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THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS 4
EDITORIAL
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IT’S A-OK! YOU CAN USE THE WORD “OUT”
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GLOBAL REPORT ON LGBT TOURISM - DOWNLOAD
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STEPS TO SELLING THE RAINBOW
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THE TRAVEL INSTITUTE – PROMOTE YOUR PROFESSIONALISM
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LGBT PUZZLEMENT
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SAFER TRAVELS
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KEEP CALM IT’S JUST A BREXIT WOUND
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20 + EGUIDES OFFERING HUNDREDS OF IDEAS
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The DESIRE to travel starts early and continues throughout one’s life – are you marketing to Generation Z?
Share your money making ideas in SELLING TRAVEL. CONTACT Steve Crowhurst steve@sellingtravel.net 250-760-0893 www.sellingtravel.net
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Contributors Steve Crowhurst, Anthony Dalton, Steve Gillick.
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SALES & MARKETING TIPS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES FOR ALL TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS
Steve Crowhurst, Publisher
SELLING THE RAINBOW The LGBT community for all the wrong reasons has, from a news point of view, been front and center. The Orlando tragedy brings to mind many, many things and as always when innocent people are killed, or when someone simply passes away in their sleep, to me it’s a reminder that our lives are short to begin with, let alone cut short. For those with things to do in their lifetime, just get it done. That’s the key. Get it done. Relating the Get It Done comment to selling travel, there is so much to sell and so many places to see and things to do that there is no time to sit and stew. One thing, as a travel trade professional, you can do is to SELL THE RAINBOW. You can translate that as pushing your clients, all clients, to get out there and complete their dream trip, sooner than later. SELLING THE RAINBOW also means looking out for your LGBT community and offering them the very best of your travel services. In this issue of Selling Travel we explore selling the LGBT traveller, and also things you can do related to having your clients travel safely and more aware of their surroundings. Let’s get busy, and don’t forget you have a series of e-Guides you can purchase from The Travel Institute that will help you move ahead in most things related to selling travel. Here’s to your continued success! Best regards. Steve Crowhurst, CTC, CTM Hon. steve@sellingtravel.net www.sellingtravel.net
Yes you can use the word “OUT” when marketing to the LGBT customer.
For those of you who are new to selling travel and for the straight agents who are thinking of attracting their local LGBT travellers – there is sometimes a challenge in knowing how to market to the LGBT community. A quick win would be to search online for gay travel agencies and suppliers and review the wording they use. The four companies shown above selected at random all use the world “OUT” in their name.
You can follow suit and go for GET OUT, or COME OUT AND PLAY… or GET OUT ON THE OCEAN (cruises)… not difficult to weed in the OUT word and chances are, hey straight travellers will respond to the slogan too. SO now all you have to do yourself it GET OUT and go OUT and talk to your prospective gay travellers who are already… wait for it.. OUT!
STAY ON TOP
This Report is 2012, but the info is still worth the read.
The acronym of LGBT has expanded to include sexual orientations other than straight, so if you are thinking of attracting your LGBT community to do business with you, then you should do your due diligence and explore the expanded acronym of LGBTTIQQ2S. The definition being:
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgendered, Intersexual, Queer, Questioning, 2-Spirited
Now here’s the thing. If we go with the call of community and each of us supporting the other then surely there should be an “S” somewhere in that acronym for Straight. Why not? If not, then it’s still them: LGBTTIQQ2S and us: Straight. Meaning there’s a barrier, a fence, a gap in the community at large. Based on my view of Selling The Rainbow, it will include Straight clients of all races, colours, creeds, religions… blah, blah, blah. Here we go:
Chances are, if you are straight you have not ventured out too often to engage your local LGBT community in search of new business. You will no doubt have one or two gay clients who found you and that’s about it. Gay travel agents are generally not so closed off to who they sell to and attract the straight traveller without too much pondering. A travel client is a travel client. For the Record As a straight TA you might be wondering about the needs and wants and what drives a gay traveller to travel. Well, surprise! The same reasons apply whether the traveller is gay or straight. They wanna see it! Sense it. Experience it.
Your gay traveller has the best of both worlds if you like. They can book on a generic all-purpose tour or, they can book on a gay focused tour, meaning their fellow travellers will be mostly from the LGBT world-wide community. Travelling With Groups You’ll not find too many straight travellers booking on a gay focused tour product, unless of course the itinerary is a one of a kind. Or, that straight couple for instance find the personalities of gay travellers easier to travel with than their fellow straight travellers. After that, it’s all down to the individual and how they think, act, do and handle the world around them.
