| FYI News and Insight
November 2003
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to the
November edition of FYI, brought to
you by Leisure Group Travel, TRAVEL Tips,
Leisure
Travel Directory and Goexperience.com. The tour operator bankruptcy
trail continues. After
industry behemoth Far & Wide Travel filed for
bankruptcy leaving thousands of travelers stranded,
another group specialist,
Fitzgerald Tours of North
Attleboro, Massachusetts shut down operations just
before the busy fall travel season. What's troubling
about these two
closures is that they both
occurred going into the strongest cash-flow season
for
tour operators. Typically, we see the majority of
closings of this
nature during the winter months when
business slows and cash flow tightens.
From a
supplier's perspective, it's more important than ever to
research
who you're doing business with, what their
payment history is, whether they
escrow consumer
funds and verify their membership in USTOA's $1 million
consumer protection plan (NTA is discontinuing their
consumer protection
plan as of December 31st). For
every group leader that's left holding the
bag when a
tour operator closes, there's a bloody trail of hotels,
attractions
and motorcoach companies with
uncollectible receivables. Think the
news is all doom and gloom? It's not.
We've spoken with dozens of group specialists
and tour
operators in the past few weeks that tell us 2004 is
solid,
some reporting their best 1st quarter in decades. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Thanks For Your
Opinion!
* Stop by our booth at NTA * A Great Opportunity for Museums,
Attractions and Shopping
* Getting Back to Square 1: Clear Letter Writing
by Mike Marchev
* Deadlines Extended on 2004 Advertising Space Promo
*
GO Welcomes Charter Members
Thanks For Your Opinion!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last month we asked your opinions on a variety of
timely topics. Check out
the results below, listed in
order of rank:
1) Most important group
market to your
destination/organization:
Mature
Religious
Students
Reunions
Sports
International Inbound 2) What marketing tactics
are you using to reach
groups?
Direct mail - Trade shows (tie)
Magazine
Advertising
Sales Calls
Internet Advertising 3) Which niche market
is being underserved?
Students
Religious
Reunions
Mature
International
Inbound
Sports 4) If you had additional marketing dollars, how
would you spend them?
Trade Shows
Direct Mail
Advertising
Internet
Sponsorships 5) Which market is poised for the greatest growth?
Sports
International Inbound
Mature - Reunion (tie)
Religious
Student Thanks
for sharing your thoughts, and look for
more survey topics in future editions
of FYI. A Great Opportunity for Museums, Attractions and Shopping
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our annual Tour Attractions Directory is published each January
as a special
supplement to the 27,000 readers of Leisure Group Travel
and TRAVEL Tips,
with a bonus distribution at major industry trade
shows and conferences. If
your attraction wants more group business (who
doesn't these days!), you
need to reserve your
position in this directory NOW. Placement ads start
at
$670 for a 1/6 page black & white, full-page four color
insertions
only $3,520. Your ad includes a Premier
Listing on www.leisuretraveldirectory.com,
where over
7,000 group travel planners visit each month to
research
group-friendly suppliers. <p>If you're positively strapped for advertising
budget,
you can still participate with an Enhanced Listing,
which includes
all your company data (name, address,
phone, e-mail, web site, plus a 25-word
description)
that appears in both the print and on-line directory for
just $79 for 12 months. Start the year off on the right foot, click on the
link below to
register directly on-line!
http://www.leisuretraveldirectory.com/advertise.html
Getting Back to Square 1: Clear Letter Writing by Mike Marchev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have had the pleasure of reading a college
student's handwritten paper
recently, you might agree
that what you are reading is less than impressive.
This
very experience prompted me to ask the
question, "What has
happened to our ability to
communicate in writing?"
If you are
to become the exception in business, there
is no better place to start than
with your writing. Read the entire article...
http://www.leisuregrouptravel.com/archives/Oct2003/Marchev.pdf
Deadlines Extended on 2004 Advertising Space Promo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reserve your 2004 advertising space in Leisure Group
Travel, TRAVEL Tips
or Leisure Travel Directory by
November 28th and 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.
/contact.html
There's
a host of strong destination articles on-tap for
2004 that cut across the
entire North American region,
along with special interest features and directories.
Literally something for every location and budget! View our complete
2004 editorial calendar
/press_room/editcalendar.html
GO Welcomes Charter Members
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since
our launch of GO, the organization for group
travel organizers this fall,
we've welcomed over a dozen
members from across the country. Group organizers
from religious groups, bank travel clubs, independent
tour and travel
planners, plus special interest groups
jumped on-board to enhance their professionalism
and
profits. We are very pleased by the response, but
more importantly
the high caliber of candidates we're
attracting. As GO expands, so will the
opportunities for
suppliers to reach this eclectic audience. Watch for
GO News, a new column in Leisure Group Travel, and
click on the link below
to learn more about GO.
Learn more about GO!
http://www.goexperience.com
| 