One Word - Experience
As a travel agent, you know that travel websites Expedia and Travelocity have empowered clients to book flights, hotels and cars without much difficulty. What this means for most travel agents is that they have to offer something those sites can't. Personal experience.
Does experience sell?
It does, and if you doubt it think about how those same potential clients look over reviews online. What are those? Experiences from people they don't even know!
How to Get Experience.
You can certainly learn a lot online. Most destinations have tourism departments who issue whitepapers, videos, and FAQs for your consumption. The problem is these presentations are generic highlighting public sites and activities while typically not suggesting specific resources and vendors. The truth also is, your clients can see those things too.
Picking a Fam.
There are literally more fam tours available than you could ever take. They all offer some value but choosing one should include more than looking at the bottom line. It's a great benefit to receive discounted trips from vendors but using Fams to travel on the cheap is like going to a hotel to load up on mini shampoos. If you're just looking for cheap travel, you can stop reading here. For those of you interested in how to turn a trip into bookings, keep reading!
Take a Fam Trip.
While research is nice, being there makes all the difference. Telling a client about a particular hotel based on a generic star rating pales in comparison to you offering a first-hand account. Say you have an opportunity to up-sell to a slightly more expensive hotel and the best you can offer is a comparison of written descriptions of the two options. Now, imagine you can say that you have been to both and the better hotel's poolside bar has a really cool bartender named James who has worked there for fifteen years and knows where all the locals go for really fresh seafood. Which is more persuasive? Better yet, which cannot possibly be provided by Expedia?
That's where a fam trip comes in. Fam is short for "familiarization" so you should plan on and expect to get familiar with the destination. This should include a fair amount of structured itinerary with visits to the most popular attractions, hotels, and areas for tourists. It should also include some free time so you can explore on your own. A spa day is great but unless you cater exclusively to clients looking for spa vacations, spend your time looking at the types of places and experiences your clients do want.
Types of Fams.
There are no limits to the kinds of fam travel available to you but here are a few common options.
- Regional Fams: The tourism department of some regions offer visiting travel professionals fully sponsored trips but these are typically held for travel professionals focused on booking larger groups (10 rooms or more).
- Escorted Fam Tours: Receptive service and tour providers often offer travel agents an opportunity to participate in a common or special itinerary for a significant discount.
- Private Fam: Those same receptive and tour service providers will also offer private tours at a discount. These are typically a single day event, but can be customized and allow you to ask lots of questions as well as discuss more sensitive topics - like commissions and how to book clients in the future.
- Hotel/Resort Visits:
- Villas: A much less common but very useful tool for becoming familiar with a destination is to arrange a stay in a private villa. This provides the most flexibility but also the most planning and dedication as you are 100% responsible for where you go and what you see.
Summary
The internet is a wonderful thing. It also can be completely overwhelming when it comes to researching. There are plenty of travel outlets that consolidate offers. Companies like mine, TA Fams, organize and hold familiarization tours and villa visits. No matter where you get the information, take the time to think about what you can get from it. I suggest it can be bookings and the ever illusive moniker of "expert" among clients.More Information
TA Fams is proud to offer travel professionals access to our Escorted Tours, Agent Villa, and Custom Italian Tours programs.
