Selling Travel October 2014

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THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS
OCTOBER 2014

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EDITORIAL
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
250-738-0064
www.sellingtravel.net
Publisher:
SMP Training Co.
www.smptraining.com
Contributors
Steve Crowhurst
SELLING TRAVEL is owned and published by Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. All Rights Reserved. Protected by International Copyright Law. IC TRAVEL AGENT can be shared, forwarded, cut and pasted but not sold, resold or in any way monetized. Using any images or content from IC TRAVEL AGENT must be sourced as follows: “Copyright SMP Training Co. www.smptraining.com” SMP Training Co. 568 Country Club Drive, Qualicum Beach, BC, Canada, V9K-1G1 Note: Steve Crowhurst is not responsible for outcomes based on how you interpret or use the ideas in SELLING TRAVEL.
T: 250-738-0064.
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JUST PUBLISHED: HOW TO SELL MORE BOOKS
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SHOOT LOCAL – SELL GLOBAL
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ART TOURS OF EUROPE
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BIKE SHOPS
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OUTFITTERS & MORE
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GIVE THEM A TASTE OF YOUR CULTURE
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WAITIN’ FOR IPHONE 23!
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READ THE FINE PRINT By Jill Wykes
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PEACE THROUGH TOURISM
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WHAT THE TRAVEL AGENT GIVETH…
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REMOTE SHUTTER
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ISSUU.COM TRY IT FOR YOUR OWN MAGAZINE
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IT’S ALL IN THE CARDS
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QUOTE ME THIS!
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QUOTES WITH A DIFFERENCE
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YES YOU DO… By Jill Wykes
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ARE YOU ON THE LIST?
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THE TRAVEL INSTITUTE BOOK STORE
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I DO WEDDINGS
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CLASSIFIEDS
Please note that Selling Travel, owned and published by SMP Training Co, is not connected in any way to Selling Travel magazine published by BMI Publishing Ltd., and based in the UK. The latter publication focuses entirely on destination and travel/tourism product training and is circulated solely to the UK and Ireland travel industries. To benefit from this resource visit www.sellingtravel.co.uk and be sure to subscribe.
Attention Suppliers: Advertising in SELLING TRAVEL reaches the serious business-minded travel agent. Promote your products and services using Selling Travel’s unique promotional formula – you write the articles on how to sell your own products offering step-by-step selling tips, tools and techniques that you know have worked for your agency accounts. Full page rates range from $300 to $425 based on number of insertions. Remember, if you can’t sell it to them, they can’t sell it for you!
THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS

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The WILL to
SHOOT LOCAL – SELL GLOBAL
Of course you have a camera. Everybody has a camera. They must. They have to and as a travel agent it’s now a matter of course that part of your gear, your daily kit, is a camera – or at least a gadget with photographic capability. With smartphones taking over much of the pocket-camera market you are already armed and dangerous.
The latest smartphones have a range of 8MP to 14MP, larger screens, slo-mo and time lapse video and more photo editing apps than flights to New York! There’s no excuse then for not capturing local images that will help you sell overseas destinations. The key is knowing where to look and what to snap.
You can shoot a box of chili peppers in a market stall, the gate entrance to your local Chinatown if you have one, the front of an Indian restaurant, cherry blossom trees and art works, too. More on how to do this inside.
In this issue we also take a look at selling travel in times of war, terror, climate change and more. Check out the Peace Page for that. The times they are a changing once more.
Here’s to your continued success in SELLING TRAVEL.
Best regards.
Steve Crowhurst, CTC, CTM Hon.
steve@sellingtravel.net
www.sellingtravel.net
The How-To Magazine for Travel Trade Professionals
Click on the store icon to opt-in.
Steve Crowhurst, Publisher

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There’s a new sales theme called The Book is the NEW Business Card and if you are a writer then this eGuide will help you get your publication marketed and hopefully sold. I have partnered with author Anthony Dalton on this Guide as I work with Anthony to help market his 14 books, which means every idea in this publication we actually do.
Click Here to View