To me, everyone has a rainbow they like to look at and in terms of travel that means a dream trip. The #1 on their bucket list. The Before You Die trip.
“We’ve got some great trip ideas for you. Call us today!”
Which Rainbow Are You Selling Today? It’s your world and you can colour your rainbow any colours you want. There’s the established rainbow flag as you know and you can find images online to support your LGBT tour or marketing campaign.
Here’s another rainbow image that could indicate your agency loves to do business with the LGBT community.
You can also as I say, create your own rainbow to attract would-be clients. In fact you can even use one of your photographs where you have caught a beautiful shot of an arcing rainbow. When you use the rainbow image, the general public will, today, automatically connect it to the LGBT community and your straight traveller may not feel included. So you could add a line of white and black and Ginger if you’re trying to win my business! Rainbow = Dream In my world a rainbow and dream trip go together. You can also use the Somewhere Over The Rainbow theme to say… there’s a trip for you. There’s also many images featuring a pot of gold over the rainbow. Now that can be used to suggest savings, two for ones and any other supplier options that save money or add value. Here’s a great image linking rainbow colouring to ideas i.e. lightbulb.
The Steps so Far Alright… here’s what you need to do in order to capture your share of the combined LGBT and straight rainbow market. 1. Collect rainbow images that you can interpret by using supporting slogans. 2. Add a rainbow flag to your agency window, your website, your social media accounts, and letterhead / printed materials. Business card too will help spread the word. 3. Advertise locally, hold local events, and invite the LGBT community to a travel night. Straight folk allowed in too! 4. Survey everyone’s DREAM RAINBOW trip of a lifetime.
as
in
Rainbow Tour Companies Are you up to speed on gay focused tour companies, hotels, events etc.? Well if you didn’t know, yes there are dedicated travel suppliers who offer travel & tours to the LGBT traveller.
Reaching Out Here’s a one stop shop for those of you who want to serious reach the LGBT traveller nationwide. Check it out.
You can start right here, by clicking to the website of IGLTA.ORG. For more media resources click here then click on Media. More Than Clubs Yes, if you weren’t aware of it, LGBT travellers do put their lives on the line and seek out soft and extreme adventures. So be sure to include your LGBT list when marketing slogging to the base camp or Everest.
Then click the link below to locate the suppliers who serve the LGBT traveller.
Click the image to read about the adventures offered by HE Travel.com
https://www.iglta.org/tour-operators/
Now here’s an example of what I’m suggesting and that is bringing your Gay & Straight travellers together or at least market the same tour to all.
Okay, over to you. Start selling the rainbow and make it any colour you want… as long as you include everyone under it. I’ll leave this page with a snazzy rainbow image.
The Travel Institute announced details of its 3rd annual “Promote Your Professionalism” program, a month-long campaign in July created to help travel professionals advance in their careers through greater access to certification training as well as the skills needed to promote this expertise to their clients and the media. Throughout July, travel professionals can enroll in the Certified Travel Associate (CTA), Certified Travel Counselor (CTC), or Certified Travel Industry Executive (CTIE) programs and qualify to receive a 50-percent savings thanks to the generous scholarships from The Travel Institute Fund. Depending on selected coursework, the value may be as high as $250 off standard curriculum pricing. Individuals must apply for the certification scholarships and answer several questions before being accepted. The application form is on The Travel Institute’s website at www.thetravelinstitute.com. Complementing the certification-scholarship offer in July are four interactive webinars, a podcast, and twice-weekly e-communications, all focused on how to effectively market yourself as a travel professional.
July’s four webinars are led by members of The Travel Institute’s Professional Educators Program, along with other industry veterans. Cost is free to Institute members and $19.99 for nonmembers, per session. All webinars begin at 1 p.m. Eastern. The schedule is as follows:
July 12 – “How to Promote your Professionalism and Certification with the Media” with Richard Earls, publisher, Travel Research Online
“We introduced Promote Your Professionalism in 2014 during our 50th anniversary as a way to give back to the industry,” said COO Diane Petras, CMP, CTIE. “In the last two years, The Travel Institute Fund has endowed more than $100,000 in scholarships for CTA, CTC, and CTIE certifications during this agent outreach. That translates to helping more than 600 professionals reach their educational goals through this special endowment – and that The schedule continues as doesn’t even include the thousands of people who took advantage of follows: the PR training. July 21 – “Powerful Public “It’s clear to us that people understand the value of certification, but Speaking” with Kate may not have the financial resources to see it through, nor the knowKoziol, CTC, director of how to promote it once they complete the comprehensive training. growth strategies, Our Promote Your Professionalism program makes both happen.” Winger Marketing Also during Promote Your Professionalism month, The Travel Institute’s popular “Hot Tip Tuesday” e-newsletter and member-only “Friday Five” blog posts will focus on selling yourself as a travel professional. In addition, a new video, “Do Your Social Photos Boost Your Professionalism?” produced by Catherine Heeg, founder, Customized Management Solutions, will provide tips to elevate photos and graphics to new levels. All Hot Tip Tuesday subscribers will receive an email link to the podcast.
