FYI News and Insight
Your Best Way to Reach Groups (December 2003)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to the December edition of FYI, brought to
you by Leisure Group
Travel, TRAVEL Tips, Leisure
Travel Directory and Goexperience.com. The
mood at this November's NTA conference was
quite upbeat, with many operators
reporting robust
advanced booking activity going into 2004 - the best
they have seen since 2000. In private meetings with
two of the U.S.'s largest
tour companies, they report
perhaps their best advance bookings ever. In
our
opinion, NTA's improved their format with a shorter,
more open show.
Congratulations to Joe Lester
from Eagle Custom Tours of Alaska, he's the
winner in
our Ad Package drawing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Your Customers and Colleagues Say
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's a fresh batch of comments from advertisers and
readers we've received
this past month.
The December issue looks wonderful! Thanks
for the great
placement within the Presidential Libraries
text. The article (and magazine
issue) is making its
way through the museum halls and to the President's
office. Thank you again for you partnership.
Aimee Willits, Field
Museum, Chicago Thank you for this issue' CVB's and Hotel
Directories.
I use them a lot in packaging trips.
Jackie Stempfer, J&J Tours Love
the magazine, use it for reference a
lot.
Mary Andrews, Travel Time
Tours Magazine has improved immensely over the years!!!
Michalena
Hughes, Sunnyvale Senior Citizens Club This issue will be particularly
helpful as we plan
our Junior/Senior trip to Sacramento.
Daun Dunlop,
Lighthouse Baptist Church & Academy Great publication!
Dr.
Mary Jo DiMuccio None of these comments were solicited, PTM
publications
are What Groups Read! That's why we
produce 345% more qualified leads than
closest
competitor. And by leads we don't mean "batched"
leads
that are sent based on what region of the
country your business is in, or
what category (hotel,
DMO, etc.) your business is - we only send you leads
from tour planners who specifically requested YOU.
This helps you focus
your efforts on only those
specifically interested in your product, not waste
your
valuable time chasing down unqualified leads. New E-Marketing
Solutions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many of you probably don't
know that we have a
companion newsletter to FYI, called Going Places.
Going Places is our reader e-newsletter which was
launched in October of
2000. This opt-in newsletter
has obtained quite a following in the travel
community
and is now delivered monthly to just over 4,000 group
travel
organizers world-wide. Going Places has always been closed to any commercial
advertising, but starting in January we're opening
select sponsorship
opportunities including banner
sponsorships, destination features and sections
on
cruises, tours & packages, festivals & events and
international
destinations/packages. We've also integrated these commercial
opportunities
with on-line exposure on our other sites
to spread your message across the
25,000 visitors that
come to Premier Tourism Marketing's web sites each month. Really
want to make a splash? Let's talk integrated
marketing - print, on-line and
direct mail! >> Market Share Will Decline In The Majority of
Top
U.S. Inbound Markets
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
According
to the Travel Industry Association of
America's (TIA) latest Market Share
Indicator (MSI)
report, the U.S. will see market share declines in 16 of
the top 25 markets in 2003. The U.S. will see
significant losses this
year in many important overseas
markets. In fact, the U.S. stands to lose
market share
in eight of the top ten overseas tourism generating
countries.
Market share from Venezuela will drop the
most, falling nearly 13 percent
in 2003, followed by
Brazil (-9.3%). The U.S. will also lose market share
from
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, China, Colombia, France,
Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain,
Switzerland and Taiwan. "The
MSI is an important tool for the U.S. travel
industry to measure their potential
market. The U.S.
remains a top destination for many international
travelers,
but as the number of travelers worldwide
grows each year, a smaller percentage
of them are
choosing to visit our country," noted William S. Norman,
president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association. Leisure Group
Travel Commissions Two Young Adult &
Student Travel Sections
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Confession time...we've been listening to our readers
again. Turns out that
more and more tour operators,
travel agents and organizations like churches,
park
districts and YMCA's are expanding their efforts in
planning young
adult and student travel. To help our
readers better approach this market
and find
destinations & suppliers that cater to young adults and
students, we've commissioned two special sections in
2004 - June and December,
focusing on the growth of
the young adult and student travel markets. We're
also reaching out to destinations & suppliers by
forming an editorial
advisory board. If you're interested
in serving in any capacity send
us an e-mail. Finally, those of you with two nickels to rub
together
will be happy to know that we've created
special advertising rates for these
sections, with
Destination Plannin guide package rates beginning
at
just $790. Request
information on Young Adult and
Student Marketing Opportunities >> Marketing
Matters, By Mike Marchev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Show me excellence
at the bottom of any organization
and I will show you excellence at the top. Have
you ever stopped to wonder what makes the
best "the best?" I think
the answer has a lot to do
with the little things, and what goes on behind
the
scenes. I was reminded of this while in Aruba this
October when
I was asked to share a few of my
thoughts with a group of certified travel
professionals. Read
the entire article... >> The Business of "Search"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Search," as in "Internet
Search" is big business. Each
day over 550 million web searches are
performed by
consumers and businesses in an attempt to hone in on
a
product or service that meets their needs. In fact,
Searching has become
so popular that it now ranks
above banner advertising in terms of revenue
(31 -
22%), virtually a 180 degree turn-around from just 12
months ago. Three
years ago we recognized that two things were
happening in the group market:
1) More and more travel planners were going on-line
2) When they did they
got very frustrated It's easy to see why. There's no product available
in the market that cuts through the clutter of mass-
market search engines
(like when I pull up Chicago
Attractions in Google and get a 658,000 responses),
and hones in directly on the interests of group travel
planners. That
is until Leisuretraveldirectory.com came
along. Check it out for yourself.
It's cool and easy to
use; that's why over 8,000 travel planners do each
month. Right from the home page (without cumbersome
log-ins or multiple
page views), group travel planners
can begin searching for suppliers, destinations,
or by
Activity/Interest level. And if you're registered for
Leisure
Travel Directory, they can search for You.
Registration is free for suppliers,
Enhanced
Listings are just $79 ANNUALLY which include an listing
in
your category print directory as well, and Premier
Listings include a placement
ad in the print directory
and top level listing on-line. Check
it out...register yourself today...or
renew/upgrade your existing listing
>> Upcoming Editorial Features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get a jumpstart on your New Year's Resolutions by
promoting your products
through North America's
leading group travel magazines. Here's what's on
tap
for the first 1/2 of the year. Note that the
Supplements listed
are Leisure Travel Directory which
are sent to the readers of both publications. Click
to see our 2004 editorial calendar
Request
your customized advertising planner today! >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: advertising@premiertourismmarketing.com
voice: 630-964-1431
| 