New York Times Travel Show Talks Wellness
健康旅行不是过去的趋势。这里留在这里。根据旅行行业高管的说法,他们专门从事市场,并在上周在《纽约时报》旅行秀上参加了有关该主题的小组讨论。
The panel, which included MSC Cruises’ Senior Vice President of Marketing Bonnie Levengood, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection President and CEO Ellen Bettridge, Hilton Director of Global Brand Wellness Melissa Walker, and well-being travel expert and agent Denise Wiggins, was moderated by TMR’s Publisher Anne Marie Moebes.
Wellness is a constantly evolving way of life that is unique to each individual. That was the universal message panelists communicated to a room full of travel agents eager to ramp up their wellness business or hit the ground running.
能够满足各种健康旅行者的需求,以及如何推销该细分市场的技巧。无论是像骑自行车一样简单,徒步旅行,远足还是水疗疗法,健康的定义几乎每天都在扩展,迎合这些旅行者的旅行产品也在扩大。那么,这对希望吸引健康旅行者的旅行社意味着什么?
提出正确的问题
According to industry insiders, wellness travel is a viable segment to explore, but it requires setting up the best environment to meet your wellness goals, and then asking your clients the right questions. According to MSC’s Levengood, you need to find out what personal fulfillment your client is searching for within the realm of wellness.
“每个人都以自己的眼光看待健康旅行。“他们想在水疗中心放松身心,充满身体健康或进行积极的游览吗?”确定您的客户正在寻找什么,然后成为健康专家,因为这会让您与其他代理商区分开来。”
Levengood noted that once onboard an MSC ship, cruisers are provided with a health and wellness assessment that assists the staff in putting together comprehensive and personalized wellness programs for them. Among other initiatives,邮轮公司已与Technogym合作, so guests can then monitor their progress.
At Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, adding bicycles onboard its ships in 2010 catered to a growing demand the river cruise line saw for passengers who wanted to explore cities in a more active, up-close-and-personal way. That move was followed by the addition of水疗中心,健身中心,“旅行精简版”菜单, and a soon-to-be-launched spiritual yoga cruise through India. “We want to give our travelers choices and make sure we are leading the way in that light,” said Uniworld’s Bettridge.
Hilton’s Walker is responsible for spreading wellness products and initiatives throughout the company’s 14 distinct brands that address “time, convenience and privacy.” The hotel chain has developed walking and running map programs for its guests; is currently working on implementing a program that invites guests to exercise using its stairwells; and even rolled out an in-room “mini-gym” initiative calledFitness™五英尺这使客人可以通过指导使用健身亭来发挥力量,核心和有氧运动。
向健康客户营销
While it’s clear the wellness market is not at a loss for products that cater to these travelers’ needs and desires, knowing how to market to them is key to harnessing this group. Wiggins, a health and wellness travel expert and agent, said she has found success with hosting “Wellness Wednesdays,” a dedicated day or night where she hosts seminars or visits local gyms, yoga studios, or hospitals to build up her client base and communicate her expertise in wellness travel.
She also recommends partnering with local yoga, Zumba or fitness instructors and inviting them to be the pied piper for group wellness bookings. “You have to physically get yourself out there to get business in,” said Wiggins, who added that putting testimonials from wellness clients in newsletters, on social media or on flyers is another way to get their peers to listen.
TMR出版商Moebes还提醒与会者养成寻找他们已经出售产品的健康选择的习惯,并尽可能将个人经验纳入其健康计划中。
One agent who attended the seminar did just that, noting that she has been a wellness travel expert for five years, specializing in organizing trips for cancer survivors. As a survivor herself, she decided travel was a wonderful way to bring other survivors in her community together in a healthy way, leading groups on yoga and spa getaways as close as Miami and as far as Costa Rica.
小组成员同意,代理商需要对可用产品进行作业,与品牌的健康教练联系,然后与当地的BDMS合作以创建可持续的营销。重要的是要注意,许多健康供应商都可以为接触这些旅行者提供帮助。例如,MSC Cruises提供健康销售工具,代理可以使用其名称和徽标来定制,而不是开发自己的材料。Levengood说:“我们已经花了数百万美元在这些资产上,我们希望代理商使用它们。”
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