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Posted by Adele Youngs
15 May 2015
A bit of light relief that your parents would approve of
Everyone we speak to at the moment is busy...and I am sure that includes you too!
When we're busy, we sometimes need a bit of light relief to help energise us for the ongoing "stuff" that just needs to get done but isn't the most, well, exciting thing in the world to be doing.
So, in this latest blog post, we are giving you our latest top 3 "useful-but-quite-entertaining-as-well" videos that would be approved by your parents. That is to say, they are "educational", but also pretty fun! So, you can quite legitimately stop looking at those rooming lists for 15 minutes and catch some screen time without feeling bad.
Oh, and we've sneaked a bonus in about carpets as well. Intrigued? Read to the end of the list below and stop counting tickets for 15 minutes....you know you want to!
1) European highlights, and shopping! - Click here to see the European Tour Operators Association's videos on Europe, made in partnership with the BBC. Get inspired for your groups' next trips!
2) Show Me Britain - Go here to see Visit Britain's YouTube channel for highlight videos on destinations in Britain. Don't know your Bath from your Edinburgh? Want to know what's pumping in Pembrokeshire and lively in the Lake District? Sigh no more...
3) Berlin - Got groups interested in Germany? Want to know all about Berlin before you talk to them? Here's what you need to watch.
4) Finally, we promised you a bonus about carpets... Best. Website. Ever. Maybe...
Posted by Adele Youngs
10 April 2015
How NOT to sell an international tour
Here in the UK, we are in the middle of General Election "fever". This is the time, every five years, when the country re-elects all its political representatives. The winning party (or parties...) form the government and their leader becomes Prime Minister. Last time we got a coalition - who knows what we will get this time!
It struck me that an election is the most powerful and expensive form of sales and advertising that there probably is. The parties will all do their best to out-perform each other, sling plenty of mud around and try to promise "the electorate" that they are the best people to run the country. This is whilst simultaneously kissing lots of babies and being seen drinking lots of cups of tea like all "normal" British people do, of course.
There are lots of lessons in it for us lesser mortals, not least how NOT to do things. Most people in most countries distrust politicians, no matter what their beliefs. But, in our particular industry, distrust is a killer blow.
On that note, and bearing in mind the lessons that our political masters can "teach" us, here is my top 3 list of politician-inspired ways to NOT sell an international tour...and our top 3 resources to tackle each one.
1) Say you can offer a destination when you can't. Politicians love to make all kinds of promises to the voters, from lower taxes to better standards of living. The challenge for voters is to spot the liars... and it's the same for groups. Anyone offering something to a group that can't be done, or a tour in an area that they really don't know, runs the risk of being found out and never believed again.
If you don't know an area, there are many people who do and who can help you, including receptive operators, tourist boards, DMCs etc. It's OK to ask for help and it could just save your reputation. Click here to order our free book on how to choose a receptive operator.
2) Leave them waiting. Politicians love making manifesto pledges, and then when they win...finding lots of reasons not to fulfill those pledges. Groups, like voters, want to see results quickly. So, when a group leader approaches you, make sure you have samples and ideas ready to send to them fast.
Struggling to see the requests due to all the other emails in your inbox? Here are some tips on how to set up filters to make sure you see what is important, and file away information for future reference.
3) Fail to follow up. In the run up to an election, voters are bombarded with emails, flyers, calls and visits from the candidates and their teams. Once they've got elected, do you ever hear from them again?? Quite. In the same way, groups are not going to be insulted if you follow up with them - in fact, most will appreciate it. Statistics show that 80% of sales are made on the 5th to 12th contact with a prospect...that's a lot more than most people would assume.
Following up is critical to business success. Click here for a short video on how to do this and why it's so important.
Now I'm off to re-read my list of local candidates and decide who to vote for....
Posted by Adele Youngs
02 March 2015
Enough of Bad News!
Do you still watch the news on TV? I have to admit that, in the last year or so, I've given up.
It's not that I don't want to keep up with current affairs, it's just that I've had enough of rolling news coverage of disaster after disaster and how the world is going to end and we're all going to die...
Or the alternative, which appears to be live coverage of two llamas that recently escaped and ran around a city in Arizona for 30 minutes and took up four spots of the top 10 Twitter trending terms.
Image from BBC
Either way, I have slightly more important things to do with my time. Like compile a "rubbish-news-antidote" list for you of reasons why this is one of the best times to be working in the US and sending groups to international destinations.
1) At the time of writing, the USD$ is at a 7.5 year high against the EURO. This means that there are huge savings to be had for tours to the Eurozone in 2015. Groups that have perhaps been putting off travel may now find that their dollars stretch enough to make it worth their while looking at a last minute trip.
2) Provisional figures for 2014 show that travel by US citizens to international destinations was up by around 7% over 2013, and Europe has a share of international outbound travel of 18% (source US Dept of Commerce). In September 2014, for example, 1.2 million US citizens travelled to Europe.
3) Gasoline is at a record low price, meaning bus travel in Europe is at more competitive rates than it's been for a long time. This also helps with the cost of travel.
4) Some countries in Europe have economic deflation, or very low inflation, meaning that costs are not going up, while the exchange rate is making the USD$ stretch further.
If you've got groups interested in travel in the 2nd half of 2015, but who haven't yet confirmed, you may want to encourage them to get deposits in now to lock in some of these amazing benefits.
2015 is the time to travel - let us know how we can help!
