The Escape Industry: How Iconic and Innovative Brands Built the Travel Business

Travel as a concept is universally attractive and the opportunities for fun, engaging branding and marketing in this sector are arguably limitless. Glamour and appeal aside, travel is a hugely competitive, multi-million pound industry and marketers of all sectors can learn important lessons from it. Catering for mass consumer travel, from business travel and adventure travel, to specialist and niche interests, the providers of escape have been impacted as much by technology as they have by the changing habits and desires of travellers themselves. The Escape Industry presents an expert view of travel marketing and branding, focusing particularly on how travel has been utterly transformed for both consumers and providers since the beginning of the 21st century. Mark Tungate focuses on some of the travel industry’s most famous brands and shares how all marketers can learn from the industry’s rich experience of digital transition.

Tungate traces the evolution of this fascinating industry, from nineteenth century trailblazers such as Thomas Cook and The Ritz, to today’s innovations such as TripAdvisor, Couchsurfing and Airbnb, and explores the branding secrets that have enabled them to survive. A lively read full of incidents, anecdotes, unexpected encounters and a ground-breaking report from the final frontier and space tourism, The Escape Industry is at the cutting edge of this attractive sector, examining some of the biggest names in the industry. It will take travel and tourism students, as well as marketing and branding practitioners, on a journey to the heart of a rapidly changing business.