The concept of using local images to sell an overseas destination is not new, even Hollywood films in New Zealand and “sells” it to you as Japan, or shoots in the studio back lot and now it’s representing New York. So for you to shoot local and sell global is fine. All you have to do is identify what it is you would like to take a picture of and how you will repurpose it to help you sell a destination overseas.
If you are well travelled then naturally you will have more than enough images of the real deal. The actual place you intend to sell is on record and from this moment on it’s a matter of weaving your image into your marketing.
That Face… That Face…
But what if you need a face with a body to go with it? What if you needed an Asian face, a South American face, and African face? Yes, you could walk out to the local marketplace or shopping centre and look around – spot someone who looks the part then walk up to them and ask if they would pose for you.
Chances are, the easier route would be to search amongst your friends and their friends. Somewhere in there is the face you need.
It could be you are planning a senior’s tour or a tour for Baby Boomers. You might need a face that represents that generation. Off to Gran and Granddad’s you go, and have them pose for you.
If you don’t mind laughing at yourself, you could download an aging App and apply it to your own face and bingo (!) you have an image of a senior you to use in your marketing.
Food Stuff
When you need a shot of food from around the world, head to the local farmers market, or to an area of town known as Little Italy, Little India and Chinatown. Most ethnic groups seem to have a “town” where they shop and that means you can go there and simply ask the shop owner if you can take a few photographs – of him/her too!

It’s My Dinner…
Are you having spaghetti this evening for dinner? Excellent. Shoot the dish before you tuck into it and that’s your main image for your marketing piece or flyer to promote your trip to Italy.
You CAN Have Your Cake and Sell It Too
A good pal returned from an ancestry tour, tracing his mother’s roots and in doing so he came face to face with the Verden’s Besta Kake which means The World’s Best Cake and that, I can guarantee is true. Shown here is the cake he made for us upon return. Now, if you baked this cake, you could have shot it before eating it and used the image like I’m using it here to help you promote a foodie tour to Scandinavia, the North Cape or simply stay and tour Norway.
Cruising The Waves
Any lake or ocean close by? If so, then head out when the water is calm or glistening by moonlight or sunset and take your best shot. Now you have a water based image to help sell your cruise promotion.
Chinatown my Chinatown
The image on the cover and fronting this article was shot locally and then I used the Tangled FX app to manipulate the image into something a little more artsy. With that image as my main image I could repurpose it to a brochure cover and perhaps build an art tour of China, or Hong Kong, or even a visit to every Chinatown throughout North America. Now there’s a tour few have created. You might even turn it into a foodie tour and the search for the best Chinese food in NA. I mention that because as I write this page I am recalling a visit to Japan and my search for the best Katsudon throughout our trip.
Let’s continue the search and shoot mission and head to many more beautiful vistas.
I’m now thinking ART Tours and to help you push a tour like that all you need is a shot of your uncle’s latest oil painting, or a shot of the local art gallery window. Or, one of your own sketches or a shot of your own children, or even your cat!

Here’s one of my own artworks and it features a hand-embossed work in pewter – the subject is a little mashed as I used various designs to create it. However, it has a look that would certainly help to promote a tour of India, Nepal etc.
Adventure Tours
All you need to help you promote the outdoors is a shot of the outdoors. Mind you, your final image should represent where you are doing on your tour – or it could simply look rugged and promote adventure travel.
Look around for rocks, sandy areas, sparse areas, forests, cliffs… and take the shot.
My wife is standing on the edge! Nerves of steel she has. I hung back with the telephoto!!
Everything You Need Is Local
Although you can obtain images from your suppliers, tourism boards, image banks and the like, there is a better message in the making when you shoot, edit and create your own images. In that way you own it.
I’m sure there is a golf club nearby where you can shoot something artistic. You may have one or two old pubs, or bars in the area. How about old buildings sporting wonderful architecture?
Once again, the easy route is to ask your suppliers for an image however most of the time there is nothing creative or inviting. It’s simply a basic shot and YOU are not in it.
This leads us to the next level of imagery and it includes you. That’s right. You may have to set the scene to your liking, and you may have to pull a Hollywood and fake it – however all is fine in the world of marketing. It’s the story you are trying to tell and the destination or tour you are trying to sell.
Here’s my hiking in the Alps image and if you know the area, this is shot in the Rockies. All I want to show are a few mountain peaks, a ridge and me standing on it. The image does not claim the photo to be of the Alps – the suggestion is that “WE” go to the Alps to hike. Perfectly legit and above board and the shot was shot locally at little expense and I own it. Keeping your costs down is always important and shooting local allows for this.

