Selling power TTG Toolkit
Bournemouth is a successful base for Just You’s taster weekends
Reach out to singles with tactful approach
Dave Richardson spent a day in Bournemouth with specialist operator Just You, part of the Page & Moy Group, to find out what it is that makes single travellers tick
A
s I dance to Rihanna’s version of Raining Men on an evening out in Bournemouth with fellow
Just You customers, I’m struck by the DJ’s unfortunate song choice. Only eight of the 48 people on the Just You Discovery Weekend are men, which is fairly typical of all Just You holidays. But as the operator is quick to point out, these are holidays exclusively for single travellers rather than matchmaking trips. Everyone has a single room – though some members of my group have met before – and there is always a tour manager to help things go smoothly, including making sure the men do not only stick with each other.
Our tour manager Christine
Fielding, who has been on nine Just You trips herself, admits the concept
can be hard for agents to explain. Just You started selling through the trade last year and the sales opportunity is increasing in line with the growing number of single travellers. Most Just You customers are in their 50s or 60s, though Fielding has guided guests aged 21 and 91. Several are recently bereaved or divorced, and Discovery Weekends are an affordable introduction to the product before taking a longer tour. “Some people have told me this is the first step in getting their lives back together and moving on,” says Fielding. There are always some no- shows (three on this occasion), and others who say they cannot go through with it after meeting the tour guide, but Fielding says she has always managed to reassure such clients. The weekends include a welcome
drink, two nights with dinner and disco, an excursion to a local place of interest and a presentation on Just You as well as free time. My group included people from all walks of life, from housewives to office workers and even a judge.
Comforting presence Fielding goes out of her way to make everyone in the group feel comfortable. She once had to calm down an objectionable 70-year-old gent that insisted the ladies in the group were “only there to pull”. Conversely, she had two cancellations when a couple who had met on a Just You break decided to go away together instead. “This is not a meat market or a dating agency, but romance does happen,” says Fielding. “As a tour manager you have to be tactful;
Selling tips
■ Identify the single travellers on your database and start a singles club. ■ Don’t assume all Just You customers are single – 20% simply want to travel on separate holidays to their partners. ■ Emphasise that there is no single room supplement. ■ If customers are unsure, recommend a UK-based Discovery Weekend first. ■ Explain they will be with a a professional tour manager. ■ Take the training module at
ttgdigital.com/knowledge
be there to console someone who is upset or deal with others who are not used to company after living alone for many years.” While you might expect more men on the trips to be a benefit, not everyone feels the same way. Overhearing one female traveller joke that “all men should be beheaded”, I hastily retreat to the bar. Book it: Just You operates tours throughout the world, including activity trips, all-inclusive beach holidays and festive breaks. Discovery Weekends book up quickly, with 15 scheduled for 2012 at six UK hotels including the Highcliff Marriott in Bournemouth (£229).
01.12.2011 33
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