Is your business travel trade ready?
To help you decide if your business is ready to engage with travel trade operators, you will first of all need to acquire some specialist industry awareness as well as an understanding of how the sector operates.
iS YOUR BUSINESS TRAVEL TRADE READY?
Before investing time and money promoting your business to the travel trade, you need to consider the following questions:
- Do you understand the travel trade distribution channels?
- Do you have specific booking mechanisms and sales processes in place for travel trade?
- Do you understand the concept of commission and net rates?
- Are you prepared to work in partnership with other businesses in the region to package up joint experiences?
- Do you have adequate resource to fulfil travel trade bookings?
- Do you have specific collateral for travel trade clients?
TRAINING & SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES
It is important to recognise that the opportunity is a long-term investment, as the pipeline for contracting new product with the travel trade can be as much as 2 to 3 years. Within this time frame your business should look to take advantage of the numerous training and support opportunities available through organisations such as VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International, who can provide assistance to build your strategy including;
- Developing a base knowledge of the market
- Understanding client requirements and demands
- Developing a unique, bespoke product
- Tailoring your sales channels
- Advice on marketing collateral and tools required
A number of events and training sessions are available covering the above topics, as well as more in-depth sessions on specific target markets. For more information on upcoming training and events, please contact [email protected].
There is extensive research available online on international and domestic visitors, their travel styles and the experiences they are looking for on a Scottish holiday. A number of organisations are available to provide support if you are considering the travel trade as a market for your business. Explore the useful links for more information.
GET INVOLVED
If your business is set up to work with the travel trade there are a number of opportunities you can take advantage of in order to get your product in front of the right audiences.
VisitScotland offers the following:
- Regular contact and partnerships with travel trade in each market
- Sales missions to meet the overseas travel trade
- Participation in trade shows and events, such as World Travel Market and VisitScotland Expo
- Hosting familiarisation trips and workshop events
- Training programmes, such as the well-established SCOTS agent programme
The key aims of these activities are to:
- Increase the inclusion of Glasgow and Scotland product and programmes within overseas operator portfolios
- Improve distribution by working with wholesalers and tour operators
- Extend awareness of Glasgow and Scotland
- Encourage the trade to feature Glasgow and Scotland ahead of competitor destinations.
