HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — When Intrepid Group decided to increase its presence in the U.S., the Australian small-group adventure firm made a decision to ramp up its recognition with travel agents.
"Starting a couple of years ago, our focus was to move the consumer who knew our brand over to the agent community," said Ron Fenska, Intrepid's vice president of sales.
After strengthening relations with agent consortia, Fenska began looking for additional ways to make inroads with agents.
This year for the first time, Intrepid Group participated in Global Travel Marketplace (GTM), a Travel Weekly forum that brings together high-selling agents with travel suppliers in one-on-one appointments.
In its third year, the GTM conference, held at the Diplomat Resort and Spa here, attracted 19 first-time suppliers, accounting for about 16% of the total. First-timers included Adventures by Disney, Emerald Waterways, Excellence Group and the Philippines, among others.
By design, they represented a diverse group of cruise lines, tour operators, resorts, destinations and financial or service providers.
Fenska said that prior to transitioning more of its marketing to agent channels, Intrepid had simply taken U.S. business directly, most of it generated by digital marketing or word of mouth.
"It was primarily grass roots," Fenska said. "People would figure out who we were. There weren't a lot of conferences we were doing."
Intrepid's brands, in addition to its eponymous flagship, include Geckos Adventure, a budget brand aimed at young adults; the Peregrine label for older, upscale travelers; and Urban Adventures, which offers short, quirky, ultralocal tours in 81 major cities.
Overlaid on those are several styles of travel for each brand that correspond roughly to comfort levels.
Fenska said it can be a complex product that travel agents are well equipped to explain. In return, it brings many adventurous younger travelers to the agency channel.
"We allow agents to lower the demographic of what they've worked with in the past," Fenska said.
Other first-time suppliers said the GTM conference worked well for them because of its format.
At the heart of GTM is a series of one-on-one meetings between agents and suppliers, each lasting six minutes. Suppliers also make small-group presentations between appointment sessions.
To qualify for the conference, agents must have sold $1 million worth of travel products in the previous year.
"We definitely have some very successful travel agents here," said Alicia Evanko-Lewis, senior vice president of events for Northstar Travel Media, Travel Weekly's parent company. She added that the agents were selected from 832 applicants and represented about $150 million in annual travel sales.
Nicole-Joy Henzler, head of sales for Region Stuttgart in southwest Germany, said, "We are convinced about the format of the event, and after our participation, we are certain that we will participate next year."
The reason for that, she said is, "The way GTM is organized as well as the quality of the agents has convinced us."
For Perla George, director of sales for the British Virgin Islands, attendance was just a matter of timing. George said she wanted to participate last year, but such events have to be in the budget a full year in advance.
"Our role as a tourism destination is to work with the trade and increase long-standing relations with travel agents," George said. The quality of agents invited and their diversity of backgrounds "gives you a good bang for your buck."
This article has been updated to reflect that Emerald Waterways was one of the first-time supplier attendees. In addition, one-on-one appointments were six minutes, not seven. A previous version of this article contained incorrect information.