TripShock! Media Kit

Transcription

1 Fact Sheet Product Offerings Marketing Plan Press Testimonials FAQ s TripShock! Media Kit

2 Fact Sheet Overview TripShock! is an online travel agency that offers lodging, tours, activities and vacation services across the Gulf Coast. TripShock! is available on a pay per performance model for hotels, property managers, tour operators, theme parks and activity providers. TripShock! originated in Northwest Florida and continues to expand to popular Gulf Coast tourist destinations. Location The corporate offi ce is located across the street from the beautiful Harbor Walk in Destin, FL. Expansion Plans TripShock! plans to acquire new hotel/condo accommodations and activity partners in popular tourist destinations between Panama City Beach and New Orleans. The company will be launching a new website in January 2013 that will brand the Gulf Coast as a premier tourist destination and offer visitor guides and a travel forum. Size As of July 2012, TripShock! has over 100 travel partners that offer over 150 products and services along the Gulf Coast. Primary Markets Destin and Panama City Beach are the two primary markets for TripShock! with over 125 product offerings between the two markets. New Orleans and Pensacola are closely followed with over 50 product offerings combined. Key Partners & Products Sunquest Cruises (The Solaris), Olin Marler Charter Fishing & Dolphin Cruises, Big Kahunas Water Park, Grayline New Orleans, Sea Screamer Panama City Beach, Aquatic Adventures, Audubon Institute New Orleans, Sterling Resorts, Seascape Resort, Premier Island Management, Youngs Suncoast, Summerplace Inn 1

3 Fact Sheet, cont. General Contact Information Reservations: Daily 9am-5pm hour reservation support via at Vendor Services: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm ext1001 or Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1517, Destin, FL Launch Date May 1st, 2009 Professional Licensing & Associations Florida Attractions Association, Florida Seller of Travel #ST37752, BBB Accredited, IATAN Accredited, Navarre Chamber of Commerce, Visit Pensacola Owners and Management Donna Marler Founder and Trustee Greg Fisher Gulf Coast Marketing Manager - Activities and Services Amy Peterson -- Gulf Coast Marketing Manager - Lodging Web Developers Atlantic Silicon Inc. Partner Acquisitions Greg Fisher - Activities and Services gfi sher@tripshock.com or call Amy Peterson - Lodging amy@tripshock.com or call (850)

4 Product Offerings TripShock s main marketing program is the wholesale booking platform in which hotel rooms/condos and tour tickets are sold at a commissionable rate. Each partner is assigned a market manager that will assist in selling and creating offers. When a customer books a room or tour on TripShock!, they will receive instructions on how to redeem the voucher. In addition, the travel pertner will receive notifi cations for each new order so they are prepared for a TripShock! guest arrival. Getting setup is easy. Just contact a market manager so that we can review your product(s) for inclusion on the website. If your product is accepted and a commission is agreed upon, a booking agreement will be signed by both parties. Shortly after, we will build your listing on the website and have your product(s) online! Why Advertise With TripShock! No upfront costs Pay only when your product sells Reservation assistance and planning for customers and businesses When your business is closed, we are selling 24 hours Verisign Trusted and BBB Accredited with an A rating Professional design and product display Easy-to-use account management system Acquire new customers & build your brand Mobile friendly 3

5 2012 Product Offerings, cont. Why customers choose TripShock! Although there are many other distribution networks on the internet, our customers choose TripShock! for a number of reasons. Guaranteed low prices on tickets and tours Friendly, local & knowledgeable customer service Handpicked tours & attractions No hidden fees Easy online booking Mobile booking Always accurate reviews, ratings & information Value & peace of mind 4

6 Marketing Plan If you re curious to how TripShock! will promote your business, we ve included a little about how we plan on allocating our marketing dollar in Pay Per Click (SEM) Pay per click advertising [otherwise known as SEM (Search engine marketing)], is the cornerstone of the TripShock! marketing plan. We will advertise generic keywords related to your product or services through the popular search engines such as Bing, Google and Yahoo. Keep in mind that TripShock! will never squat when selecting our keywords. This means that we will not use any keywords that are like or similar to your business name. Content Network Advertising Content network advertising is similar to Pay Per Click, but we will be advertising on other websites that have the same content as TripShock!. This is not only less expensive, but effective if done correctly. Social Media Social media such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook will be used extensively to sell products and services to our customers. Press Releases Press release marketing will be used to develop our brand and reach markets that are somewhat diffi cult to get into without the help of a PR fi rm. This will be one of our few print forms we ll be using in our campaign. Channel Partnerships Forming channel partnerships with local and national businesses is a great way to brand and receive traffi c to the website. Some of our partners include hotels, restaurants and associations. 5

