TRAVELSAT gives 5 tips to EuroMed destinations for better meeting US Tourists’ expectations

TRAVELSAT measures competitive strengths and weaknesses of destinations benchmarking international tourists’ satisfaction. The agency suggests five tips to Euromed destinations to better address specific needs of the strategic US market:

1. Drastically improve experience of transportation! 12% of US tourists (up to 35% in some Euromed cities !) complained following to a negative experience in transportation. Most of them do not to find the level of quality standard they are used to having, especially about infrastructure (roads, parking…) and hospitality in public transports.

2. Promote landscape, beach beauty, cultural offer and hospitality of local people which US visitors are particularly happy with when travelling in Euromed destinations.

3. Ensure a “safe experience”. Feeling of security strongly impacts US tourists’ satisfaction levels. Most Euromed countries are well rated on this aspect, however variations remain high…with a risk of reputation drop particularly for largest destinations.

4. Help them not to get lost! US visitors often experience difficulties with signposting/facility of finding their way around and report also low satisfaction Indexes for Tourist Information Centers (not easy to find…and not open late!).

5. Improve quality if you can not lower prices! Food and shopping expenses at destination are reported by US visitors as rather expensive and not always providing expected quality level…increasing offer range and service quality (opening hours and hospitality in shops and restaurants) remain the best way to improve value for money perception!

(Results based on the TRAVELSAT pilot survey – Field date: 06-10/ 2010 - 1500 international tourists in 35 destinations).

Olivier Henry-Biabaud, CEO at TCI Research comments: "Benchmarking US visitors’ satisfaction is essential for Euromed destinations who wish to gain competitiveness towards a more senior and value for money oriented market"

About TRAVELSAT Competitive Index©: TRAVELSAT© Competitive Index is the reference global and independent survey benchmarking international tourists’ satisfaction in a standard way for all destinations, markets and traveller segments. It monitors +80 satisfaction and quality indexes for countries, regions and cities, based on representative opinions of tourists interviewed after full experience of their trip. TRAVELSAT© data are collected, controlled and provided by TCI Research, an independent research organization headquartered in Brussels specializing in survey-based tourism competitive intelligence.

Contact information: Olivier Henry-Biabaud - TCI Research Ldt18 rue Mareyde – 1150 Brussels (Belgium) +32 476 70 11 25 -  olivier.henry-biabaud@tci-research.com