A little over a year ago, Karen Deveson was appointed the first Collette Managing Director in Australia in the company’s 107-year history. We caught up to talk to her about her first year in the role.
Karen Deveson is just shy of a decade working in travel (with many years in marketing and publishing roles), but she’s as enthusiastic about travel as she was when she first joined the industry.
“Travel’s all about emotion, isn’t it? It’s how it makes you feel. Just think about how you feel once you book a trip, it’s so exciting, and it’s a great industry to be part of.”
However, she says she’s not naïve to the work that lies ahead.
“We need to make Collette a household name. My ultimate goal would be when someone stops me in the street and asks what I do and I say the Collette name, they know exactly what the travel brand stands for.”
Deveson’s plans for doing that are simple: Build on Collette’s strengths.
“The big point of difference for us is the people who design our tours live in destination, so generally speaking, we don’t use DMCs. So, if you’re looking at a tour of Tuscany, we have someone based in Italy who is putting that together and that means they’re across changes within those cultures.
“One of my favourite destinations is in Japan where our travellers meet the ‘ama’ pearl divers. These are women in their 70s and 80s who dive to collect pearls unaided without oxygen tanks, and the difference with our tour is they come back to huts and cook a seafood dinner, and we have an interpreter so travellers can talk to them.
“These are women who struggle to get to the rocks and some use canes and when they get there, they are like dolphins! It’s incredible, and it’s these types of small group experiences that are continuing to resonate with travellers.”
How travel had evolved
Deveson says the biggest changes she’s seen from when she first joined the company was that a year ago it was still all about revenge travel, and now things are much calmer.
“You couldn’t predict patterns and cycles and a year later we’re seeing the booking pattern return where people are booking nine months to a year out and we have more balance and calmness back.”
She says looking ahead, the retired or near-retired traveller is looking at slowing down.
“It’s more about what you do in a destination, so we know they don’t want to be on coaches, they want to be in destination and and they’re showing signs of booking back-to-back tours, so long-haul flights and then going longer and even tagging on a cruise, or doing a cruise and tagging on a tour.”
She says Europe remains the most popular holiday spot with Japan and South Africa also hot ticket items, and travellers are also seeking places more off the beaten track like Patagonia or The Galápagos, but regardless where they go it’s about slowing the pace.
“They want smaller groups and less big name hotels, smaller restaurants and a focus on doing things relevant to the area and relevant to their interests, so it might be they love design, and they’ll go to regions that reflect that, so I think we’ll see more of that ‘special interest’ travel.”
Looking ahead
Deveson says Collette is keen to look at partnerships with groups who are like-minded.
“We sponsor pickleball because they are similar in style to our travellers. They are curious and want to do things in groups and they are so optimistic about life, and I can’t wait to see where that partnership goes.”
As far as travel trends, she says she doubts we’ll move far from what travellers are seeking now.
“Maybe we’ll see group travel get even smaller and so they can get closer to communities and learn the way others live, but travel is about making you a better person and learning and that will always resonate.”
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