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8
May

Making the most of your LATA Expo meetings

Thank you for joining the webinar last week, helping you to get the most out of your LATA Expo meetings. We hope you found it useful. If you would like to watch it again, or need to catch up, please click here.

Ahead of LATA Expo, Julia Bysshe, Head of Marketing & Business Development at LiNGER, shares her advice, based on her experiences at trade events:

 

The ONE thing:

There is ONE thing all exhibitors can do that is game changing. This applies to DMCs and Hotels/Cruises/Activities alike. I’ve only ever had one exhibitor do this and it was very striking.

My top piece of advice is, start by asking me a question. Not by telling me about yourself. Establish, in just 30 seconds, what I want to hear about. Yes, we have limited time. Yes, you have 100 things you want to tell me. The key thing is, I don’t need to hear all of them. I only want to hear the parts that are relevant to me.

The key to this is not a blind and ignorant question; it’s doing the research in advance, showing me you know what I represent, and then showing me you want to listen. This could sound like,
“From your website / reputation, it looks like you are very strong with high-end travellers, authentic local experiences and active travel. I will tell you how we match these areas, but first could you confirm my initial impression and tell me any more about the sort of trips you offer and your audience?”

Then LISTEN to what I say. Target what you subsequently tell me to the kind of trip & traveller I’ve just outlined. And be honest – if your hotel is 600 rooms and full of budget travellers, we are not going to be a good match. Best just to move on.

 

The worst approach:

Format:

  • So many times, the first thing hotel reps tell me is the opening times of breakfast. This should not even be part of your presentation.
  • We don’t have the time to wade through dozens of slides. Use pictures to help, but tailor what you want to tell me directly in your voiceover. Not everything is relevant.
  • I probably won’t be able to hear any videos that have a voice-over. If you have a video, best to play it in the background and talk over it yourself.

Merchandise:

  • If you have gifts, that’s really kind. But llamas made out of a pair of tights, even if they are handcrafted by local indigenous tribes (which is commendable and really very kind), might not make it in our suitcases home.
  • Also, it’s not a great idea to give out USB sticks – these can carry viruses and the general advice is not to use them.
  • Just make sure anything you give out is properly branded so we can actually remember the name of your business.
  • Notebooks / post-its notes are a personal favourite for me as I actually use them, and they bear your brand name.
  • Of course I love anything edible, but it’s not going to help me remember your brand.

The best approach:

  • Before the show, put up a photo of yourself on the LATA Expo system in your profile. Fill out your bio with at least a paragraph of useful information – Where you are, the demographic you serve (FIT, MICE, group), your price point, anything that makes you unique. And PLEASE PLEASE input your website address. It is our responsibility to research you just as much as it is yours to research us.
  • Tailor the presentation to my kind of client and trip.
  • Tell me a story. An origin / founder story. Make me remember you. Not just facts.
  • If you have a presentation, make this interactive, where the presenter can jump to the part I’m actually interested in.
  • Provide good photos. Then I can feature you in our itineraries / comms. A link to your online gallery, with photos I am allowed to use and that are titled with the credit I need to cite if relevant, is ideal.

Best approach – Properties / experiences:

  • Let me know where you are, how to get there, and how to weave your offer into a trip (e.g. it’s great after 3 days in the mountains).
  • Show me what’s in the vicinity – often a hotel looks great on the website, but when you go, it’s next to an eyesore of the view is blocked by the next hotel. Show me your hotel on google earth so I can see what it actually looks like in its environment.
  • Invite me to stay. I can’t sell the property  unless I’ve been there.
  • Ask me who my DMC is. Then invite them to stay at your property who my DMC is. Then invite them to stay at your property

Best approach – DMCs:

It is really, really hard to get a tour operator to switch DMC. Strong DMC relationships are critical to how we operate; we would have to have had a really bad experience with one to consider swapping. It has happened, but not often. Your expectation needs to be that you will be there in the background in case we need to switch.