From Local Golf Course to Scotland
So easy to create the story you need to tell. Above is a shot of a golf club that’s local to me. I live on it, but don’t play! Yeah, yeah… I know… but my pal Mike T’ does. In fact that’s him dressed up in his Let’s Go Golfing in Scotland gear. He modelled the image which I sketched and now use.
There’s nothing better than a shot of you in the image and the image is on location and the location is the one you are planning to promote. BUT… when you do not have that image and you need one and the images you can source are either old and outdated, not having enough oomph or they will cost you money to acquire – then you can resort to shooting local as explained.
To do this well, you’ll need to keep your “eye in” as they say and be able to see the BIG picture as someone else says. The art of seeing the shot is the key and then comes the editing skill to reduce and crop and change the colouring of your image to suit the area you are planning to promote.
Another source of imagery would be your client’s photographic journeys. Using client content allows you to also promote that the image was shot by one of your clients – thus proving that you have booked people or a group ‘there’ before.
So now it’s over to you. Your smartphone is good enough, easy to carry and there’s no need to lug the full kit around town. A tripod might be handy as and when you need that steady hand.
Good luck with sourcing your local images and be sure to save them to file and repurpose them according to the tour or destination you are promoting. Click on! 
“Come with us to Scotland in 2015 and play the best game of your life!”

Do you know any artists? Any friends who are painting scenes of foreign destinations? Any friends of friends who paint that you could be introduced to? The reason for all the questions is this: chances are you could use an image from one or more of the artist’s paintings to help you sell more tours to that destination. At the same time, you would be exposing the artist to your own client list and also the local community. It’s a win-win.
The artwork shown on this page is by a friend of mine (Pauline Evans) and the subject matter is of an area of Tuscany – the painting is titled “Near Capannoli, Tuscany” that she and her husband visited when they attended a cooking school there.
If you sell to Europe and perhaps wish to develop a niche in this area (Tuscany) and perhaps you are also interested in developing the cooking school niche – then this type of artwork can help focus your clients on the area.
With the artist’s permission, you could print this image into postcards and use them in a direct mail campaign. You can post the image on your website, social media outlets such as Facebook and then boost your post for a few dollars in order to reach an extra 2,000 people who are linked to your Facebook Friends. The concept of sending this image viral is the key to you gaining a response that could fill those 20 seats you need to sell.
More locally, you might chat with your artist friend and ask if they would attend your event The Art of Travelling to Tuscany for instance and chat about their time there. Naturally, the artwork you are using for its image can be on display and for sale if the artist wishes to make it available. What else could you combine with your niche destination (Tuscany) and the various off shoots for tours (food, cooking school, sightseeing…) – well how about involving your artist friend and work with them to arrange a painting holiday to Tuscany and to the very spot where the image you are using was painted?
Many of your existing clients would be dabbling in painting, photography, cooking and outdoor activities like hiking too. So, from your one artistic connection comes more than just their painting. Next step: connect with your artistic friends or friends of friends or just make the call to a local gallery and discuss your ideas. And please visit my friend’s gallery when you have time. She’ll ship to any location! 
http://www.paulinenadeau-evans.com/

Local bike shops can offer you excellent images and information for attracting potential clients to join your Tour de France tour. You could be watching the race along the route, then cycling here and there to take in the countryside before returning to the race route for more action. That’s one idea. Here’s more:
The bike is your connection to so many countries and types of vacations. Call it a soft adventure vacation and attract the more healthy, fit local consumer to your agency or, you can up the activity to hard core road racing levels or back woods mountain biking and attract the younger generation who are ready for a ride in a far off distant land.
Chances are you might be a rider yourself and if so then this is your niche product which can be sold to many locations, cities and countries where the bike is still king. Or, you could tailor your customized tours to fit the baby boomer market and stick to those very scenic side roads, byways and village roads that exist in the UK, Europe and Japan for instance.
All you need do now is build a relationship with your local bike shop owner.
To kick that relationship into gear just ride up, park and walk in to a pre-arranged appointment. Shake hands, sit down, explain your tour ideas and here’s where you need the owner’s buy-in: you want to use their bikes, the shop window and even the bike shop owner’s image in your promotional material. Would be nice to work a special price for a specific bike should any of your clients be in the market to buy one.
As with the art gallery owner or artist ideas, this must be a win-win. You get to use their products, location, images and the bike shop taps into a new customer base in addition to being featured in your marketing.
If the bike shop owner has a professional track record then that’s one more element to tie into your marketing. Next question: would the bike shop owner join your tour?

