Booking Groups in travel is Big Business and can boost your business significantly. For the same effort often to gain 1 client and book 1 trip why not focus your efforts in gaining a new group that can pay you 10 times greater in commissions!
A lot of the tips were borrowed from Travel Pulse.
Selling group travel can boost your business significantly, and an easy way to get started is by following the advice of travel advisors who specialize in the niche.
For Claudia Mace of Delray Beach, Fla.-Commodore Travel, “communication is key. “Whatever you’re involved with is a place to start communicating,” she said, noting local churches and wine clubs as examples. “Everybody has some sort of connection to somebody. You just have to start the dialogue.”
Pied Pipers
One of the best ways to generate a group is finding a Pied Piper—someone who has a following. “If you’re an established agent and have a client base, you [may] already have a point person for groups
Melissa Erskine of iDream Travel booked 280-plus travelers on a six-night Royal Caribbean cruise for spring break. All she did was propose the Caribbean cruise and its kids-sail-free promotion to a Pied Piper with a large Facebook following. “She got me in front of an audience of 130,000” Facebook users, Erskine said, adding that the Pied Piper also promoted the cruise within her own community. “Bookings exploded overnight.”
To promote the cruise, Erskine gradually released information and branding images that she created on the destination, itinerary and other aspects of the trip on social media throughout the year leading up to the departure date.
Social Media
Social media is also an important marketing tool for Gwiin Correa of Memorable Moments Travel . She creates a marketing plan that includes posting photos and information about the cruise or resort, as well as the destination, to her 1,000 Facebook followers, who repost them on Instagram.
For a girls’ getaway package at Beaches Turks & Caicos, Correa designed a Facebook group for professional women and booked 25 people, eight of whom she knew and had invited via Facebook Events.
Supplier Support
In many cases, suppliers can make booking groups easier with dedicated group departments. “I find that certain cruise lines and tour operators are very friendly to groups and very agent-friendly,” Erskine said.
Other supplier-provided perks can include free accommodations after a certain number are paid for, tour conductor credits toward amenities like onboard credits and cocktail parties, and commissions on shore excursions for private groups, agents said.
There are benefits for clients, too. “Clients have a richer experience,” Correa said. “We all like to feel like we belong.”
The Challenges
Groups can often come with challenges, however. “You’re dealing with lots of different personalities—people who have different experiences with travel,” she said. “And you still have to deal with cancellations, keeping your space and being well organized.”
To make the process easier, Correa suggested using spreadsheets and setting up an organization system from day one.
For those agents just beginning to sell groups, she suggested looking for cruise line deals and “talking them up to anyone you know.”
She added, “I was on the Celebrity Edge’s inaugural and started talking to somebody who wants to charter a river cruise with us now. You never know who’s going to be at the end of that phone call or right across from you.”
Selling Tips
—Typically groups take nine months to a year to create. Gwiin Correa of Memorable Moments Travel suggested using spreadsheets and setting up an organization system from day one.
—Use Facebook Live to promote groups. Correa interviewed a cruise line business development manager on Facebook Live about Alaska cruising.“The next morning, I had six balcony cabins to book,” she said.
—Group rates are locked in, so clients who book closer to the departure date aren’t subject to rising fares.
