用多里(Dori)测试水域:Asta River Cruise Expo
经过多里·萨尔茨曼(Dori Saltzman)/Whether you like the show or not, "The Love Boat" did wonders for the cruise industry at a time cruising as a vacation option was still relatively new and unknown. Week after week, images of onboard entertainment, never-ending buffets, and colorful ports helped travelers picture themselves having the same fun and encouraged them to come aboard and "set a course for adventure."
从那以后的几年中,海洋邮轮线通过生动的广告在消费者的思想中保持着存在,这些广告展示了船上和岸边体验。尽管仍然存在一些误解,而且当然,不同尺寸的巡航船之间存在差异,但是如果您要求某人想象巡航,他们可以提出相当不错的体验图片。
要求同一个人在河流巡游中这样做,很可能,他们将无法做到。
Case in point, at the recent 2nd annual ASTA River Cruise Expo in Budapest, Ken Muskat, who was appointed managing director of Scenic Group USA some six months ago, and has spent his entire career working in the big-ship cruise industry, told attendees he had no idea what to expect when he and some friends decided to try a river cruise in their late 40s. Moreover, he admitted, they were absolutely (and pleasantly) surprised by the entire experience (which, by the way, means that whatever they were expecting, even if unconsciously, it was wrong).
尽管受欢迎程度和产品量很大,但河流巡航并不是大多数人所能设想的。包括许多旅行顾问。
And when you don't truly understand the product, it's very hard to sell. (For those who don't know, river cruising is not simply big ship ocean cruising shrunk down in size.)
At this year's River Cruise Expo more than 500 travel advisors came out to learn more about river cruising. At least a quarter – possibly more – had never set foot on a river cruise prior to the Expo. About the same number had never sold one either.
在我与销售河的许多顾问中,它只是滴水和单调。但是他们渴望更多。当河流邮轮公司的高管喜欢指出时,出售河流巡航会为您带来逗号的佣金。哪些旅行顾问不想要更多这些?
在为期三天的会议上,与会者留在河船上。我们有机会参观了六个不同品牌的九艘河巡航船。我们可以选择每天在不同的船上吃午餐和晚餐。
没有在线培训模块,没有网络研讨会可以复制教育与会者仅在三天内获得的教育参与者。
By the end of the show, advisors who had never been on a river cruise ship not only had a better understanding of what being on a river ship is like. They can now tell you some of the key differences between an Avalon Waterways ship and a Viking ship, between Scenic and AmaWaterways. They know more about Austrian-based Amadeus than almost any other U.S.-based advisors, and they were the first to see the all-new Riverside Mozart (previously the Crystal Mozart).
他们了解双船(例如Amamagna和Riverside Mozart)的重要性,并且可以更好地解释法国阳台与传统阳台与滑动窗户的利弊。
Even advisors who have sailed on and sold multiple river ships got something out of the Expo.
“ ASTA的河流巡航博览会是任何想要出售河流巡游的人,甚至那些可能没有在许多线路上巡航的经验丰富的卖家的人都必须参加活动。”玛德森(Madson)和她的丈夫连续第二年参加了博览会,并正在考虑参加明年在阿姆斯特丹举行的演出。她说:“事实证明,与供应商和其他代理商的网络联系非常有帮助。”
为什么我要花点时间与您谈论河流Cruise Expo?
本·富兰克林(Ben Franklin)著名地说:“对知识的投资是最大的利益。”
作为坚信专业精神,教育和知识是旅行顾问成功的关键,我不能强调自己对博览会的印象以及对参加顾问的绝佳机会。那些将自己的时间(和金钱)投入为期三天的博览会(以及某些人的Expo后FAM帆船)的500个旅行顾问将在未来几年内赢得利息。