Wild Turkeys in New Jersey

So, just this morning I was saying to my wife that it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving. Then, I got in my car to drive to work, and hit some strange traffic in our little town, which is all of one block long.  I should tell you that I live in Northern Bergen County New Jersey, not quite “the sticks” but okay, it’s rural.  I often have to dodge some animal on the road, maybe a deer or squirrel (only to have to drive to NYC and dodge pedestrians or hot dog carts.)

As I drove down the street, what did I see? Wild Turkeys.  Now, we get to see these quite often (along with the deer and other critters), but rarely do you get to see the males.  Yet, there they were, strutting their stuff trying to impress all the females. See photo I took with my phone.

So, now you’re wondering what the heck this has to do with Tripology or anything remotely with travel or technology… nothing I guess, other than the CEO of this Travel Technology / Lead -Generation company was late for work because some Turkeys were blocking the road. Do you have an interesting Thanksgiving story?  Let me know. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Well, I’m just back in the office after having spent last week in Hollywood CA at PhoCusWright; one of the leading conferences for our industry. The conference was packed and all the movers and shakers were there; OTAs, Research Analysts, Hotel companies, technology companies, etc.  I attended as many presentations as I could, though the event for me has always been about networking and creating strategic partnerships. 

One of the presentations had to do with the “next generation” of travelers and a section in the research came up about travel agents. Guess what they were saying; OTA’s get consumers cheaper airfare than travel agents.  Or at least that’s what they’re saying.  They also went on to show how many crusies are booked though travel agents; far more than through the OTAs. (So there!) Most everyone was talking about booking direct, booking engines, agent  bypass (in one form or another), etc… That is, except for one company; ours.  We continue to fight on behalf of the travel agents and I’ll keep fighting; that’s how much I believe in the travel agent channel (and the majority of the community.)    Now, I’m not some Don Quixote on an imaginary battle.  Research clearly shows that at substantial percentage of online travel consumers say they would use a good offline travel agent (that’s you) if they knew how and where to find one (that’s where we come in). More and more consumers are expressing dissatisfaction with online booking engines, especially when their trip is just complicated enough to require a conversation with someone to ask for help.  In addition, sometimes consumers simply want to talk with someone about their trip; namely a specialist with passion and expertise.  Travelers come to our site because they don’t know the best time to go, or maybe even where to go, or what other services they will need, etc.  This is why they need an agent.   So, we help consumers find you.  Then you need to sell them.

These are tough times and I suggest getting out there and turning over every rock to find new clients.  If Tripology is part of your plans, that’s wonderful.  We endeavor to help you however we can.  We’ll continue the course and tell as many consumers as we can that travel agents are still the best bet for booking travel!  We hope you will join us and support our efforts.

There are dozens of of services you can offer your clients to make some extra money, but clearly, one of the greatest options for your clients is travel insurance.

According to a leading insurance company, 70% of all claims filed happen before your customers walk out their front door!  The cause; trip cancellation, mostly due to illness or injury of the traveler or family member. 

Listen to this though… some insurance companies even cover for loss of employment.  Now there’s a unique selling strategy for travel insurance.  Buy a trip, then buy insurance in case you lose your job.  Really, this is very timely given the economy. 

There has also been an increase in travel delay claims due to bad weather; snow in winter and thunder storms in summer which is yet another reason your customers should be buying insurance.

So, you’re likely already selling insurance (please say you are), but did you know now might be a good time to re-evaluate your relationship with your insurance company.  There are some pretty aggressive deals out there that will benefit both your clients and you.   So, while plenty of travel suppliers offer insurance, your best bet is likely to go direct to a reputable insurance company.  By doing this, you get the best product for your customers and you won’t leave any money on the table.

So, you likely all have a website (dear heavens, please say you do).  Some 80 million URLs are already reserved in the world, of which 15 million or so are travel related. So if you’re looking for a new URL but your favorite .com URL is already taken, why not reserve a .travel domain? .travel has been around a while, but recently there’s been somewhat of an resurgence and this is a good thing.  Since .travel domain names are authenticated (you’ll have to prove that you’re really in the travel business and your site will have to offer relevant travel information), they provide an enhanced level of trust for the consumer. The customer knows that your company has been validated as a legitimate supplier in the travel and tourism industry.

Since over 28% of on-line transactions are travel related, and over 200,000,000 searches a month are performed specifically for travel related services and products, your domain name is an asset.  Further, the longer you’re online with relevant travel information, the better off you are with the search engines.

Now, until .travel becomes popular with consumers (which will take some time), you can forward your .travel to your .com URL.  A final note, .travel URLs cost about $100 a year, but this, to me, is a worthwhile investment.  For more information, visit www.travel.travel

John Peters with Arthur Frommer at a recent radio interview

A very common question is “May we speak with some of your specialists?”  Of course!  So, we have a select group of specialists we refer.  Sometimes the journalist will ask “May I speak with one of your (enter destination or travel type, say Mexico or Scuba) specialists for a story I’m writing?” My response? “You bet!”  A few of you have asked how you too get quoted as an expert so consider this an open invitation.

Being a successful Tripologist is one thing. Having what it takes to be a successful, nationally recognized Tripologist who gets quoted in the press is another.  You not only need to be an expert in a destination(s) or travel type, you have to have your finger on your client’s pulse.  You have to be able to speak about trends.  You have to be able to articulate how using Tripology has helped your business.  You also have to be committed to the project; journalists will want speedy follow up because they’re on deadline. If you’re interested in joining the ranks of the Tripologist Press Corp, go to our “contact us” page (http://www.tripology.com/consumer/contacts/) and fill out the form with the selection of “other”.  (Don’t reply to this post in this one case.) Give us all your contact information. Then, in one paragraph, tell us why you’d be the perfect spokesperson for Tripology.