Photo. Wikstrøm
Reiser AS had one of the best stands on the travel fair. Here
represented by a woman from Thailand.
Through years I have attended this Travel Fair in Norway. It's always
interesting to be here looking for new adventures and meet nice people. I
am glad to see that so many exhibitors came from foreign countries. It makes it more
interesting!
One of the most
exotic things I dream about is encountering gorillas in wild Africa. Therefore I
was delighted to get some information from the very enthusiastic and nice stand
personnel representing a travel operator from Uganda.
|
Photo. VisitNorway stand,
the Norwegian
Tourist Organisation. |
 |
It`s a big challenge to promote a country with a so wide range of
opportunities as Norway, and at the same time using a clear message in the
communication to the audience.
I guess that most companies and organisations which participated on the
Travel Fair have now evaluated results and activities. Hereby I would like to
discuss some issues about promotional work on stands. I am sure there are as
many opinions as there were stands on the fair. There is no absolute truth about
how the work should be done, but there is always something that could be
improved.
|
Photo. Lars Ebbesen, famous adventurer,
guide and author, from the wellknown tour operatour Hvitserk
& Eventyrreiser on its colourful and creative decorated stand.
Trough the company`s presentation on the stand and lectures, Lars
and his colleages visualised great opportunities for unique
adventures.
Over the years Hvitserk & Eventyr-reiser has brought travellers from
both Norway and several other countries to exotic destinations
around the world. Next expedition:
the South or North Pole? |
 |
This company offers climbing and trekking tours to Kilimanjaro,
Aconcagua, Elbrus, Everest, Rwenzori and more. Its experienced personnel
and guides has also organised more than 30 successful expeditions across
the Greenland icecap - skiing with dogteams or manhauling pulka.
| Photo. The wellknown Wikstrøm
Reiser offers also tours to exotic destinations, but this company has
another profile than Hvitserk & Eventyrreiser. |
 |
Wikstrøm Reiser has extended
its Tour Catalogue with tour offers to India, South Africa and Cuba.
Some considerations about the marketing work
on the fair
After so many exhibitors have been assembled under
one roof for 4 days remains the question: was it
rewarding?
My
hypotheses is:People go to the travel fair
mainly because they search for new adventures and are open for ideas, but how to
take advantage of this?
Based on my observations
and talking to other visitors I will summarize my impressions here:
What could travel companies done better on stands?
- Get a clearer profile. By
focus on so many things potential clients' loose their interest or become
totally confused. What are the main attractors that draw attention and get
people in to the stands? What are the personnel on the stands selling?
Everything means nothing!
- Right focus. Some stand
personnel were too keen to sell a "destination" rather than an "adventure" and
"activities": what are the selling points for going to the place? It's good to
hear that the promoted places are beautiful, but what kind of activities could
be enjoyed there?
- Deep knowledge is necessary for stand personnel about the
destination they promote, and ability to provide ideas or relevant information
according to clients wishes.
- Inspiring. Stand personnel
need to be more inspired. If they intend to inspire others, they need to be
inspired themselves.
- Shows. At some stands there
happened nothing. Who wants to visit a stand without challenging activities,
entertainments, demonstrations, contests, prizes for winners and special tour
offers? Of course there are some rules the Exhibitioners have to follow, but
anyway there where some things missing on some stands.
- Marketing material. Exhibitioners need to have brochures and sufficient number of
brochures. There were some few stands with real interesting offers for
adventure tours which lacked information material, and they didn't wrote down
visitors` names and addresses either. They just slipped potential clients
straight through their fingers
|
Photo. A Portugese woman in a beautiful costume that
draw high attention.
*********************************
Spending so much money and time on stands the work should be conducted
properly.
My general impression is that companies and stand personnel have become
more professional in marketing and selling the last years.
The most creative companies use several methods to collect names and
addresses. That's all that counts. |
 |
Not every company can expect to get orders on the travel
fair, especially not tour operators arranging and guiding people on adventure
tours. After the fair it's easy for visitors to forget companies and good travel
offers. Potential clients need to be followed up and reminded.
I don`t think the visitors will
be able to read all the brochures they have carried with them home.
So this is another argument for following up potential clients after the fair.
I am really convinced that companies that do this will achieve greater
success than others. It will definitely give them higher return on investment for their stand efforts.
|
Photo. The showman from DFDS Seaways.
He did a great job for promoting his company`s ferry tours to
Denmark and other places. 
|
 |
This stand personnel from DFDS Seaways really new how to
attract clients. It didn`t give the audience new impulses, but they managed
to engage them. It was very entertaining to watch the contest show for a while,
but they pulled it out too long. People were so eager to win prizes that they
stood there for a long time. Anyway this is an example how marketing work should
be done a fair.
This year's small decline in visitors was a reminder of that the
organiser and the exhibitors need to bring something new next time. They need to
make people curios about new adventures, activities and destinations. It
wouldn't be so interesting to visit this travel affair each year if it is mostly
the same things that are offered. And when the people just have arrived they
need to be entertained. For many people their journey starts on the travel
fair!
Stein Morten Lund, 25 January 2005
Additional information
Information about the
International Norwegian Travel Fair: www.messe.no/reiseliv.
For information about Travel Exhibitions around the world:
Reed Travel
Exhibitions is part of Reed Exhibitions Ltd. who organise over 430 events in 32
countries, serving 49 different industries in 13 key sectors, attracting over
90,000 exhibiting companies and more than 4 million visitors every year. Click
on the link http://travel.reedexpo.com.
Another link about exhibitions: www.citydiscovery.net/world_travel_fairs.htm
Informasjon fra websiden til Reiseliv05:
Kontaktpersoner:
Norges Varemesse, prosjektsjef Sissel Korstad Weng tel.
66 93 91 78,
Norges Varemesse, Markeds- og informasjonskonsulent Merete
Rustad, Reiseliv05, tlf. 66 93 91 79.
Økende interesse for reiser i Norge:
Vi ferierer mer i Norge enn
noensinne. I år skal hundreårsmarkeringen av unionsoppløsningen få enda flere
til å velge norgesferie. Nordmenn brukte i 2003 til sammen 37 milliarder kroner
på ferier i hjemlandet, og foreløpige tall fra Statistisk sentralbyrå (SSB) for
i fjor viser fortsatt vekst.
Driving profitable growth through gaining access to the Nordic
market
The Travel Fair needs strong and vibrant companies with
commitment and capability to operate in an increasingly challenging global
environment. We recognise the vital importance of innovation for growth and
strengthening of the travel industry, especially after the Tsunami tragedy.
Our core mission in Travel Explorations is to work in partnership with travel
companies to develop a sustainable competitive advantage leading to a
significant increase in number of clients and profitable sale.
Here are some of the things we can do for travel companies and organisations:
- Create market awareness
- Develop knowledge and understanding of markets
- Develop and build profitable sales and effective
marketing capabilities
- Advertising
- Run campaigns, especially e-mail campaigns
These marketing activities involve us in developing and maintaining market
contacts and carrying out information gathering for clients through our network.
For required information, please contact us in Travel Explorations at stein@TravelExplorations.com
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