Secret Tips For Group Traveling Success
Have you noticed a change in the type of trips your groups want to take, or maybe the length or number of trips? Perhaps you have. The question is, is this a good thing? Times are changing and we all must adapt. As I talk to a diverse selection of planners across the Midwest, I am always pleased and maybe a little surprised to learn how some operators are making this new climate in group travel explode their business. What’s their secret? I’ve picked up a couple tips I’d like to share. Successful trends seem to boil down to two essential elements: make it meaningful and keep it fun.
Over the past 15 years, Matt Conner from Prairie Waters Fish and Wildlife Service has noticed how attendance explodes when programs offered can connect visitors to more than just information. After all, information is everywhere. And we really don’t have to leave home to find it. But offer that same information combined with a meaningful experience, and they’ll beat a path to your doorway. You could teach a group the history of snowshoes and how models have changed over the decades, but why stop there? Get those groups out on the trails experiencing snowshoeing and you have given them a meaningful connection: a new life skill. Now that’s fun…and unforgettable! “If it is not meaningful, it is sterile,” says Conner. Offer your groups a sense of accomplishment. “It goes back to the old saying,” says Conner, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he sits in a boat all day and makes up lies.”
And just how do we provide that meaningful connection? Michael Embrey of FunMe Events knows. His is a niche travel company that markets Broadway shows and other unique destinations to student groups and adult/family groups. Business is booming. So much so that he started another company called The N.I.C.E Society, which caters to the 30+ age group and gives them that memorable and rewarding travel experience. The N.I.C.E. Society may take you golfing, but first you will learn to make your own golf club! Thinking of a Broadway show? Well the N.I.C.E. Society has tickets to the Tony Awards! Their motto is “We don’t sell tours…we provide experiences.” It’s a winning ingredient for successful group travel. But there’s more…
When Lois Stolte of Thrivent Financial Tours organizes a trip, she always sells out early. She wanted to take 30 people to the Ordway nextmonth, and had to call for extra tickets—four times! The group is up to 55 at present, with 4 more on a waiting list. This happens often for Lois. What’s her secret? Her regulars tell me she offers good value. But they are quick to acknowledge the real secret to her success lies in the FUN. I heard things like “never a dull moment”, “haven’t laughed so much,” and “had a lot of fun.” Without question Stolte is successful with her groups, but more importantly, she loves what she is doing. Maybe that’s why everyone has so darn much fun.
Perhaps Stolte isn’t doing anything different from most tour operators. Before her longer trips, she gets everyone together for a meal and opportunity tomeet one another and get a bus buddy. On board there are games and prizes and movies. The traveler’s comfort is her focus, and massive fun is her reputation. So what makes Lois stand out? She’s having as much fun as everyone else on the trip! That’s right, she loves it and her joy is contagious—a key point we can all pay attention to. Lois got into the tour operator business 20 years ago because she wanted to go places. The basic intention of her business is to look for places she’d like to go, and then bring along friends.” Believe me, over the years, many of her faithful followers have become real friends also. And over the years, she has never lost her enthusiasm for her groups and her trips. She keeps the fun going at all times, getting people to interact and setting a happy tone.
As we feel the shakiness of uncertain economic times, we can all be confident that we have something special to offer. Creating memorable and rewarding travel experiences is as easy as connecting to something meaningful, then keeping it fun.
Come on! Put a smile on your face, remember why you got into group travel in the first place, and let all that enthusiasm shine through all that you do. When you are having fun and offering a meaningful experience for your travelers, you too will notice that “business is better than ever!”
