VISIT SCOTLAND Grow your tourism business internationally. Karin Gidlund, Product Manager October 2018

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1 VISIT SCOTLAND Grow your tourism business internationally Karin Gidlund, Product Manager October 2018

2 QUESTIONS Is my product ready for the travel trade? How can I explore new markets?

3 WHO IS ABBEY IRELAND & UK? DMC Founded in offices in 3 locations - Dublin, Edinburgh and London 186 members of staff Bring 200,000 international visitors to Britain and Ireland each year, from 62 countries Main markets: North America, Europe, Australia Part of Abbey Group

4 WHAT IS A DMC? Destination Management Company B2B One-stop shop for anything international tour operators require Tour Operators Worldwide Abbey Suppliers

5 HOW DO WE WORK Contract products Create itineraries / packages Price the itineraries / packages Promote to our clients Newsletters Online Webinars Tariffs Trade shows Sales calls Book and operate everything for them

6 TRENDS WE ARE SEEING Small groups FITs self-drive and train FIT = Foreign independent / free international traveller Experiential, unique Meet the locals Convenience, one-stop shop Quick turn-around on bookings

7 ITINERARY CREATION We need to identify: Gateways to suit markets International airports Ferry ports Locations where there is a good selection of hotels and B&Bs B&Bs, guest houses, unique properties 3-5* hotels / group hotels Attractions and suppliers that work with the trade groups and FITs

8 CHALLENGES 1. Group rates 2. BAR rates 3. Group hotel space 4. Pre-book 5. Pre-pay 6. Booking forms 7. Misc.

9 1. GROUP RATES Not just discounted group rates, we also require FIT rates Travel trade rates discounted rates for any business we send you When do we need your rates? March 2018 for 2019

10 2. BAR RATES Need fixed rates Not BAR (best available) rates With fixed rates we can quote without contacting you Only book once confirmed Saving on time and staff resources

11 3. GROUP HOTEL SPACE Lack of group hotels in some locations To grow our businesses, we need to encourage individuals (not just groups) Support smaller hotels, B&Bs, unique accommodation etc in your local area

12 4. PRE-BOOK AND FREESALE We pre-book groups If we need to pre-book individuals: a lot of admin and time Free-sale: clients turn up on the day, exchange our voucher for a ticket, you invoice us Freesale notification: you receive a notification when someone books with us Sample voucher Client expectation: confirmation within 4 hours

13 PRE-BOOK VS FREESALE Client books online or by A request is sent to us We contact the supplier / book online Supplier reconfirms booking We arrange payment We issue a voucher and send to client The client visits the attraction Can take days, staff involved Client books online Download voucher The client visits the attraction Supplier invoices monthly / weekly 5 seconds, no staff involved

14 5. PRE-PAY OR CREDIT CARD To enable free-sale for FITs, a DMC would need credit and be invoiced regularly (monthly) For groups time and staff consuming to arrange pre-payment for each individual booking Abbey Group - named as one of Ireland s Best Managed companies by Deloitte Credit with a DMC one UK based company, instead of hundreds of overseas companies We take the financial risk

15 6. BOOKING FORMS If you want volume bookings, let us send you a list of our bookings Booking forms are time consuming, and draining on staff resources This would also apply to online bookings for FITs

16 Rates FITs National Trust for Scotland Trade rates discounted rates for both groups and FITs Free-sale Similar organisation in England Discounted group rates Public rates for FITs Pre-book Groups bookings Fill in individual forms for each group Payment Invoice monthly Pre-pay Staff Highly trained, understand travel trade Volunteers

17 6. MISC. Languages Images Blurbs Free of charge visit No - free admission Meet & greets, cream tea etc (groups) Expert tours (groups and FITs)

18 WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU IN RETURN? Online booking platform Sales calls and trade shows Annual marketing spend Overseas representatives Clients across the world in 62 countries Get you into brochures overseas Promote you tariffs, online, sales calls, trade shows, webinars, e-zines, newsletters etc

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20 THE BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH A DMC Promotion of your products in international brochures Access to a worldwide client network Extensive sales network Innovative business development teams Regional spread of business Security we take the risk for you Partnership approach

21 SUMMARY Discounted travel trade rates Free-sale instead of pre-booking for FITs, where possible Work together to streamline booking and payment process, to make it less timeconsuming for all Work in partnership to promote Britain and your products

22 QUESTION Is my product ready for the travel trade? Do you have trade rates? Do you offer free-sale? Do you offer credit to UK based companies? How can I explore new markets? Let us help you!

23 THANK YOU!