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public relations Tag

26 Sep

Posted at 12:03h in Agency, Business, Travel, Travel Agent, Travel Host

The entire Nexion Travel Group Executive Leadership Team, along with members of our staff and many of our travel advisors, congregated in Hollywood, Fla. in late August at the ASTA Global Convention 2019.

President Jackie Friedman, who serves on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Travel Professionals (ASTA), spoke during the Hosts/Consortia panel workshop on Sharing How Top-producing Members Find Success.

“Independent travel advisors have a lot of choices on how they want to operate their business. It’s important to me to ensure they have the facts when making decisions about their agency,” says Jackie.

Vice President of Sales and Marketing Cris De Souza presented Marketing YOU: Promoting Your Value and discussed how advisors can position themselves in the travel industry, so they don’t compete on price while carving out a unique and legitimate space for themselves. “Effective marketing delivers the right message, at the right time, to the right people,” Cris said.

Heather Kindred, Senior Director of Business Development and Education, presented two roundtable “think tank” workshops on Salesmanship-Overcoming Objections and Opening the Sale. Heather gathered a group of seasoned travel industry professionals in a room with 50 advisors, and together in small groups, they broke down common objections that advisors hear daily, beginning with, “Do travel agents still exist?”

The team also greeted advisors during an independent advisor reception and took part in the Chapter Connections, a gathering of the different ASTA chapter communities. Several Nexion Travel Group advisors are active chapter leaders across the country.

Partnership Power

A highlight of the convention was when Jackie got to share the stage with Becky Powell, President of Protravel International, and Cindy Schlansky, Co-President of Tzell Travel Group, during the Women in Travel History presentation. The three women recognized the long line of strong, brave female businesswomen who have helped steer the travel agency industry to success. “Back in the 1800s, women weren’t even allowed to have passports. Married women had to be listed on their husband’s passports. But that didn’t stop many intrepid adventurers and explorers from making their mark on the world.”

Jackie continued, “To ensure the role of women continues to rise in our industry, we all need to step up our game,” stated Jackie. “Women make up half of this country’s population, but less than 30 percent of our executives are women. Of those women executives, only a tiny percent are Asian, black or Hispanic.”

Of course, the convention would not be complete without plenty of networking, a trade show and an advocacy dinner. And, to top it all off, Nexion Travel Group was awarded ASTA’s Host Agency of the Year for the second year in a row and third time overall!

 

Here’s a quick video recap of the convention …

Nexion Travel Group looks forward to seeing you next year for the ASTA Global Convention August 25 – 28, 2020 in Washington, D.C.

Nexion Travel Group is a Diamond Level Proud Partner with ASTA, the highest level offered through the partnership program with ASTA. We invest our time and resources to support ASTA’s mission and ensure a healthy and robust travel agency distribution channel. Plus, we understand that travel advisors are an essential tool to your success. We’re dedicated to providing our advisors with the tools they need to be best advocates for travelers across the world.

All travel professionals interested in learning how to succeed as a professional business owner, backed by Nexion Travel Group’s many great benefits, are encouraged to call 800-747-6813 or email sales@nexion.com.

 

Written by Suzanne Harbison, Nexion Travel Group Marketing and Communications Manager

 

05 Apr

Posted at 16:44h in Agency, Best Practices, Business, Marketing, Travel Agent, Travel Host

As a travel advisor, you wear many hats. In today’s day and age, it’s not enough to be a great travel advisor in terms of knowing and selling destinations. You must also think as a business owner with a plan and strategy on how you wish to grow your business. Of course, one size does not fit all.

Most of you understand the importance of having a plan and strategy but may not know how to make it a reality – you’re not alone.

From my perspective, the best place to start is with your passion and interests. Then, start with understanding who your target customer is and what products they will want to buy. You may have gone through this exercise some time ago, but it’s always good to dust off that plan and reevaluate it to ensure it’s producing the results you seek. For others, you’re not quite there yet.

I, along with a team of marketing executives and industry leaders, would love to try and help you take your marketing plan to the next level. This summer, we’re bringing back a Magellan award-winning event that will give you the tools, knowledge and components of a good marketing plan. This three-day event is aimed at all levels of expertise and designed to dive deeper than the basics of marketing. You’ll leave Marketing with your own marketing plan that is developed and ready to put into practice.

At this symposium, you’ll work with experts on:

  • Learning the components of what makes a strong marketing plan, and work on your own unique marketing plan
  • How to build your brand
  • Mining your database
  • Maximizing your marketing with Nexion and Travel Leaders Group tools
  • Social media and online strategy
  • Leveraging public relations
  • Planning and executing consumer events
  • Budgeting and measuring return on investment
  • Making yourself retainable and relatable

One of my mantras is “It’s important to work on your business and not just in it.” You may not fully understand what I mean by that. Working in your business equates to the day-to-day tasks you do as an advisor – making bookings, taking final payments, accounting, for example. Growing your business means also taking time to work ON it, and a lot of this centers around marketing.

Everything Nexion Travel Group does in terms of education, coaching and specialty events adds value in making you the most effective, efficient and profitable travel advisor you can be. This event is personally important to me, because I truly believe that as much as anything we do, this program will prepare you to take your business to the next level by giving you the tools, knowledge and confidence to develop and execute on a marketing plan that is relevant to you and your business.