The outdoors is on many people’s minds as they wander about the
planet and wonder what will become of it. Going
green is a trend in travel and that means the
outdoors beckons the outdoor type and they are
found right where your customer list is.
Here’s a quick story from when I had my travel
agency: I was walking along the street, looked
into a shoe store window, they had a selection of
hiking boots on display. My mind went through
these motions linking the ideas as they came:
Hiking boots + Himalayas + Nepal + Tourism India + India Airlines = tour to Everest base camp
for the younger generation. Long story short – I created a promotion around the hiking boots
and base camp of Everest trek. Had a final count of 6 young guys, who walked in with roughly
ten-grand in cash and booked to go.
Not much has changed since that sale back
in the late 1970s! The boots are still
available, the Himalayas are still there, the
younger generation are still eager to head
outdoors, many are wanting to visit India
and some, not all, will go on to visit Nepal
and the foothills of the Himalaya.
The six lads that went on this trip also cycled
across Europe to build the strength / stamina
they needed for their trek. They toured India
after completing their base camp trek.
Today I see and sense way more interest in a
trip like this than back in the so called day.
You have a choice of suppliers who deal in
this type of trip who can help you put this
tour together.
The epic low impact adventure like this has
become more sophisticated as you know
and your connection to the local outfitter
will help you and your supplier get the
results you need from your marketing.
You’ll be looking to your outfitter partner to
supply images, and perhaps an introduction
to a documented hiker / author who might
lend their name to your trek. If there’s no
local outfitter to work with try national
companies such as Blacks, Cabela’s, MEC
and many other
chain stores. Selfie
boot shots are a
must have! 

If you are from somewhere else as opposed to where you are now living, you might want to discover your hidden talents and especially if you have them! Perhaps you were involved in various cultural activities at home and maintain your interests. If this is the case for you, you could dress in your dance or national costume for instance and then entertain your clients. Your goal here is to pre-sell your clients on a tour to your “old country” with you as the escort.
Your promotion is all about showing local then going global. Why not? If you can do it, show off your musical, artistic talents and use your skills to pre-sell your tour and at the same time prepare your clients for what they will experience when they visit your country.
If you are not a performer, chances are you know someone who is. Ask them to help you
arrange the travel event / performance. This will leave you to focus on the presentation, sales and follow up. Work with a supplier if you can. You are still the one to lead the tour, or if you wish hand off the tour guiding to someone else when you land or use your supplier’s contacts to make those additional arrangements. So, what local talents do you have that will help you sell global? 

My good “old” iPhone 5 is doing fine. Not in the least upset by its new cousins the 6 and 6+. For sure my i5 thought it would be traded in, but then there are some features that I need and willing to wait for. The coffee app is for me. That said there are truly marvellous camera upgrades that will give you options for Slow Motion and Time Lapse videography plus your can control / adjust the exposure right on the screen. All but the Slow Motion video works on the iPhone 5. But then, there’s an app for that!
“But does it make an Appuccino?”

Read The Fine Print
Before Signing On With A Host Agency!
Before you sign on the dotted line to become a home based agent, make sure you have really read that agreement thoroughly. Yes, you are keen to get started, but as with all things, it pays to take a little time to really understand what you are getting into….and more importantly, how you can get out of it if all does not go as you’d hoped.
Not all host agency agreements are the same! Some will tie you up for much longer than others, so here are some things you want to look out for:
1. How long do you have to sign up for? Some host agencies want you to sign up for much longer than others. Ideally, the shorter time the better from your point of view, so that you are free to make a move.
2. What are the terms for leaving your host agency? This is an important one with several aspects to it. How much notice must you give? Are there any penalties? Do you get commission for the sales you have made after you leave?
3. What are the terms for renewal of your existing contract? Again, very important to know this. Does your host agency automatically renew you for another full term contract?
4. Does your host agency charge you start-up costs? This is another thing you‘ll want to check out. Does your host agency help you get started and fully support you with everything you will need? And if so, what do they charge you to do this?
5. Who owns your clients? This is a big one. Be sure to read the fine print and make sure that your customers ARE your customers. Can you take them with you when you move?
6. And finally, can you start with another agency immediately if you leave the host agency you are with? Make sure you have not been tied up with a non-compete clause that says you can’t work for any other agency for a period of time. While this may be challenged in court, you don’t want to have to go to that expense.
It’s all in the fine print, folks, so read carefully and perhaps have a lawyer take a look for you.
By Jill Wykes
Brought to you by The Travel Agent Next Door

