With last week's launch of a follow-up marketing campaign aimed at promoting the tour sector, Terry Dale, president and CEO of the U.S. Tour Operators Association (USTOA), is maintaining his reputation for instilling innovative marketing tactics. Senior Editor Michelle Baran spoke with Dale about campaign strategy and effectiveness and just how hard it is to market tours.
Q: What is the aim of this campaign and of the USTOA's marketing efforts in general?
A: First and foremost, we want to differentiate what our member experiences are like to the consumer, and to the travel agent, who we rely on in connecting to the consumer. And we have really zeroed in on the whole live-like-a-local theme, because our members are able to get access to individuals who can really communicate what a country is about.
Q: How much has the USTOA invested in this campaign?
A: Our out-of-pocket expense was $55,000. For what we are delivering and creating, that's a pretty minimal investment. The money comes from sponsorship and the investment our members make in annual dues.
Q: Since you did a similar outreach last year with the "Dancing With Matt" campaign, do you have a sense of how much and whether your members are getting a return on their investment with these marketing initiatives?
A: We establish for ourselves as an association those metrics, and so those will include things like how have we grown our Facebook fan base and how are we engaging those fans, what are we doing on Twitter, how has the traffic on our website increased, what are the media impressions. Right now, since April 1, we've had a 60% increase in member page views compared to the same time last year. So clearly, we're trending in the right direction, and just with the launch of this campaign yesterday, we've already had 2 million impressions on social media channels with the hashtag #traveltogether. So I believe that we're creating the value, we're creating relevant marketing programs, our members are responding and we're generating results that justify their investment in partnering with us.
Q: What is the biggest challenge in marketing the tour operator sector?
A: The real challenge is changing misperceptions. ... I think too many times consumers assume that it's going to be bus prison: "I'm going to be trapped for seven days with 40 strangers, and that's not for me." But in reality, there's tremendous ability to customize. Whether it's just a couple traveling or 40 people traveling, there's such a range of experiences. So my biggest challenge is, how do we educate consumers and our travel agent partners?
Q: What are the market conditions and trends that pose the greatest competition for tour operators?
A: The biggest challenge is growing the pie; we're not looking to steal or rob from another segment of the travel industry. But I do think that we've got to be better about clearly defining the benefits of traveling with a USTOA member. Because if you travel solo, if you book something on your own and you're in a foreign country, and Mother Nature flexes her muscles or there's a geopolitical event, then you're on your own to determine how [you're] going to get back home. So I think that the safety net is one of our many assets that we need to do a better job communicating to our customers and potential customers.
Follow Michelle Baran on Twitter @mbtravelweekly.