As Nicole Scherzinger secures a 871% increase in searches to Antigua, we ask Bob Atkinson, travel expert at Travel Supermarket about the patterns of holiday makers in response to the media.
Why do you think that The X Factor is responsible for such an interest in the areas the judges live?
The show is high profile attracting audiences of 10 million plus and involves well known stars in exciting locations. Add into that the emotional factor of winners and losers all filmed in beautiful and eye catching locations and many people will be interested to see what it costs to travel there and maybe even to book and visit what looks to them as a great place to perhaps take a holiday.
Why do you think that Nicole is the most influential judge?
Nicole is a judge that many women would like to be and many men would love to meet. She is highly attractive, clearly has an emotional side to her which people connect with and looks glamorous. She is also very down to earth and funny and doesn’t come over as negative or combative in her approach. An all-round great person who people like. Couple that with going to a superb destination like Antigua, a paradise dream location for many and interest is going to surge.
Why do you think that Vegas proved to be more popular than Dubai last year?
Las Vegas was portrayed as bright lights, entertainment and an overall fun destination and always goes down well with viewers. Dubai is also a popular destination and has been the winner in previous years such as the time that Dannii Minogue went to the city with her contestants to stay at the Atlantis complex accompanied by her sister Kylie. They are different products with differing appeals and my take was that in 2012, Vegas had the X factor over its Middle East rival.
How much of a traveller’s choice can be based on media attention around a destination?
Media attention has a huge impact on the public. When we see news negative events around destinations, both searches and bookings do drop as we have seen in recent years with places like Tunisia and Egypt. Once the news dies down, things slowly return to normal as have seen in Tunisia. Ironically there was a huge amount of media around Spain being on the brink of financial collapse in the last two years, however as it drove down the cost of holidays there it has actually resulted in the highest level of Brits visiting the country ever in the last 12 months.
We have also seen TV and Films drive interest in destinations. From travel related shows such as Simon Reeves trip around Australia or the Indian Ocean, to the Lord of The Rings trilogy promoting New Zealand if the destination grabs you when you see it then it makes you want to enquire further and possibly book. There is also traffic driven by celebrities visiting destinations from the stars of The Only Way is Essex visiting ‘Marbs’ and Las Vegas to Kate Moss being spotted in the latest Caribbean ‘be seen’ island. The pictures get printed and many want to emulate the stars.
Why do celebrities have such an effect on people’s travelling choices?
Its ‘wannabe’ culture. In a world where people are increasingly influenced by the current crop of ‘stars’ travelling to a destination you have seen your favourite star visit is your way of emulating the lifestyle, perhaps even visiting bars, restaurants and even the accommodation they were staying in. And with relentless wall to wall coverage in online media as well as traditional newspapers and magazines, people constantly see images which get them dreaming.
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