Audrey Hendley, president of American Express Travel, attended the World Travel & Tourism Council's Global Summit in Perth, Australia, this month, where she was part of a panel on tourism competitiveness. News editor Johanna Jainchill sat down with Hendley during the summit to talk about why young people use travel advisors and what Amex cards tell her about travelers.
Audrey Hendley
Q: One buzzword this year is "normalization," to describe slowing travel growth. But you said on the panel that you don't think travel is necessarily slowing.
A: In the second quarter, we had the highest number of bookings on the consumer travel platform for the U.S. and international. Not just prepandemic -- ever. And we see increased usage of hotels -- our hotel business is doing very well -- but across all verticals.
Q: American Express this year added 300 properties to its Hotel Collection. What does that tell you?
A: That when I go back to the biggest growth segment, the fastest-growing segment from American Express in our U.S. card business, are millennials and Gen Zers. As we continue to grow that segment, we have to make sure that our products continue to be relevant. So we added those 300 hotels into the program in anticipation and also in recognition of the demand that they're driving. Interestingly, of those hotels, many of them are downtown, urban locations close to the nightlife, close to the food, close to what's going on. Very apropos when you think about who the customers are. We anticipate adding probably 100-plus more hotels to the program next year.
Q: We keep hearing that Gen Zers and millennials are more likely to use advisors. Are you seeing a similar trend?
A: Absolutely. Millennials and Gen Zers are prioritizing experiences ... 70% of them say that the experience is more important than the price. There's so much information available to everybody, and everybody loves researching and learning about places, but at some point they want to make the decision about where to go. Talking to a travel advisor helps them make the decision. Because you're talking to people who have experienced the destinations, who can give you little tips that they have. And the travel advisor is a critical part to that, particularly for the bigger trips, the farther trips that are a bit more expensive.
Q: You talk about using card data to better service customers. What are some ways you do that?
A: We're looking at destinations that are popular. We're looking at how customers are spending in those destinations -- what type of restaurants, what type of experiences -- and we use that information to create products. When we're selecting the hotels that are part of the client hotels and resorts program, it's a very data-driven process. We want to make sure that we've got good coverage of hotels in locations where customers are visiting or are likely to visit.
We're looking at the data to kind of look at the advanced trends, see what customers are interested in, and that will drive our selection of where we make additions to the program. That data is rich in information, and it ensures we're making informed decisions in terms of the partnerships with the hotel we'd like to deepen relationships with. And when there is a big sporting event in a particular city, maybe a once-every-few-years opportunity, we'd add more product there.
Q: And you're seeing people travel much more for sporting events now.
A: People travel for their passions. For food, particular restaurants, yoga or sports. And what we see happening a lot now is people traveling for big sporting events with groups. They're using that to celebrate big birthdays or just because it's time to get together.