消费者媒体提高旅行社意识
by理查德·德·安布罗西奥(Richard D'Ambrosio)/
Close to one million adults had the chance to read about the value of travel agents last week, as the波士顿环球报和旧金山纪事published articles, the result of a major PR push by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA).
随着上周的旅行社日(5月3日)的临近,ASTA正在积极推论消费者媒体的故事思想,以帮助提高公众对行业的认识以及代理商交付给旅行者的价值。这编年史和地球published stories written by staff, while other publications, including the纽黑文注册,出版了由旅行社本身撰写的文章。
ASTA传播总监Erika Richter指出,ASTA及其公关机构在全国各地的主要主要消费者报纸上接触了调查,这是他们正在进行的媒体外展活动的一部分。
“It really kicked off in 2016, when we started to ramp up our consumer awareness activities with support from our Chapter Presidents, including two consumer-facing videos, upgrades to our consumer website TravelSense.org and other initiatives,” Richter said. “And this year, the Chapter Presidents renewed their commitment to ASTA and consumer awareness by funding a second round of support. That sort of commitment provides the resources necessary to keep the consumer awareness machine running on all cylinders.”
In fact, ASTA has been able to place dozens of articles with television and radio outlets, as well as print and online publications throughout 2017, to promote the value agents create for consumers, and to continue to remind travelers that travel agents are still very much willing and able to serve consumers.
在里面波士顿环球报,记者斯蒂芬妮·泰伯斯基(Stephanie Tyburski)引用ASTA’s recently published surveywrote that with “so little vacation time and so much money at stake, the pressure is on to make every moment count. Maybe that’s why the use of travel professionals jumped more than 50 percent between 2013 and 2016.”
这地球列出了代理商是预订休闲旅行的最佳选择的许多原因,包括:节省时间和金钱,代理商可以提供的额外好处,如果出现问题,请提供帮助以及在梦境中咨询的能力。
为了找到一个好的代理商,地球recommended “word-of-mouth” referrals from friends and family, ASTA’s travelsense.org search engine, as well as the annual “best of” rankings fromConde Nast Traveler旅行 +休闲.
“The trend toward agents taking their businesses off of Main Street means that travel agents are less visible than they used to be, and as a result many consumers assume they have gone the way. Of course, they’re not gone, those who aren’t on Main Street have simply shifted business models but they continue to provide valuable services to consumers,” Richter said. “This is the notion that we have to fight, and it’s going to be a multi-year process, but the good news is we’re already seeing results.”
这地球引用了Virtuoso的Misty Ewing Belles和Valerie Wilson Travel的联合总裁Kimberly Wilson Witty;Wetty说,最好的旅行社非常擅长“计划和执行您无法使用的经验”。
这旧金山纪事文章说:“自从互联网出现以来,经过生存和蓬勃发展的代理商主要通过提供出色的建议和服务来做到这一点。专门从事您目的地区域并定期旅行的代理商可以评估您的旅行偏好,并就住宿,季节性注意事项和活动提供建议,并可能意识到省钱的促销活动。”
在May 2 press conference,ASTA总裁Zane Kerby继续提醒旅行社,提高其知名度仍然是获得更多预订的主要挑战。克比(Kerby)指出,消费者大多对他们的预订方式“不可知论”,并且代理商需要与客户结识并知道他们的预订行为以及时进行查询。
在里面纽黑文注册, Scott Largay, marketing director of Cheshire, CT-based Largay Travel, celebrated travel agents by offering six reasons they add value, including personalized planning, that helps tailor a trip “to your interests and budget,” global expertise and connections, VIP treatment, for “events, private tours, and more,” and peace of mind, from a human available 24/7 in the event something goes wrong.
同时,编年史与之合作Bay Area Consumers’支票簿magazine and Checkbook.org,一个非营利性消费者群体,可帮助消费者看到当地旅行社的评级,并提供有关选择和与代理商合作的建议,直到2017年5月31日。