7 Press TripShock.com: Destin company offers online bookings for vacation activities November 26, Dusty Ricketts, Daily News Destin Airline tickets, hotel or condominium reservations and rental cars all can be purchased online. Now, the Destin-based web business TripShock.com offers options for vacation activities. TripShock.com contracts with activity providers along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Panama City to allow people to plan outings and purchase tickets online. The service is completely commission-based, so activity providers do not pay anything to join and TripShock does not receive any money unless a ticket is purchased through its site. If you think about it, the activity and tour companies are probably about 10 years behind the hotels in terms of technology, said Greg Fisher, one of the owners of TripShock.com. If you open a hotel up, you already have the technology right there in your point-of-sales system that you can start selling online immediately. If you take the small guy on the harbor who runs a parasailing company, he doesn t have the resources to sell online. We can contract them, put them online and they only have to pay us for every booking that they receive, Fisher added. The whole off-season could go by and they wouldn t have to pay a penny to us because there s no bookings or they re closed down. It s a real strong selling point with a lot of the tour providers that it s only based on what we can sell for them. The business was started in 2009, with the fi rst eight months devoted to developing the intricate website. TripShock.com initially had a larger focus, and booked activities in major tourist markets around the country.whenever customers pick a time and date for an activity and book a ticket, an is automatically sent to activity providers to put the reservation on their books. The customers receive a voucher they can print off to bring with them. It was a pretty rough time to launch any new business or site, but we still did pretty well because the concept hasn t been done in Northwest Florida before, Fisher said. People used it as a convenience tool for them to plan their vacations. In the Panhandle, TripShock.com contracts with nearly 50 activity-based businesses such as the Solaris dinner cruise, Olin Marler Charters and Big Kahuna s. TripShock.com also has an affi liate program for any website or resort company to take part. A company with a website can place a tracking link to TripShock s page on its site and TripShock will share its commission if customers book anything. We have a lot of vacation rental companies that are currently working on that affi liate program and some local Destin websites, too, Fisher said. That s a huge way we were able to succeed this year was through our affi liate program. Fisher and co-owner Donna Marler, wife of Olin Marler, have brought on a third owner to the company, Amy Peterson. Peterson previously worked at BookIt.com as its hotel marketing manager. She joined TripShock.com to expand the business to include hotel and condominium reservations and car rentals. In March, they plan to launch a redesigned website that will include those additions. The new site has also been designed to make it more compatible with smartphones. Fisher said he expects business to double in Last year was really our fi rst year, so we didn t have any people coming back, Fisher said. That s one of the things that hurts. Your fi rst year, you re putting so much in advertising because you re trying to get those fi rst customers. The thing about Destin customers is they come back year after year. 6

8 Press, cont. TripShock.com Expands into Four Gulf Coast Destinations in 2012 TripShock.com announced last week that it will start acquiring activity and lodging providers in four new destinations on the Gulf Coast. The decision was made to enter these destinations because of the opportunity for growth in these markets. The areas include Navarre (FL), Pensacola (FL), Gulf Shores (AL) and Biloxi (MS). Since the oil spill in 2010, these destinations have bounced back to have record breaking years in Vice President and Market Manager, Greg Fisher, says that lodging and activity providers in these regions are excited here this news. There are several hotel and activity providers in these four destinations that are trying to reach out to any travel agencies willing to promote their business and destination. However, these destinations fail to meet the criteria for most big name tour and travel agencies and it s unfortunate. Fisher says. Fisher mentions that one good example of a destination that gets overlooked is Navarre, FL and surrounding areas of Santa Rosa County, FL. Although Navarre is not developed as much as nearby Panama City Beach or Pensacola Beach, it still offers white sandy beaches, several lodging options, and a long list of attractions and things to do. Navarre is the perfect example of the destinations we would like to promote. It encompasses the same natural beauty as Destin or Pensacola Beach, but at half the price. It s also centrally located so visitors can make day trips to several popular destinations in Northwest Florida in less than an hour. Fisher says. TripShock.com plans to start promoting these destinations in early spring when they launch their new website. They are currently acquiring lodging and activity providers in these four destinations and ask that any interest companies contact the appropriate market manager immediately. All lodging companies are asked to contact Amy Peterson at amy(at)tripshock(dot)com and activity and service providers are asked to contact Greg Fisher at gfi sher(at)tripshock(dot)com. About TripShock.com TripShock! is the one and only travel agency that enables travelers to book tours and activities online directly for the Northern Gulf Coast. TripShock! offers trusted reviews from real travelers, photos, videos and other planning tools to help create the perfect Gulf Coast vacation. TripShock! attracts more than 500,000 visitors annually and partners with over 100 activity and lodging providers from Florida to Louisiana. 7