I invite you to spend three days with me and our experts at Marketing, who are there solely with the purpose to make you successful marketers. It’s going to be a phenomenal event, and I am excited to see the inspiring and lucrative ideas and plan of action that our advisors will put into place and execute from their learnings. To attend, you must be a member of Nexion Travel Group.

All travel professionals interested in learning how to succeed as a professional business owner, backed by Nexion Travel Group’s many great benefits, are encouraged to call 800-747-6813 or email sales@nexion.com.

 

Written by Jackie Friedman, Nexion Travel Group President

 

21 Dec

Posted at 14:17h in Agency, Best Practices, Business, Marketing, Travel Agent, Travel Host

credibilityDo you want to increase your credibility and expertise in your travel specialty or niche? Do you want to reach new audiences, find new clients and create new business opportunities for your travel business?

Are you not sure of the formula for success or even where to start? Keep reading to learn how to go from zero to hero and market yourself as an expert in your travel specialty without having to spend a penny.

Recently, I attended an entrepreneurship workshop in Fort Lauderdale with a talented group of new and experienced business owners. One of the guest speakers was a gentleman by the name of Bruce Serbin, an award-winning media publicist serving clients in a variety of fields, from financial services and the travel industry to book authors, business consultants, professional speakers and everything in between.

expertFrom this workshop I gained 12 best practices you can implement today to build your reputation and credibility as an expert in your travel agency niche or specialty:

    1. Make a list of experts and journalists who regularly cover your travel specialty. Be sure to look at radio, television, newspapers, social media and online blogs. If your specialty is honeymoons and destination weddings, look at the number of people who are regularly featured in your area of expertise. Make a list of those specialists. Second, make a list of the journalists who covered these specialists; this will be one of your go-to lists of publications and people you will need to develop relationships with to establish your credibility.
    2. Be an expert. Don’t make it about you; make it about your expertise. Begin to chronicle the trips you have planned, hosted and executed for your clients in your niche and collect testimonials and reviews from those clients.
    3. Stop writing press releases. Press releases are typically meant for new product launches, new business launches and other innovative and newsworthy topics. They are not intended to be written for your business in general. If you do this, the press releases will get lost and probably won’t be published.
    4. Develop your pitch. You need to have a solid pitch for each area of expertise you want to develop for your business or hot topics that are trending in your market niche. Components of a successful pitch include:
      –       Introduction/Lead: Why are you contacting me?
      – Define who you are: Why are you a good source? Indicate number of years as an expert, any high-level positions you may have, positions on boards of directors, etc.
      – Articulate your thoughts: What do you have to say about your expertise? What can you offer on the topic that’s trending
      – Always include the close: The close must include your mobile number, email address, website and social media handles.
    5. Learn the different types of pitches. Great places to start include:
      – Knowledge and insights: Share your knowledge and insights around your specialty or niche.
      – Breaking news: Selling “you” around existing events as an expert.
      – Predictions: What do you see in 5-10 years?
      – Leverage HARO (stands for Help a Reporter Out): This is a website of journalists looking for experts on a specific topic.
      – Breaking Myths: Focus on common travel-related myths and what the truth is to bust the myth.
    6. thought leaderBe a thought leader. Draft a pitch as a thought leader versus a follower in your specialty. Offer fresh new ideas, and say what others are not saying (entertain a controversial headline).
    7. Be flexible. People may reach out to you to for an interview on a topic that you may not think of yourself as an expert at first glance.
    8. Size doesn’t matter. It’s all about earned media and credibility. A blogger with a smaller following could be more beneficial for you than a major media outlet from a conversion perspective. Take advantage of every opportunity, and remember that smaller opportunities can lead to bigger opportunities.
    9. Write an article. Write an opinion piece on a topic where people are split down the middle 50/50; you will see traction online. Keep it about the benefits for your readers (9 ways to reduce travel stress, or 7 questions to answer when planning your next family vacation, for example).
    10. Expect rejection. Keep at it; if you are working on 10 new media opportunities, you will be lucky to have one “yes” come to fruition. Remember, there are many people pitching to media outlets.
    11. Get media trained. If you’re serious about being covered on radio and television (even if it’s local coverage), be sure to invest in proper media training to ensure your credibility comes across on camera and over the radio.
    12. Leverage your media coverage. Be sure to leverage your media coverage in everything you do. Have a media page on your website, include a link on your subject line in your email and on your social media channels, and in your phone and in-person conversations (Did you hear about our agency on the local CBS news the other night?).

With your pitches, remember to publish them on your website. Journalists can pick these up and write articles from the pitches you publish, making it easier for them. Remember to pitch on the long side. If your pitch is longer in word length, it will be less gaps for journalists to fill when they go to write the article.

If you use some of these PR secrets in your travel business, you will find success in the media and new business opportunities. Whether you are a travel agent who is new to the business, or you’re an experienced travel agent, using the media can be your engine and fuel for growth and reach new audiences and build new business opportunities in your travel business.

 

Written by Cris De Souza, Nexion Vice President, Sales and Marketing