NEW YORK -- The 2001 series of the European Roundtable &
Supermarts will focus on joint Web marketing strategies, including
linking to participating agency sites for the first time from the
VisitEurope.com site of the European Travel
Commission, event organizers said.
From VisitEurope, prospective travelers can link to tourist
board Web sites for the 30 nations that are members of the European
Travel Commission, and may also search for an agency referral of
European Roundtable & Supermart participants by ZIP code.
In addition to phone, address and e-mail contact information,
which is listed free for one year on the VisitEurope site, agencies
attending Supermart also will have the option to link prospective
travelers to their own Web site for $50 per year.
"The big difference is that we're promoting the site much more
heavily this year and next year," said Neil Martin, chairman of
Donald N. Martin & Co., here, which is the organizer of the
road show and finds commercial partners and provides editorial
content for VisitEurope.com.
The European destination portal will be promoted through a major
public-relations drive and through TV spots on CBS-network stations
in major markets.
Donald N. Martin & Co. said the planned TV promotions are
expected to push unique monthly visitors to VisitEurope to more
than 300,000 by next spring.
"In the past, the overall point we tried to make was to remind
agents of just how profitable Europe still is, especially when
airline commissions were dropping," Martin said.
"Now we're telling them that we're giving them real marketing
assistance, by putting them on the VisitEurope Web site and
promoting the site much more heavily."
Moderator Gerry Kelly, an expert on agency-Internet
applications, will provide tips and answer questions at the
Roundtable & Supermarts.
Kelly is a former chief of marketing for Avis Europe in the U.S.
and currently does travel agent and customer service representative
training programs for IATA.
Agent turnout for the European Roundtable & Supermarts ran
from 150 to 200 per show last year, and suppliers averaged from 25
to 30 per evening.
The 25-city European Roundtable & Supermarts roadshow begins
Jan. 16 in Denver, winding around the country through March 1, when
it ends in Cleveland. Some 5,000 agents are expected to attend.
For information, call Stefani Dana at Donald N. Martin &
Co., (212) 218-1200; fax: (212) 218-1205, or e-mail: [email protected].