Jamie Biesiada
Specializing in a particular type of travel or destination is often suggested to agents looking to build their business, but for Melissa Pomeroy, owner of Fiji Vacations, the proof is in the pudding.
She attributes much of her company's success to its specialization not only in travel to Fiji but in further niche specialties like honeymoons and diving trips to the country.
Pomeroy took over the business full time from her father in
2000 (she had worked with him since she was in high school). At that time, the
company Great Destinations -- today, the parent company of Fiji Vacations --
was primarily targeted at the U.S. surf market and was well established since
its founding in the mid-1980s. But the U.S. was heading toward a recession, and
Pomeroy decided to make a change.
She began to put a heavy focus on the honeymoon market, "which seemed to be impermeable by recession, world disaster, that kind of thing," she said. She noted that honeymooners tend to travel regardless of world events and spend more and go further than the average traveler.
Finding additional niches in travel to Fiji has helped Pomeroy's business continue on a growth trajectory.
Several years ago, Fiji Vacations started catering to the Scuba diving market. The last two years have brought a focus on multigenerational travel. Those moves have paid off: Pomeroy has seen 10% year-over-year revenue growth for the last five years.
The honeymoon market still accounts for about 70% of Fiji Vacations' business, according to Pomeroy.
Still, she said, "The only way to survive through some of these thin years with recessions and weird world events that have happened Zika now being something we're dealing with is really to hone in on certain small niches and then try and capitalize on them. We focused early on on the honeymoon market and the honeymoon space. Our strategies evolve and change over the years."
The company also invested in search engine optimization to attract more customers to the company's website, a move that Pomeroy said has been extremely successful. "We've seen great growth on our website in terms of visitors and return visitors, unique visitors all of that is way, way, way up each year."
And Pomeroy this year acquired Fiji Travel, which she said had previously been Fiji Vacations' largest competitor in the air-only space.
She encouraged other agents to pick a specialty, whether it be broad or more specific.
"I think, personally, you have to establish what your specialty is. It doesn't necessarily need to be a niche, but like, what are you strong at what is your passion," she said. "Is it cruises? If that's your deal, then you focus heavily on cruises. For us, it's Fiji and curated travel.
"You can specialize in one area, whether it's honeymoons, whether it's Fiji, whether it's cruises, whatever it is, as long as you're specialized and you have a laser focus, you'll be successful," she added. "I think if you scatter around and try to be everything to everybody, you're probably not going to be as successful."