9 Testimonials What Our Partners Say I regard TripShock as one of Big Kahuna s top consignment partners if not the number one nonmilitary ticket reseller. Customer service is and has always been a top priority for TripShock. Always going the extra mile to take care of the guests needs. Gregg Abel, Sales & Marketing Manager, Big Kahuna s Water & Adventure Park Working with Greg and the rest of the crew at TripShock has been a real pleasure. They are always available when you have something come up or need to sell some last minute rooms. The guests we have stay with us from TripShock seem so happy with their experience and that translates into lasting relationships. Keone McHugh, Front Desk Supervisor, SummerPlace Inn Having operated a business along the Emerald Coast since 1993, I have built a solid foundation of clients who return year after year for beautiful family pictures on our white sandy beaches, and continue to add to those clients via word of mouth and internet presence (appearance). However, when the opportunity arose for a partnership with Tripshock, I was happy to join with them. Who wouldn t want any extra business brought about through extra advertising that costs us partners very little? By the deals I offer Tripshock for photography packages, I have had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people/clients who have purchased over and above their packages for my photography prints. Great staff and great customer service! Melanie Barrett, Owner/Photographer, Melanie Barrett Photography We have been partnered with TripShock for over 5 months and they are helping us fill our rooms. I have worked with their marketing manager for over 7 years and the experience has always been very good. The staff at Tripshock is first rate, easy to work with, responsive to our needs, and the company offers us new promotional ideas and added benefits that are welcome by our guests. We look forward to a long lasting relationship. Gary Gasper, VP/Director,Club Destin CAI. What Our Customers Say All the deals were amazing and we fi nally decided on a condo in Destin. We received a couple freebies with our reservation which was a nice bonus. When planning a trip to the beach you should always check TripShock fi rst. Taylor, Winfi eld, US March 26, 2012 Waited until the last minute to find a sailing charter to take my husband & I out, with some friends of ours, for a sunset cruise around the Gulf of Mexico. Ended up at TripShock, deciding between 2 different charters. Thanks to the feedback offered at their site, making a decision was simple. The process took just a few minutes and we re booked and ready to go! Will gladly use this valuable service again! Sheri Ann, Spring Hill, US May 16,

10 Frequently Asked Questions How much business can we expect from TripShock! annually? Depending on which destination your product is selling in will determine what type of return you ll get with TripShock!. Partners in Northwest Florida typically receive a majority of the bookings since TripShock! is well known in the area. However, it is important to keep in mind that having your product listed on TripShock! is also free advertising and a great way to acquire new customers. So if the number of bookings is not what you expected, your product and brand is still being promoted at no cost. What if the customer doesn t have their booking voucher? Vouchers are not required by TripShock! for billing. If the booking totals match that of the provider, then a check will be remitted. However, on free sale tickets (tickets that don t require reservations), a voucher must be redeemed. Partners can use a replacement voucher that is supplied by TripShock! to fi ll out and submit. What commission percentage do we pay for each booking? Commission percentage will vary depending on your destination, sell rate, and product. Please consult with a market manager for commission rates. How do you notify us when we receive a reservation? Immediately after a reservation is made via TripShock.com, a notifi cation is sent to the partner with all the details. What type of assurance do we have that we ll get paid? TripShock! is accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A rating and is also bonded and insured by the state of Florida as a reseller of travel services (license #ST37752). In the three years of business operations, we have never been late on a payment to our vendors. Checks are sent within 7 days after the invoice has been received. 9

11 Frequently Asked Questions, cont. Do businesses need insurance to become partners? Yes, most activity provider must have insurance and provide us with a COI (Certifi cate of Insurance). However, some partners do not need insurance depending on their scope of product and services. Please talk to your market manager to see if your business meets these requirements. Are TripShock! partners required to offer discounts? TripShock! partners are not required to offer discounts, but in order to sell effectively on the website, promotions are highly recommended. It is at the sole discretion of the partner what price they would like to sell their tickets for on TripShock!. However, keep in mind that prices must be in parity. If customers notice they paid more through TripShock!, they may not want to use the service again. How does TripShock! handle sales tax? TripShock! awill collect all applicable taxes when booking the reservation and will remit them to the lodging or activity partner at the end of each month. 10