The Family Travel Association released its Dude
Ranch Guide, a 14-page guide designed to help members sell ranch vacations.
According to the FTA, the guide is the first in a series.
Guides focusing on ocean cruise lines, tour operators, all-inclusive resorts
and river cruises are planned for the next two months.
The Dude Ranch Guide includes an industry summary and
qualifying questions. The FTA worked with the Dude Ranchers' Association to
produce it, and it will be unveiled at the DRA's annual conference by Sally
Black, the FTA's travel agency initiative director.
According to the FTA's 2018 Family Travel Survey, only 4% of
American families have vacationed at a dude ranch, and 7.5% are planning to
vacation at a dude ranch in the next year.
"We strongly believe educating agents more about our
offerings and assisting them in qualifying families will be of great service to
our members," DRA executive director Colleen Hodson said in a statement.
Hodson and the DRA's Leah Bright contributed to the guide,
as did Gene Kilgore of Ranch Vacations, David Craig of C Lazy U Ranch and
Susanne Walsh of White Stallion Ranch.
The guide, and others like it, will be included with FTA
membership, which is $375 per year for an individual agent or $675 per agency.
It will be housed in the FTA's Travel Agent Resource Center.