| FYI News and Insight
October 2003
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Powerful Marketing
Solutions for the Group Travel Industry
Welcome to the October edition
of FYI, brought to
you by Leisure Group Travel, TRAVEL Tips, Leisure
Travel Directory and also Goexperience.com. September 24th's bankruptcy
filing by Far & Wide
Travel sent shockwaves throughout the industry.
Not
since First Family of Travel went down (early '90's)
have we seen
such a sheer and utter financial
debacle. Imagine yourself arriving at a
foreign airport -
only to be told that the trip you saved, planned and
hoped for was not going to happen. Now, imagine
yourself having to tell 40
of your customers that. Premier Tourism Marketing publications stepped
up
to the plate at a time when the group travel industry
desperately
needed a leader. Within two hours we
sent an e-mail to over 4,000 readers
informing them
of the bankruptcy filing. By Friday afternoon of that
week we compiled a list of over two dozen tour
operators that are offering
assistance to groups that
have customers booked on Far & Wide packages
and
posted these on the new goexperience.com web site.
And finally,
to help our readers cope with this situation
and offer pro-active solutions,
we hosted a free
conference call for the industry where we discussed
the up-to-the-minute details, legal and insurance
issues. There are
many financial losers in this situation,
including PTM publications, as Far
& Wide was an
advertiser. But winners and losers shouldn't be judged
by financial means, but by the example they set at
critical moments.
in this issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* We'd Like Your Opinion
* PTM Forms New Group Travel Organizer Association
* Advertising is Just Salesmanship
Multiplied
* Attention Hotels & Resorts - Your Chance to Reach Groups!
* Visit the New Leisuretraveldirectory.com
* Turn Back the Clock
* Look
for us at these Upcoming Shows
PTM Forms New Group Travel Organizer
Association
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Premier Tourism Marketing
is pleased to announce the
launch of a new organization of Group travel
Organizers, called GO. In our discussions with hundreds
of travel planners,
the need for an organization that
represents the needs and interests of these
group
leaders came forward. We therefore have spent the
past two years,
first surveying them to determine their
needs, and then putting together
programs that
address those needs.
The introductory benefits include
a travel protection
plan for group members that pays generous referral
fees, a member-only newsletter, an online community
that includes message
boards, links, reference section
and expert advice. Other features are exclusive
discounts on services such as office supplies,
computers, overnight
shipping, etc., teleseminars,
reduced rates on travel books and seminars
in print,
bonus commissions from leading tour and receptive
operators,
and exclusive fam trips and discounted
seminar and conference invitations.
The annual dues
are $95, with 5% of the dues going to the Travelers
Conservation Foundation to help preserve our world's
treasures. GO also has
some programs that pay GO
Buck$. These are rewards that can be applied towards
dues, seminars in print, business builders, fam trips and
educational
events. As the membership grows, our
plan is to expand the offerings, with
educational
conferences, a preferred supplier program, custom web
sites
and more. Click on the link below to learn more
about GO. Ready...Set...GO!
>>
http://www.goexperience.com
Advertising is Just Salesmanship Multiplied, by Rich Harshaw
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your advertisement should act like an army of tiny
salesmen. Think about
it this way: if you play a radio
ad that is heard by 50,000 people, that's
50,000
chances to give a sales presentation. It's not some big
nebulous
blob of people, it's 50,000 separate individuals
all hearing your ad in a
"1 on 1" communication. Now
think about this: if you had a chance
to make a 60
second sales presentation 50,000 times to 50,000
individuals,
what would you say to them during that
one minute to give the most information,
build the most
confidence and the best case, and lower the risk of
finding
out more? What would you say? If you were
there in person would you just
say, "we exist...come
buy from us for no justifiable, rational reason"?
So
here's the acid test: If you were talking live to a
hot prospect, would you
say the same thing your
current advertisements say to convince him to buy
from you? Or would you say something else instead? If
you'd say something
else, then you need to rethink
your advertising strategy. Read the
entire article... >>
http://www.merchantibss.com/news2.asp?news_id=293
Attention Hotels & Resorts - Your Chance to Reach Groups!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Attention hotels & resorts, would you like to reach
more groups? Our
inaugural Hotels and Resorts
Directory is on-tap for December with special
introductory savings of 25%. If your hotel property,
management group
or chain is seeking to increase its
share of leisure group business, this
is your opportunity
to jump on-board and make a statement.
Questions
about these directories? We have answers! >>
moregroups@premiertourismmaketing.com
Visit the New Leisuretraveldirectory.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We've seen quite a flurry of activity on the new
http://www.leisuretraveldirectory.com
web site as suppliers
world-wide are jumping on-line and registering their
company in the secure login environment. If you've
not already registered,
go on-line today - remember
there's no charge to be on the web site with
a "Basic
Listing."
Or, for just $79 a year you'll receive
an "Enhanced
Listing" in the on-line and print directory (remember,
each directory is also distributed to 27,000 group travel
planners as
a supplement to LGT and TT Magazines) of
your chosen category, URL and e-mail
links, descriptive
copy and also the ability to place special offers on-
line. We have reserved "Premier Level" participation for
those that advertise in the print version of Leisure
Travel Directory, or
really, really good advertisers in
Leisure Group Travel and/or Travel Tips.
Benefits here
include top-tier placement in the directory, logo next to
your listing, extended copy including rates, hours of
service, etc., plus
the ability to place up to three
special offers on-line. Registration
is Free! >>
http://www.leisuretraveldirectory.com/advertise.html
Turn Back the Clock
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No, we can't make
you young again, but we can save
you up to 15% on your advertising. Reserve
your 2004
advertising space in Leisure Group Travel, TRAVEL Tips
or
Leisure Travel Directory by October 31st and you
can take advantage of 2003
rates. It's a great way to
save on your advertising by locking in on low
2003
rates before the '04 rates come into effect.
Contact your regional
sales manger for details.
Now before you go and get all mad at us for raising
rates, our advertising rates still represent the best
cost-per-qualified
impression in the group travel
industry. Combine that with our EXCLUSIVE
guaranteed
leads program, and it's little wonder that even in this
difficult
economic environment our page counts (the
number of magazine pages we produce)
are up by
15.5% over last year while our major competitors have
dropped
by as much as 25%. View our complete 2004 editorial calendar >>
/press_room/editcalendar.html
Look for us at these Upcoming Shows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We'll be attending the National Tour Association's
annual convention this
November. Mention that you
read FYI and we'll have a nice gift for you at
the
booth. We will also be attending the Educational
Travel Conference
in Washington DC, February 5 - 7,
2004.
We're proud to announce a continuation
of our
partnerships with two great shows for the group market
next year
- the Great American Road Show,
http://www.greatamericanroadshow.com,
held April 4-6 in Pigeon Forge and Cruise, Tour & Travel Expo in Minneapolis/St.
Paul on April 14th http://www.cruisetourandtravelexpo.com.
We've also just heard that Cruise, Tour and
Travel Expo is expanding out
to Sacramento next fall,
great news for all of you who want more business
from
the West. Are there any shows you're attending that we
should
know about? Drop us an e-mail and let us know what
you're up to!
mailto:jeffg@premiertourismmarketing.com
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