FYI
- April 2002Headlines: - Travel
Media Influences Vacation Plans
- Readers Respond
- 2003 Editorial Calendar
- Joe
Veneto's Driving Opportunities
- ABA Economic Impact
Study
- Did You Know?
- Upcoming
Features in LGT, TT and LTD
- Get Editorial Coverage
Newspaper travel
sections, travel-related web sites, consumer travel magazines and other travel
media have a powerful influence over the way Americans choose and plan their vacation
travel. A recent TIA survey found: - 61% of travelers (82 million
U.S. adults) read articles about travel or destinations in the media, or watch
or listen to travel shows on TV or the radio, up from 55% last year.
-
37% of travelers said they contacted a destination after learning about it in
the media, and 34% said they visited a destination they read or heard about in
the media.
- 51% said they visited an attraction, theme park or museum
that was featured in a travel article.
- 48% have eaten in a restaurant
that was profiled.
- 41% of travelers said they have attended a cultural
event or festival that was mentioned in a travel article.
Consumers
and trade utilize media to make purchasing decisions more than any other medium.
Furthermore, although consumers visit travel web sites for information more than
reading travel magazines, they rely significantly more on the information provided
by travel magazines. Read the entire article at http://www.tia.org/Press/TravelMedia.asp.
What makes Leisure Group Travel
THE publication for today's group travel organizers? Here's a sampling of comments
we've received in the last month...
I really enjoy reading Leisure Group
Travel. It has such varied & interesting information." Georgia Supanchick,
Brule, NE
"Thank you. Excellent and helpful publication."
Robert Ellhamer, Los Angeles, CA
"The best tour travel publication
in the market! I particularly like the contact information supplied for the destinations
& attractions. Keep up the good work." Joan Gibson, Dubuque, IA
"Thank you for the excellent information, including web sites and 800
numbers. Makes my job easier!" Denice Ping, Ireton, IA
"We
love your book. It's just the right size to read when traveling." Peggy
Clark, Racine, WI
"I enjoy reading and getting travel ideas from
your magazine." Herman Soblick, Franklin Square, NY
"I
enjoy Leisure Group Travel Features and Ads as they give me good insight to new
travel ideas for my group." Hobson Rodenbaugh, Clinton, NJ
"I love this magazine - keep up the good work!" Marilyn Mays,
High Ridge, MO
"I look forward to your magazine and read it cover-to-cover.
You do an excellent job keeping us informed." Vickie Rose, Savannah,
TN
"I enjoy your magazine very much! All your pictures are a great
asset to your magazine and really help in deciding future places to take my group."
Marsha Froman, Hamilton, IL
"Great magazine!" Janet
Johnson, Eldorado, WI Two items of note: #1 all comments are
totally unsolicited; #2 we could have picked out a dozen more that mirror these.
The message here is clear. Leisure Group Travel connects with readers through
engaging content, plus superior design and quality. As an advertiser, you have
many choices in the marketplace. It makes sense then to choose only those publications
that are "must reads" with your customers. At press
time we are finalizing our 2003 editorial calendar, with the goal of having a
complete '03 calendar published by April 1 of this year. Not to tip our hat, but
you'll be seeing quite a few enhancements to next year's editorial. First, we're
expanding our regional updates in Leisure Group Travel to twice per year, thus
allowing us to capture more "what's new" information in each of the
domestic U.S. regional markets. We're also continuing to expand our international
destination features, in each edition. Travel Tips will have an even stronger
western U.S. and W. Canadian destination focus, not just for planners from the
west, but also from throughout North America, increasing its already strong market
position. If you're a DMO planning your 2003 advertising budget, we can send you
an advance copy of the editorial calendar. E-mail: johnk@premiertourismmarketing.com.
"There
are three areas of immediate action for travel suppliers driven by current economics
and psychographics of consumers," says Joe Veneto, industry speaker and
industry consultant.
1) They must understand key issues that impact regional
markets, value based products and consumers interests.
2) They must create
innovative packages to meet market demand and consumer changes.
3) They must
possess a reusable template to constantly create and test new value added package
products for a never-changing marketplace.
Veneto's innovative program
titled "Driving Opportunities" is custom designed for local, regional
and state destinations, hotels, attractions and cultural organizations. It drives
strategic and tactical initiatives to help the tourism industry create products
and events within driving distance to capture incremental "drive" business
to their home area. For more information, contact 617-786-9096, or e-mail joe@opportunityguy.com. ABA released a study at
its Marketplace last month that studied the economic impact of motorcoach tours
on local communities. It collected data from motorcoach operators, local businesses
and tour passengers visiting New York, Washington DC and Lancaster, PA during
the first half of last year. These were chosen for their proximity to George Washington
University, which conducted the study, and because they represent a major city,
a historical destination and a rural/ethnic destination, respectively. What they
found was that the dollars spent on a day-trip to DC was $2500; a one-night trip
was $7700 and a two-night tour was $12,000. In New York, the figures were $4500,
$11,000, and $16,000. For Lancaster they were $2500, $5100 and $9000. One interesting
aspect of the study was that half of the travelers were under 18 and were part
of school groups. Clearly the time of year and the destinations, particularly
Washington and New York, account for this. This suggests to us that the figures
may be too low when compared to the norm of a much higher percentage of adults.
We believe this to be true, even though New York, and perhaps DC, tends to be
more expensive than an average city in the U.S. We applaud ABA for funding this
study and hope they will be able to conduct similar studies in other areas of
the country in the future. Leisure
Group Travel delivers 88% more readers than Group Tour for 43% less? And, 375%
more readers than Bank Travel for $5 more? Cost comparisons are based on a full-page
four-color insertion running one time. To order your media kit, visit http://www.premiertourismmarketing.com/advertising/. Travel Tips (12,500 circulation)
May: Special NTA Edition! Mountain West, Northwest, California,
Learning & Enrichment Programs, California, South & Central America, Canada
- Closing This Week!!!
July: Hawaii, California, Frontier West,
Four Corners/Southwest, Europe, Outdoor Art
September: Nevada,
Northwest, Mountain West, California, British Isles, Canada
November:
Texas, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Frontier West, Four Corners, Southwest, Asia
& South Pacific, Cruising 2003 Leisure Travel Directory (27,000
circulation)
May/June: Gaming - Closes
today!
July/August: Tour Operators & Receptive Services
September/October: Scenic Rail Travel
November/December:
Tourism Offices & Visitor's Bureaus Leisure Group Travel (15,000
circulation)
June: Special NTA Edition! Pennsylvania, Kentucky,
Southern California, Southeast US, South & Central America, Historic Homes/Gardens
August: Louisiana, Missouri, Orlando & Central Florida, Mid
Atlantic, Europe, Soft Adventure Travel
October: Hawaii, New
York, Dallas/Fort Worth, Midwest & Great Lakes, British Isles, Cultural Tourism
December: The Dakotas, Oklahoma, Milwaukee, Southwest US, Asia &
the South Pacific, Native American Festivals As we are developing the editorial and
photos for the stories listed above, we are interested in hearing from any of
these areas that have something interesting you think merits inclusion in the
stories. We're also interested in acquiring relevant photos. Please e-mail johnk@premiertourismmarketing.com
with your info and/or links to sites where information is available. Also please
note that the size of the various editorial sections will be influenced, at least
to some extent, by the amount of supporting advertising. Thanks in advance for
your help. John Kloster, Editor-in-Chief Click
here to request a copy of our 2002 Media Kit and Advertising Planner. To
unsubscribe, click
here.
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