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Travel Agency - Your marketing approach as an Offline consultant

by Cristalys
11 replies
Hi fellow Warriors,

Please, your input here will be much appreciated. You, being an offline consultant, if you meet a business owner of a travel agency :
- what marketing advice would you give him to boast his sales?
- how would you proceed to help him?

Thanks for your suggestions.

Cheers.
#agency #approach #consultant #marketing #offline #travel
  • Profile picture of the author Cristalys
    Common Warriors,

    Please any suggestions of marketing techniques to boost an offline travel agency?

    Your contributions will be much appreciated.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daedalus
    I can't give you the exact formula since I am unsure which part of the market your client is targeting, but I can give you the general idea.

    You need to create a campaign which will stress the value of the journey as much as possible. Pretty scenery, hot women in bikinis and mai thai's a means to that, but your goal is not to sell the trip based on attractions, the goal is to focus on the feeling that these attractions give to the tourists. Feelings such as excitement, adventure, relaxation, whatever it is the trip offers. You should also have a copywriter think of something catchy and unique once you have the general idea.

    Now if you're talking promotion, I suggest making a deal with those ''mass shopping'' websites that offer discounts. The economy is slow so it's pretty optimistic to expect people to go all out on leisure travel (which brings 80-90% of the revenue to your client).

    What you could also introduce is a concept of a ''mystery gift box'' (I am unsure whether there's a term already in English, I'm not a native speaker). Basically it's a box that costs, lets say $500. You buy it as a gift for your loved ones. Instead of giving them a trip to Morocco, you have given them an option to choose between 5-10 different trips for that price value. Those are basically vouchers and you can pick one of them. If used right, the profit margin could be significant which will make your client very happy and quite loyal. I've used the concept for a retailer so I know firsthand.

    Best of luck
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    • Profile picture of the author princewally
      Originally Posted by Domsa View Post

      The economy is slow so it's pretty optimistic to expect people to go all out on leisure travel (which brings 80-90% of the revenue to your client).
      The travel agencies I've worked with make most of their money from corporate clients.
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      • Profile picture of the author Daedalus
        Originally Posted by princewally View Post

        The travel agencies I've worked with make most of their money from corporate clients.
        It's a different methodology. You're talking about who, I'm talking about the purpose of the travel. Then again it is possible you're mixing tour operators with travel agencies.

        And finally, it's possible you just bumped into those that focus on business trips
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        • Profile picture of the author princewally
          Originally Posted by Domsa View Post

          It's a different methodology. You're talking about who, I'm talking about the purpose of the travel. Then again it is possible you're mixing tour operators with travel agencies.

          And finally, it's possible you just bumped into those that focus on business trips
          No. In my experience, a travel agency's bread and butter is a corporation that wants to hand over an itinerary and not have to worry about booking flights, hotels, and car rentals. "This is where I need to be, make it happen."

          The posters in the office are all vacation destinations, but the rent is paid by getting execs to meetings on time.
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  • Profile picture of the author RoryF
    Focus on testimonials of customers having their "holiday of a life time" lots of vidfeo marketing is useful for this. Also build client base from referral programs!
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  • Profile picture of the author Daedalus
    You're talking about tour operators, not travel agencies, but our experiences do differ. I guess it depends on the corporate culture of these companies. Definitely something for me to look into in the future
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    • Profile picture of the author mileagefan
      Hi Domsa,

      I hope you don't mind my chiming in. I'm in the travel industry. Princewally is correct, at least for the US. Tour operators here have virtually nothing to do with corporate travel. Travel agencies here usually sell both corporate and leisure travel. Some leisure travel is sold as packages offered by tour operators. Other trips, particularly at the high end, are bespoke, with the various components put together by the agent from several suppliers. Corporate travel forms the foundation of many agencies' revenue stream. It's far more predictable.

      Regards,
      John
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      • Profile picture of the author Cristalys
        Thanks to all of you for your contributions on this thread.
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  • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
    Originally Posted by Cristalys View Post

    Hi fellow Warriors,

    Please, your input here will be much appreciated. You, being an offline consultant, if you meet a business owner of a travel agency :
    - what marketing advice would you give him to boast his sales?
    - how would you proceed to help him?

    Thanks for your suggestions.

    Cheers.

    I sell inbound phone calls to a few travel companies.

    $3.00 a phone call.

    We have people sign up for sms, then we send out txt msgs

    that say,

    ===========

    Congratulations, you just won a free cruise to Jamaica, and $2000.00
    travel cash certificate.

    You have 5 minutes to call us and claim your prize.

    ===========

    the response rate is ridiculously high


    They really do, get a free travel voucher, and a certificate voucher
    face value of 2k.

    the companies make there money by up selling them hotel stays
    port fees, extended vaca's, ect ...


    I don't know if that's the type of info your looking for.
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    Selling Ain't for Sissies!
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  • Profile picture of the author FormerWageSlave
    Sounds like you don't really deserve this client, I mean, have you asked in-depth questions about their business and did their answers not lead you towards solutions for them?

    Come on man... you gotta earn this.
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    grrr...

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