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| Willowbrook,
IL � February 2006 � My mom would have been proud. Growing up, she would
tell me if I kept my nose clean one day I�d be written up in the newspaper.
USA Today recently ran a feature story about Religious Group Travel which
includes a couple of quotes from yours truly. Check
it out.
This month�s FYI includes a market update from ABA, some alarming statistics about online searches for group travel, 10 advertising mistakes to avoid and your regular update on what�s new and noteworthy at PTM publications. Jeff G. From the Show Floor - ABA Convention Report This past week 3,000 group travel professionals descended upon Nashville for the American Bus Association Marketplace. Our report follows. First, Nashville knows how to throw a party. We think our new booth give-away will be aspirin to help delegates cope with �morning after� syndrome. Second, the Gaylord Opryland has done an excellent job of improving signage, walkways and placing directional concierges at crossroads of the property. Having stayed here last nine years ago when getting from point a to c proved...challenging, to say the least - they�ve largely corrected this. Interviewing suppliers both pre-and post appointment sessions, the majority were pleased with the number and quality of appointments. Exceptions include a few western suppliers who don�t feel they get as many appointments as their eastern brethren. The reality of the situation is that, while their membership is expanding out west, the majority of ABA members lie East of the Mississippi and their primary business is within that region. There was also the delegate who complained about all the chicken at meal functions. They must have come from the pharmaceutical industry. The marketplace was alive with activity from Saturday�s appointments to Wednesday afternoon. The seven minute appointment scheduling process is grueling on tour operators � most of which take 180+ appointments over a 5-day period. Still, ABA�s process of letting the DMO�s in first to �soften them up� followed by a steady procession of attractions, hotels and receptives makes a lot of sense to those looking to build itineraries. Improve
Your Search Engine Rankings
This highly targeted, important industry portal delivers extremely relevant answers to hundreds of targeted searches daily. By participating in GroupTravelDirectory.com, you will generate quality inbound links that are important to your search engine ranking with Google, Yahoo and MSN. The search engines consider external links pointing to your site as a vote of confidence. Particularly if these sites are industry related. The formula for top search engine ranking is as follows: Optimized Web Pages + Quality Inbound Links = Prominent Search Ranking. If you�re not linked from GroupTravelDirectory.com, you�re missing a key part of the equation. Enhanced membership directory listings are just $95 for an entire year�s worth of online exposure (now included automatically for display advertisers of Leisure Group Travel and Prep Traveler!), Premier level participation includes more benefits for just $395 annually. Reach groups 24/7, 365 starting today. 10
Advertising Blunders to Avoid
Lots of careful research, planning, and hard work go into developing successful advertising. Your ads must be smart, creative, and well-placed to reach your desired market and make them want what you sell. By avoiding these ten common advertising errors, you can use your ad dollars more effectively, get more response to your ads, and rake in greater revenue. Read the entire article (linked here). �Group
Travel� Keyword Searches Increase Over 700%
We took data snapshots starting June 2003 through July 2005 and ranked the popularity of the keywords �Group Travel� and �Group Tour� on the Yahoo search engine, as its reporting data is more reliable than goliath Google (although the Google search engine produces roughly twice as many searches per month as Yahoo). During that time period, searches for the term �Group Travel� increased from 3,458 requests per month to 25,117, a 726% increase. Meanwhile, searches for the term �Group Tour� actually decreased from 13,840 to 3,100 over that same time period, a drop of 78%. While we�re discouraged by the poor showing of �Group Tour�, we�re not surprised. Travelers tell us it smells of rigidity and conformity, which is in strong contrast to the wishes of today�s market. We are very encouraged by the growth of �Group Travel� searches. It supports our hypothesis of a new generation of group travelers that aren�t bound by age, income or gender. Here�s What�s on Target for Leisure Group Travel... April
�06:
June
�06:
August
�06:
October
�06:
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Small Business Hospitality Association (SBHA) |
There
is an emerging trend in churches using group travel programs to strengthen
their ties with the local community and enhance their congregation�s membership
� or use its fundraising prowess. Through a concentrated effort, we have
built our religious group base; today these groups represent nearly 15%
of our 20,000 readers of Leisure Group Travel.
By
Peter Koeppel