on tour: operational hints for hard times
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on tour � marty de souto, ctc
MOST OF US ARE CONTINUINGto offer trips during the current eco-nomic downturn. We know that if westop our travel programs till better daysappear on the horizon, we may nevermake a comeback.However, many of us have had to
make certain modifications in our trips– perhaps presenting fewer trips, per-haps offering shorter, less-expensive,closer-to-home offerings. But going beyond those somewhat obvious solu-tions, here are a few less obvious ones:
1Work with suppliers you’ve workedwith before, who remember you
and how well you worked with themin the past. Now is not the time to experiment with suppliers who don’tknow you and your track records andwho, therefore, are liable to set strictercancellation penalties, rules and regulations.
2Work with suppliers who are moreflexible in their deposit demands,
non-refundable policies, and last-date-to-cancel-without-penalty stipulations.
3When planning your trip dates,don’t just pick dates out of a hat
that you think will be good for yourtravelers or that are popular dates be-cause of weather or festivals or whathave you. Reverse your thinking – ask
the supplier what dates would be bestfor him. Often, your willingness to ac-cept a date when a supplier really needsyou will result in a much better “deal.”
4Consider booking into a publishedtour or cruise date that is going to
operate whether or not your groupjoins. If you only succeed in drawingsmall numbers, these travelers can stillgo – whether or not you reached thenecessary minimum numbers to oper-ate your own private trip.
5 Consider joining with another organization from the outset so
that both organizations feed into thesame trip.
6 Consider offering your tour onwhat is called “tier pricing” basis –
that is, different prices depending onhow many participants eventually join.For example, if a group numbers 20,the price is $995, if 15 it’s $1,195, and if only 10, it’s $1,395. You’ll notethat many adventure companies offerthis kind of pricing in their brochures.They invoice everyone at the higher$1,395 price and if, ultimately, morejoin, they then refund everyone the ap-propriate amount just before departure.
7Try other innovative pricing offerssuch as “bring along a new friend
at half-price” or two-for-one rates.Many cruise lines are doing this type ofpromotion now.
8When writing your marketing materials, give your readers a rea-
son why they can justify the trip. Po-tential travelers may not wish to appearfrivolous when others are suffering financially.
9 If designing and costing the tripfrom scratch (rather than buying
into an existing trip), budget more formarketing into your costing formulathan you usually do. You may find thatyou need to do more mailings, more“last call” letters, more public relations,and more raffles and giveaways to fillyour trips than you used to. We can nolonger get by with just publishing theyear’s calendar of trips and putting up a few posters.
10Consider including some “dogood” event within the trip. For
example, require that each participantcarry a backpack of school supplies andpre-arrange for your group to visit aschool and donate these supplies to lessfortunate youngsters. Projects like thiswill bring you more and better public-ity prior to the trip.
Operational Hints for Hard Times
Tough times may call for more mailings and other efforts to promote your trips.
Marty is founder and chair of the travel industry
training program at Berkeley City College in
Berkeley, Calif., where she teaches all aspects
of group travel. You can reach her by e-mail at
josemarty@yahoo.com. For information on her
latest book, How To Plan, Operate, and Lead Suc-
cessful Group Trips, click on Premier Tourism Mar-
keting’s educational website, groupuniversity.com.
14 December 2009 LeisureGroupTravel.com
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