focussing on communication – an area that will account for five percent (+70 percent compared to 2014) of its spending in 2015, according to Guerin. The company aims to further promote its services and to position itself as “an expert for travels around the world”, boosting investment to increase this long trip “product” to 30 and 50 percent of turnover in the next few years – compared with a current level of 10 percent.
The company is also launching its “internal foundation”, a programme which will see it support 15 different sustainable projects on all continents – in areas as diverse as the environment, education, responsible tourism, preserving traditional cultures, and elsewhere. As part of the plans, the company is set to launch 15 projects in Africa, Asia and South America, with the goal of providing greater opportunities in education and preserving local wildlife.
That ethical focus is helping to further distinguish Continents Insolites out from the crowd. It seems only right that a company whose focus is on authentic, culturally immersive experiences should have as its ultimate goal a desire to help preserve local communities. Taking steps to achieve that aim, all while offering high-end consumers a chance to realise their travel dreams through tailor-made, personalised and unique experiences, is something helping to set Continents Insolites out from the rest, making the company an inspiring pioneer for others in the industry to follow.
