Speaking as the featured guest in an AdventureCONNECT session hosted by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) last week,
Williams noted that suppliers competing on price against automated planning tools face a difficult path and defining a clear point of difference will matter more as margins tighten across the industry.
‘You can’t out-cheap a bot,’ says Williams. ‘The operators who’ll do well are the ones who know exactly what they’re expert in, who they are selling to, and don’t try to be everything to everyone.’
Addressing current trends in the industry, Williams says three-week journeys are now standard for Viva Expeditions clients. Two weeks is considered short, and even six-week itineraries are common among retired and semi-retired travellers. Williams adds that multi-country trips are the norm rather than the exception. A first South America itinerary might combine Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Chile in a single journey, while African itineraries are typically built region by region, with East Africa and Southern Africa treated as separate trips rather than one.
‘Kiwis don’t tend to do one country at a time,’ says Williams. ‘If they’re flying that far, they want to see the whole picture — Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Peru, or South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, in the same trip. It’s not indulgence, it’s logistics.’
In terms of activities, hiking and cycling remain the strongest interests among New Zealand clients, with e-bikes widening the audience for multi-day cycling trips that would previously have been out of reach for less experienced riders, she adds. Kayaking, ballooning and zodiac excursions on polar voyages also perform well, while higher-intensity adventure activities attract a much smaller share of this market.