Sometimes it feels as if we’re living in a Rutherfurd novel, clawing our way through various lives lived over several centuries, but then no, it is 2014 yet in many parts of the world they are still living under rules and rulers straight out of the middle ages. What’s happening? Why is it happening? Terror, wars, beheadings… my god, anyone’s god for that matter… mankind the unkind! How can anyone, not in uniform, fight such aggression? Well as a travel agent I hasten to say, you do have the power to giveth and the power to take “it” away. The IT is the tourism dollar that you are responsible for. Let’s see how you can help and support the mission for peace. T’anks for the Memories as they sang on WW2.
Every travel agent eventually becomes a watcher of the news and that’s a must do activity especially when it comes to how climatic conditions, viruses, war and terror might affect a client’s travel plans. It’s a tough call watching all that mayhem on your screen of choice but then you cannot bury your head in the sand… although that’s one way not to get your forehead sunburnt!
Tourism around the world is always on the move. Clients who have been “there” a few times will about face and head over to a different “there” and then after that, they will try a cruise or an escorted tour and if they’ve done that already they might upgrade or downgrade to see how they like travelling in style or without it.
To help up the stress level we have a number of country acquisitions going on and also one or two countries trying to separate from the motherland all of which support John Naisbitts conclusions in Global Paradox that eventually we will be selling travel to some 2,000 independent countries. Getting close with 210 +/- but imagine that brochure rack in a few years, with 2,000 countries! Holy Brochures that rack will be a mile long.
Selling travel during uncertain times and especially when the daily news seems to be nothing but misery, murder and mayhem can be more than a challenge for some travel agents and for newcomers selling travel right about now you might be feeling that this industry is not what you thought it was.
Despite tanks rolling across borders and acts of terror, you must keep the faith and continue to sell to those destinations that are safe for your clients to visit. You may end

up talking some clients out of a vacation that is close to where the tanks are rolling and then sooner or later you’ll be selling that same place without the tanks. Now there is the key to tourism (and especially at times like these in Europe where it could almost be a repeat of 1939 but with different players as the aggressor). Tourism comes into its own as soon as the strife subsides. It’s the way it is. As soon as a war finishes, or a typhoon as blown itself out, or floods have subsided the consumer is back on the beach, back into the hotels and back on those coaches. As soon as places such as the Ukraine have regained their stability you will see a surge of tourism – and that’s when you make your move and start promoting your services to that destination.
Your future support of countries that have suffered this type of strife will go a long way to rebuilding their economies and as a travel agent you can pat yourself on the back for participating when the time comes and all you have to do is sell travel to make it happen.
Another thing you can think about is carrying the Peace Through Tourism banner. It’s a worthy principle and there is one major organization that works to foster this outcome, it’s the IIPT - The International Institute For Peace Through Tourism.
The International Institute
For Peace Through Tourism
Here’s the information about IIPT from their website: The International Institute For Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) is a not for profit organization dedicated to fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives which contribute to international understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of environment, the preservation of heritage, and through these initiatives, helping to bring about a peaceful and sustainable world.
It is based on a vision of the world's largest industry, travel and tourism - becoming the world's first global peace industry; and the belief that every traveler is potentially an "Ambassador for Peace.
A primary goal of IIPT is to mobilize the travel and tourism industry as a leading force for poverty reduction.
Grateful for the opportunity to travel and experience the world and because peace begins with the individual, I affirm my personal responsibility and commitment to:
 Journey with an open mind and gentle heart
 Accept with grace and gratitude the diversity I encounter
 Revere and protect the natural environment which sustains all life
 Appreciate all cultures I discover
 Respect and thank my hosts for their welcome
 Offer my hand in friendship to everyone I meet
 Support travel services that share these views and act upon them and,
 By my spirit, words and actions, encourage others to travel the world in peace
Are you selling travel to countries that are causing terror in the world, or trying to invade another country? Could you taketh away what you’ve given? Could you redirect the sale to a country that’s more deserving? 