Advanced registration is required for the Promote Your Professionalism webinars. To register or for more information about the certification scholarships, visit here.
July 26 – “How to Promote Yourself as a Romance Expert” with Lisa Sheldon, CTC, MCC, executive director, Destination Wedding & Honeymoon Specialists Association
July 28 – “How to Promote Yourself as a Wellness Expert” with Anne Dimon, publisher, Travel to Wellness
You are not alone if you are trying to understand the world of the LGBT traveller – that is if you’re straight. Here to help you are many associations and media companies who all promote to the LGBT community and therefore have done their due diligence in terms of what attracts an LGBT customer to do business. In this case, with you. Then you have plenty of LGBT travel magazines and lifestyle magazines to access to better understand article content and words, slogans etc. Pretty much the work has been done for you. But there’s more:
One of the best ways to better understand you LGBT travelling community is to chat with your gay friends, that is assuming you have some. If not, then look for a relative who is gay or simply place an ad in a gay newspaper or send out a social media call that you would like to have a think tank, a get together to discuss local travel needs by the LGBT community. With your sounding board in place, you can then pitch your questions and obtain first hand answers that will or might differ per person of course but then you’ll have the info you need on which to base your marketing plan. Some of the questions that need to be asked are generic and some personal and mostly typical. In other words the exact same questions you ask a straight traveller in order to get the info you need to service them better. Try these: 1. What is the most travelled to destination for gay travellers who want a sun destination? 2. Which cruise line is preferred by gay cruisers?
3. Is there a specific tour company that gay travellers prefer when travelling Europe? 4. Same for hotel chains, car rental firms etc. 5. How many trips do you take per year? 6. Are there any festivals and events you like to attend? 7. What is your (specific now) dream trip and have you set a date for it? 8. What magazines do you read (generic to gay)? 9. What would attract you to do business with a straight agency? 10. Would that straight agency need to hire a gay travel agent to serve you? Right over to you. Start working on your ideas for attracting that primary date / information and then your marketing plan and list of services will be better suited to attract gay travellers from your local community scene.
It’s one of those bandwagons the media loves to jump on after such tragedies as the Orlando shootings at the gay club. The concept of travelling safely always come to mind and the repetitive content that we see day in day out does something to our collective psyche. Some top up with more guns and others head out to travel to prove the terrorist did not reach them psychologically. The main thing to learn from this media push is that yes, we can all be more aware when it comes to travelling – and that’s at home, and overseas. Here’s how:
The worst thing we can do, and many do it, is to become paranoid. Easier said than done for many people especially those directly affected by a tragedy be it a mass shooting, or a personal attack. It’s been stated many times and most government information for travellers will tell us, not to frequent areas, locations and events where trouble could and more than likely break out. But as humans we tend to think for ourselves and hence into danger we go. Could be walking an isolated trail used by grizzlies for thousands of years, or stepping out late at night to buy something from the corner store.
This article is not focused on the LGBT community however because of the nutcases in our society, if we stand out in any way (and here’s me with ginger hair, some left anyway!) you know you may be picked on or worse. Been there had that… had to finally stand up to the school bully who backed down when confronted. Job done but times are different now. You can arm your client with more protection than a gun can offer. And knives do not enter the picture either. Any weapon carried can be turned on the person carrying it and besides, you cannot travel overseas carrying an armoury around your person.
It’s the way we are generally wired. We don’t do what we are supposed to do to stay alive and well. Some are too polite to refuse a hand that was used to pet a dog, or cover a sneeze. When both depending on your immune system could be damaging to your health.
You can however carry an acute awareness for danger, you can have SOS apps uploaded and ready to action on your smartphone and you can take a self-defence course to fully understand how your body works when confronted with one or two people who challenge you.
