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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - FEBRUARY / MARCH 2012
essential to avoid unnecessary
losses.
Aff inity travel is far safer,
provides for greater f inancial
security and is often not as
inf luenced by economic condi-
tions. This category of travel is
far wider than it’s opposite and,
for the savvy travel professional,
far more prof itable. Here, unless
the travel buyer is incredibly
“web aware” with lots of time on
their hands, many of these
products have no competition as
they are created by the travel
planner for the unique purpose
of what is best described as “one
time” travel. This is not the case
when using existing wholesale
products for a unique group of
travellers (i.e. wedding away
groups, incentive travellers etc.)
but is the case where the travel
professional is creating a singu-
larly-unique tour for a specif ic
group. Excellent examples of
these types of programs are
done with few advance bookings,
based on speculation on
exchange and some pre-def ined
past market analysis. All of these
are taken into account when they
consider their risk management,
cash f low and variety of product
offerings. Competition, of course,
also plays a key role in what and
how they will market their
products. With advance purchase
discounts, early booking bonuses
and consumer-lucrative specials,
they attempt to generate the
necessary advance bookings
which form the basis of their
sales. Equally at risk are the
travel agencies and planners that
attempt to sell non-aff inity group
travel itineraries. Often these
have very little past performance
statistics and, without some
viable hook to lure the perspec-
tive buyer, are one of the hardest
sells for a travel agency. As
suppliers tighten their penalties
the necessity to ensure that the
tour will be successful is
For those that thrive in
this area, their rewards are
great—for those that have
yet to explore its potential,
the “world” awaits.
Kilimanjaro
Instanbul, Turkey
THE INS AND OUTS OF GROUP TRAVEL