It’s a remote for your iPhone, iPad, Android and Samsung Galaxy / Notes. I’ve got mine! Out of the box, switch on your phone, switch on Bluetooth, switch on Shuttr, green light appears, connection made and bingo! Press the center button and shoot a Selfie or any other picture on screen. Also works for video. You can buy Shuttr online from Amazon.com and Amazon.your country and directly from here: http://www.mukulabs.com/collections/frontpage. Here’s the information from the official website:
The slimmest camera shutter remote control for iPhone, iPad, Android and Samsung Galaxy / Notes. •Premium, sturdy build quality in a sleek, durable and portable design. •Take great selfies, group photos and videos from as far as 30 feet. Use the included audio jack phone stand to position your phone in a freestanding position. Never be left out of a
photo again!
RETI-CAM
Don’t forget to check out the Reti Cam tripod mount shown on the left. Also you can purchase a ball joint tripod mount that fits the hot shoe of your DLSR camera – shown on the right. Use your smartphone as back up for stills and video and access many of the photo apps too.
With the Shuttr remote you can now set up and click from a distance and make sure you are in the shot.

All of us need sales tips, tools and techniques, conversational ideas to warm up an audience or a singular quiet client and we also need, from time to time, a creative push to dig deeper and source our own well entrenched ideas. Ta daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Enter these packs of cards that do all of the above and more.
Over time I’ve collected more than a few packs of these cards and some of them are shown in the image here. One of the best packs for me was the Creative Whack Pack and often during a working session I would open the pack, slide out the cards and select one, turn it over and read the activity.
The activity would be a direction to follow and usually a suggestion such as:
Look Somewhere Else
The text that followed this heading was:
Finding new ideas is like prospecting for gold. If you look in the same old places, you’ll find tapped out veins. But if you venture off the beaten path, you’ll improve your chances of discovering new idea lodes. Remember: you can’t see the good ideas behind you by looking twice as hard at what’s in front of you. Where else can you look for ideas?
It could be common sense, but then many times when we’re caught up in the day and in need of sales, the old noggin doesn’t nog as it should. With a little prompting then, you can break through the dry spell and crack open something new and exciting.
The Art of Conversation pack will give you 300 openers… ThinkPak and the Whack Pack are similar and the Think Twice packs offer sales and sales coaching tips. So there you have it. The next time you need an idea booster… look into the cards.

When you need a boost, a shot in the arm, or a kick in the-you-know-where… look for a meaningful saying to guide you. Here’s a great source of quotes that will help keep you focused and on point. This small collection resides in my library and quite often I’m flipping through the pages to find something to nudge an article along or to round out a marketing slogan.
You can find these types of pocket sized booklets full of quotes in most bookstores and you can also find them online. If you desire it, you can sign up to receive a motivational quote every day. Here’s a website top explore: http://www.daily-motivational- quote.com/
You can download an APP if you want those quotes as close as
your mobile phone – here’s one app to explore and look for
more: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/505-motivational- quotes/id362462613?mt=8
Try downloading wallpaper for your PC featuring a quote of your choice: http://www.designyourway.net/blog/inspiration/wallpapers/50- best-desktop-wallpapers-with-inspiring-quotes/
Just one more to add to the pile and it’s this one – The Quotable Traveler and some of the quotes in this book make for terrific marketing slogans too. Try rearranging one or two so that you create and own the quote. 

Yes You Do
need your own website…and here’s why!
As an independent travel agent, you have many things to sift through in terms of what is important to market yourself, to run your business, and to close sales. You are likely bombarded with information and technology that may or may not be useful.
Previously in this column, we have discussed using social media, email and direct mail to reach your clients as effective channels for reaching your customers.
But what about your potential customers who might want to check you out? And what about customers who are sitting on the fence?
Believe it or not, that is one of the main reasons you need a website….and not just any website, a website that is yours.
The number one reason you need a website is to give you credibility. When potential customers, or your own customers, go on line to check you out, you need a professional site that promotes you and your services.
Now, don’t get me wrong, you do need a bookable site. Why? So that your clients can search for packages, cruises, hotels and cars and whatever they want on your site, and not have to go elsewhere! Offer them as much as possible on your site. If they wander away, they might book elsewhere. Be sure to look for the most complete product offering you can find.
So…when you are evaluating a host agency, do pay attention to the website offering. You will want to know how easily it can be customized for you. Will you have your own site with your own branding, or just a page on the host agency’s site?
How easily can you change the site and add or delete tabs…and how often?
Can you cater to wedding groups and offer a site that only the bride and groom can see. And can you easily edit the pages, insert pictures and videos?
Is this your own URL or a shared site? These are all questions you need to ask and understand.
Look for a host agency that gives you this valuable tool and check out any costs, and support systems. Your website is your face on the internet, the place where increasingly, more and more people are shopping for travel.
By Jill Wykes
Brought to you buy The Travel Agent Next Door

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Selling Travel October 2014

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