Trust is the magic word

Interview with Lobster Experience co-founder Astrid Oberhummer

Hardly anyone knows the luxury travel industry as well as she does: Lobster Experience co-founder Astrid Oberhummer has been working successfully in the luxury hotel industry for over 25 years. In CC VIP, she gives a profound assessment of the luxury travel industry in times of the coronavirus crisis - between wishful thinking, reality and vision.


Ms. Oberhummer, the travel industry seems to be breathing a sigh of relief at the moment, and the opening of borders in Europe could breathe new life into the travel plans of many customers. Are your hotel and travel agency partners already experiencing this? Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

A. Oberhummer: Yes, absolutely. We're not talking about sunshine at the end of the tunnel yet, but the first bright rays of light. Some end consumers are already looking around again and looking for travel opportunities for the upcoming summer vacation period or even for the fall. People's desire to travel is unbroken. What matters now is how, where and when travel restrictions can be sensibly lifted.


In recent months, the tourism industry has also gained a lot of experience with digital tools for online meetings. In your opinion, are these online meetings a good alternative to analog meetings or at best a stopgap solution when face-to-face contact is not possible?

I think they are definitely a good addition to analog meetings. If you can't meet in person, an online meeting creates important closeness between all participants. But the reason why I don't see this as a panacea, at least not for our industry, is that luxury tourism is a highly emotional business. It doesn't work without emotions, neither for end customers (customer journey), nor for travel designers (emotional sales) or hoteliers (unique product, top service). It is still essential for our industry to maintain personal contact, see each other, exchange ideas and have fun together. This must and will continue!


You developed the successful luxury travel trade fair loop years ago and were already planning the digital format loop Online before the crisis, which will be launched at the end of June. What has been the response from hotel and travel agency partners, and who can take part and how?

It seems we had the right instinct even before Corona! We thought about this for a long time and ultimately had our own tool programmed in order to be able to optimally map the loop format online.
The idea behind this is to open a door to the loop network for participants with a smaller budget and to further strengthen our year-round approach. As we are currently seeing, it also offers an alternative for meetings during the current travel bans and restrictions. The response to our first edition has been very good. In future, Loop Online will be published in the first week of every new month; to date, we have published dates up to September. The usual loop quality will not change. Luxury travel providers worldwide and luxury travel sellers from German-speaking countries and the CEE markets - as well as media professionals - can take part.


Provided the coronavirus can be contained: Will the "analog" loop continue to exist at various locations in the DACH region in the future? Have you already made plans?

It absolutely will! Our next loop will take place from November 15-18, 2020 at the Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol, as usual with 62 appointments over three days, the world's best luxury travel products and sellers from the German-speaking markets. Other formats in November include loop MICE, loop CEE and loop Media. 2021 will continue with loop Spring in Vienna from April 18-21. Followed by a completely new loop format: loop reverse (April 21-24, 2021). Here we bring together the best hotels and tourism providers from the luxury travel segment of the German-speaking markets with top sellers from all over the world.


Many airlines have now published their flight schedules. Your assessment: Will the travel business recover somewhat, at least in Europe? And how do you assess the willingness of travelers to book a luxury long-distance trip for autumn/winter?

In the here and now, the booking situation is still restrained and short-term. However, this is also due to the fact that the travel ban for many European countries was only recently lifted. There are already a number of inquiries and bookings for fall and winter. It is clear that people want to travel again after such a long dry spell. The travel agencies that have supported their regular customers through the crisis and ensured good customer loyalty, as well as strengthening the relationships of trust with their service partners (hotels, etc.) in the respective destinations, are now benefiting from this. Trust is the magic word.


The phrase "After Corona will not be like before Corona" keeps coming up. What do you think this means for the travel industry?

We have all experienced in recent weeks that a situation like this changes our lives and habits. This applies to all areas of life without exception. For the travel industry, I see changes in buyers' travel behavior in particular. In future, different priorities will probably be set and new expectations formulated. This will result in a new picture for travel providers, starting with changed configurations in airplanes, new price models and restrictions on accommodation. The new distancing and hygiene rules will change the nature of vacations.


The coronavirus pandemic has led to many tragedies worldwide and in all areas. Is there anything that you will remember positively from this time?

I have kept my ear very close to our network in recent weeks and months and have experienced many positive moments alongside understandable anger, hopelessness and disappointment. For example, great solidarity. Not everyone can fight this crisis alone in order to maintain their business. We ourselves founded a platform for travel sellers - loop FACES - where we initiated a weekly online meeting with four guest speakers from the industry. The positive feedback has shown us that hope, courage, community and, of course, important tips from professionals can help us all. On the other hand, I also experienced an endless amount of creativity, new energies and models that are now developing and are guaranteed to change the future of our industry. I will certainly remember that.