So many things can cause your clients to have a terrible holiday and this is where you engage your clients to get them to understand they must play an active role in their own travel safety.
As a travel agency, you can and should arrange and offer a self-defence course through your local police department, or martial art / UFC styled training center.
The concept of being trained to travel safely will bring some bruises during the process however better that now, then death later. Awareness is one of the main attributes to be refined and refined almost to the level of the animals living in our forests. A skill and sense we once had too. The Exit This has also been written about many times. The exit is your client’s friend and yours too when on a FAM.
Boarding the plane, check your exit and how you get to it. Checking into your hotel, same thing, how do you get out? From your room, how do you get downstairs and outdoors to safety? Where are the red buttons to push to summon help? Where is your lifeboat station? How do you get there? Practice at least three times, how to put on your life preserver. Walk to your lifeboat each day – embed the route in your head so you can walk there in pitch black. Families can make it a fun moment for the kids – let them find their way for an ice cream prize.
Self Defence in a Rock Here’s my personal method of self-defence: rock, stone or pebble. You cannot as we know travel fully armed. You can if you are very nervous, buy a weapon once you arrive wherever it is you are going. Mind you there are rules there too. The quickest way to arm yourself is to find a small to medium sized pebble or stone. It can be round or round’ish. This 2” stone, when wrapped in the center of a scarf or handkerchief has the potential to cause great damage to an attackers head, face, hands, knees and any other boney and soft tissue area you can strike. The danger of
course is that a direct hit on top of the skull or to the temple can cause death. Better them than you should their attack be to cause your demise. Sticks These can also be found most places and martial art shops sell small sticks you can use to defend yourself, the key however is practice. Without it you are useless to yourself! Keep It Low Key But Be Ready Here I am with a white face and red / ginger hair and on the wrong end of 60! I could be considered a target. You might be white in a black neighbourhood, black in a Latino neighbourhood, Catholic in a Protestant area, a partner in a mixed marriage. Whatever stands out, gets noticed and if the nutcases are around it ignites them. My wife is Japanese and we have experienced the comments when someone, a man, came up behind my wife in a local bookstore and started muttering nasty words. So all of us must be beware of how we come across to others, how we engage, how and where we walk and how we dress. We can say, hey it’s not supposed to be like that, and that’s true - - however it is like that and to travel safely, we all need to have the knowledge of what to do and when. Obviously none of us know where or when a terrorist will strike or when a deranged person will attack. It’s easy to advise and suggest until that moment arrives in your life. Once again, you can increase your chances of survival by being aware, not following the crowd, and paying attention to the people around you. Travel insurance cannot save anyone from being hurt, however it helps in the post event recovery.
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So there you have it. As far as it seems, the UK is out of the EU… and that begs the comment, be careful what EU ask for. Looks like absolute turmoil and then there was Farage standing up in the EU summit delivering a decent speech when you read the text, but live and in person he came across a bit harsh, brash… not really the manner you’d want to use given the turmoil that Brexit has caused. Creating such wounds that will not heal so quickly aint’ good politics. So what’s next for NA travel agents?
Everyone will have an opinion as to the damage or the opportunities caused by the UK wanting out and getting out of the EU. It sounds like tough times if you live in the UK and who knows what the repercussions will be for the Europeans. One thing is for sure, over here in North America the time to sell the UK is on. It’s started. The Pound is low and that’s what you look for when you look for currency based opportunities. Just on the exchange rate alone what would have cost a few thousand dollars will cost a few hundred less. Enough to extend the original two week stay to three weeks perhaps, or upgrade the basic hotel room. If you haven’t yet jumped on this bandwagon, now is the time. The media are doing a great job marketing for you as they continue to tell us about the low Pound. Your clients are hearing this sad news too and of course that means someone needs to chat with them from your agency and tell them, “Hey now is a great time to travel to the UK.” So get your marketing hat on and create those web based images that you can also
send out across your social media accounts. Place a snazzy something on your website and prepare your emails too. Do not wait around – this is a now project.
Travelling to the UK? In for a penny, in for a Pound! THE BREXIT TOUR Travel the UK for less. TRAVELLING TO THE UK IS SO SWEET You can have your cake and eat it too!
Remember everything starts with an eye catching slogan so get busy!
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No other travel speaker / trainer has written and published more articles, e-Books, and magazines on new business generation for travel agents than Steve. With well over 375 published articles in CT, 20+ E-Books and 50 issues of Selling Travel, he has given you a source of timely and cutting edge tips, tools and techniques to help you sell more travel.
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