For some, it may be money. For us, it’s service, creativity, in-depth knowledge, consistency of contact person, reliability, speed, accuracy, personability, trust, detail, .

  • Don’t cover too much. What you do cover, do it in depth.
  • Ascertain what kind of thing my clients will want. And prove that you can deliver that:
  • Show me itineraries that are really creative and off-the-beaten-path, where you’re worked really closely with your clients to create something different.
  • Tell me of places and experiences most don’t know about.

 

Worst approach example: (almost verbatim)

  • Property: “This is our hotel, breakfast is served from 7am to 10am, lunch from 12 to 3pm, dinner from 6 to 11pm. The room types are standard, superior and deluxe. The standard are 4 mtres by 6 metres, superior are 6 by 8 and deluxe are 8 by 10. We can fit in extra beds. The cost is xx per night. The spa is extra. We have this list of treatments; you get a 50% discount if you buy three. The pool is next to the gym and the gym is closed on Sunday evenings from 9pm. It’s a great hotel, the food is really good too.”
  • DMC: “We have a really good excursion which is to xx location, you arrive here at the top point (pointing on map), we take you down here and then you stop here to look at the view. Everyone stays at this hotel, which we’ve just acquired as part of our operation. It’s really beautiful and everyone loves it.”

 

Best approach example:

  • Opening gambit for Properties & DMCs: “I see you focus on high-end travellers going to off-the-beaten-path destinations and enjoying authentic experiences. Have I got that about right and is there anything you would like to know about in particular before I tell you how we are a great match for your target audience?”
  • Then, Property: “Our hotel was founded by a local environmentalist from an illustrious family of landowners. She saw how land was being encroached upon by loggers and decided to buy and protect an area that had a special resonance for her, being home to several families of rare wild cats. She designed the hotel with a local architect, using sustainably sourced wood and wall hangings by people from the neighbouring village using indigo dyes from an ancient tradition. Now the hotel offers visits to this village for guests to try out these artistic techniques with the guardians of the artform, alongside guided tours with the hotel’s ecologists to spot the wild cats in their environment, and track them as part of our ongoing protection programme. The menus in our restaurant reflect the local culinary heritage, featuring xx and xx. Our hotel works really well paired with a stay on the coast: it’s 3 hours by road from xx location or you can access it by this airport, with twice weekly flights from the capital. Here you can see it on Google Maps, with the connecting roads and the sweeping views over the surrounding plains.”
  • Or, DMC: “I know you work with another DMC in xx country; we want you to know we’re here for you should you decide to change in the future. We can work with you to design itineraries that are bespoke to your clients- we’ll discuss each client individually to understand what their priorities and interests are, then propose a few bespoke ideas which we can use as a springboard. We have one point of contact for you, who is very experienced, so you won’t get passed from pillar to post. For clients on the road, we have someone senior who is constantly available, even on our many bank holidays. We provide quotes in this format (give example), so you can see every cost is broken down and easy to understand. Our typical response time for enquiries is x hours –  even if we can’t provide a full answer immediately, we acknowledge your enquiry immediately and let you know when we’ll be able to respond. Let me give you an example of a trip we planned for a client similar to your typical traveller: a high-end traveller who wanted something a bit different. We suggested x activity and x place, as we knew they loved horses/animals/nature/hiking, and it had a museum to one side which was great for the grandparents, who wouldn’t be physically able to do the main hike/horseride/activity. We planned the logistics to minimise transit time. We have been to all the hotels we recommend ourselves and know which are appropriate for well-travelled, discerning clients seeking a luxurious experience without opulence.”
  • Ending, both: “Here is a link to our gallery of photographs, each of which is labelled with the destination / hotel represented and the name of the photographer to credit. We’d love to host you next time you come (Property) / I know you have a DMC already; would you give us a chance to prove our worth by sending us a brief, and we’ll show you how we can respond and the value we can add? (DMC)”