SPOTLIGHT SELLING ATTRACTIONS
HAT TOURISM MARKETING REPRESENTS ATTRACTIONS AND
TOURS IN THE US, UK AND EUROPE
Round table
Twenty agents and suppliers discuss the good and bad points of selling attractions at an event organised by Hat Tourism Marketing in conjunction with Do Something Different and the American Attractions Collection. Jennifer Morris reports
Do you actively sell attractions? Independent Travel Expert’s Rachel Dartnall-Smith said customers can feel “overloaded” when booking. “They have to decide on so many things – they want time to think,” she said. “Sometimes you feel like you’re being pushy.” Spitfire Travel’s Anne Butler said recommendations depended on the destination. “We send out detailed files, particularly for city breaks, as the customer nears the departure date,” she said. Travel Counsellors’ Ben Burgess said the company had recently incorporated attractions into its system, “making things much easier”.
Do customers see the benefit in booking attractions and tours in advance? Agents agreed that customers generally do not want to “miss out” on the most popular attractions, dislike having to queue and want to book with reputable companies, but are put off by price and may decide to book themselves. Do Something Different sales manager Lee Burns said “many think they can get it cheaper out there”. The agents said it would be beneficial to have a destination’s attractions in one document to give to customers to look through before booking
nearer their departure. Dartnall-Smith said some customers had been “stung” by booking direct with companies that had ceased trading. “People come back to agents because of that,” she said. Burgess said that when he worked at Flight Centre in Australia, the agency advised customers shortly before departure to book online through a system linked to the agents’ commission.
Why pre-book some types of attraction? Agents said suppliers should give consumers “a really good reason to book”. “If the customer doesn’t have to queue, that’s a selling point,” said Burgess. “It has to be an honest reason too: if I say it will avoid queues and the customer finds there’s no queue, then I look like a liar.” Burns said Do Something Different “had grown off the back of offering real tickets”. “If a customer’s paying £1,500 for Disney, they don’t want that on a piece of paper,” he said.
Kevin Brett, Hat Tourism Marketing
What motivates agents to sell attractions and tours in advance? Some agents said commission and money or vouchers were a big motivation, along with providing a good service. One agent said the vouchers she receives constitute her “Christmas fund”. Burgess
said being entered into a draw did not encourage agents to book. It was also agreed that while training can be “extremely” beneficial, “nothing beats” experiencing an attraction.
What would make it easier to book attractions? Videos that can be shared on social media, and that can be personalised – without suppliers’ direct booking details – were encouraged. “A 30-second whirlwind tour of an attraction would be brilliant,” said Dartnall-Smith.
AGENTS’ KEY POINTS
● Suppliers have to give consumers a really good reason to book in advance
● Agents won’t use supplier content if it’s got their web address or phone number on it
● Roadshows are beneficial for travel agents
● First-hand experience is the best way to help agents sell
● Customers want a proper ticket in their hand, not a bit of paper
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travelweekly.co.uk 4 February 2016
PICTURE: BUSCH GARDENS
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