Frontline Selling- Where the Rubber Really Meets The Road
(A personal journey, of sorts)—Way back in 1964, when I first met
Irwin Robinson, founder, editor, and publisher, of Travel Weekly,
travel agents were not such popular folk with airline and hotel/resort
managements. I think the rallying cry from those sectors was “go
direct” or “cut out the middle man”. Only later did the fancier
“disintermediate” term come along.
In any case,
Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, a rapidly growing special interest
publisher where I hung my hat as legal counsel and sometime publisher,
saw all that as shortsighted economics, and we correctly predicted that
travel agency sales would become the backbone of the travel business.
Through the acquisition of Robbie’s weekly newspaper, and Hotel &
Travel Index, and the launch of the landmark Louis Harris Study on The
Volume and Character of the Travel Agency Market, we parlayed our bet
on frontline agents into a major publishing enterprise. I was
privileged to be Publisher of those travel properties and later
President of a Ziff-Davis Division that to this day, under different
corporate stewardship, proudly serves that critical cohort of agency
marketers.
Today’s Luxury
Market in travel was designed for topline, imaginative travel agents,
whose need is to stay ahead of the game with insights and action and
technology crafted to these dynamic times in global travel.
The frontline seller
cohort is broader now, with mega online agencies ambitious to find the
right formula for luxury sales , and a much enhanced capability of
cruise lines, hotels, resorts and others to have a greater share in
personalized , direct online sales in the luxury sector.
Today the issues in
travel marketing are complex indeed, for agents, suppliers and other
stakeholders. The winners will certainly be those who have the
marketing intelligence to be 360 degrees in exploiting their hard
earned advantages in building bonds with customers. Get, Keep, Grow is
everyone’s customer mandate.
It is our promise at
Luxury Travel 360 to provide every stakeholder the same vital
information in Research, Tracking Trends, and covering critical issues.
But we shall, without fail, be offering relevant special interest
content to the frontline world of marketers.
We take great pride
in the fact that Travel Weekly, with old friend and colleague Arnie
Weissmann at the content helm, will be available as Content
Colleagues and advisors in the travel agency sector in particular.
Melissa Bradley’s On My Mind message in the Sept-Oct issue of Indagare—family focused travel--just happened to be what was on my mind as I reviewed some of the most recent surveys on consumer travel behavior in a struggling economy.
In the November 3rd issue, covering the Latest Quarterly Survey from American Express Publishing/Harrison Group on Affluence and Wealth in America, is a most informative visit to spending in a troubled economy.
One thing that struck us, as we listened to the October 2 presentation, was how the term affluent covered so much territory - There is “ Bedrocks” Affluent, “Upper Middle Class” Affluent, “Pinnacle” Affluent, “Super” Affluent and finally, just plain Wealthy – all together, some 20 million households.
But Lux 360 Found a Brighter -and we think, Sensible Side-
From Harvey Chipkin’s report in the British online Hotel Report-a paid service from William Reed Business Media- http://www.wr-bi.co.uk/ - Reproduced here with publisher permission
At the first industry wide meeting following the fall financial meltdown and the recent presidential election, the consensus seemed to be that, yes, the industry faces a historically challenging situation that will last for awhile. But there was also a feeling that lodging is in a better position than other industries – and, happily, a few silver linings were perceived as well.
We’ve all heard the bad news over and over: global liquidity drought, drops in rate and occupancy, a dismal outlook for employment, and a possibly extended recession. But some leaders managed to find ways to take – if not a positive view -- at least a more nuanced one. Following are a few comments about why weeping and gnashing may not be the only appropriate attitudes.
Steve Joyce, who recently became CEO of Choice Hotels International, said he has been “the only optimistic person in the room at a number of events over the last few weeks.” I strongly believe,” said Joyce, “that there is a paralysis factor and that you can’t base projections on two weeks of hysteria.”
“Forecasts in this environment,” he continued, “are entertaining but not much use.”
Other ‘smart marketer’ insights from Joyce, Mark Lomanno of Smith Travel Research; Peter Yesawich, CEO of The Y Partnership; Michael Kaufman, Chairman of National Restaurant Association; Patrick Ford, CEO of Lodging Econometrics; and Roger Thomas, Steve Wynn’s design guru for many years.
Nat Ives, in Ad Age Online Sept 6, cites new data from Ipsos MMR which assures that well-off readers read print publications just as much now as they did 5 years ago.
Also, survey respondents making more than $100,000 annually said their average hours online had grown to 22.1 each week from 10.7, while the time they said they spent watching TV sunk to 18.6 hours from 23.7 in the 2003 survey. Read the full Ives story at http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=130685. Lux 360 attended the client briefing this week and will provide additional perspective in our Sept. 30 issue, interviewing Ipsos MMR President Bob Shullman.
For Travel Agents
