| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 26/06/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 62 |
| Copyright: Other |
Agents become candid on camera as educationals put learning in focus
Fam trippers are taking part in on-the-spot videos to help retailers back home. Linsey McNeill reports.
SMILE, you could be on camera. If you go on an educational in the future, there’s a chance you might be filmed trying out the hotel beds, eating in the local restaurants and enjoying the odd excursion.Training company TCA has started filming agents on educationals to produce videos on behalf of tourist offices. The videos are then used to train other agents about the destinations.
Cathy Bartrop, the woman behind TCA, said the videos were the second best thing to taking all agents out to experience a destination first-hand.
“These videos are made by agents for agents,” said Bartrop. “They show a destination as it really is.”
TCA’s first training video was made in Thailand last year. It sent six agents, sourced from a competition in Travel Weekly, out to various Thai resorts armed with camcorders.
It has since taken agents to film in Quebec and Ontario and is currently filming agents in Norway.
Bartrop said the videos were better than those produced by tourist offices for training purposes as they give agents the information they need to sell a destination.
“Tourist office videos tend to be more for the consumer, with lots of nice footage about a destination but not enough hard facts for the agent,” she said.
“What we are trying to do with our videos is provide agents with an easy- to-use tool that takes away the need for them to do their own research on a destination.”
The half-hour videos concentrate on key elements such as the journey time, the standard of accommodation, the food and what there is to see and do.
Bartrop said the fact that they were fronted by agents meant they were more likely to give other agents a clear picture of a destination than consumer-style videos.
“Our videos show six agents, who are representatives of the trade, experiencing a destination first-hand. Tourist offices can’t afford to take every agent on educationals but this is the next best thing.”
She admitted that a few years ago, this type of unscripted, fly-on-the-wall documentary would have seemed amateurish but she claimed times have changed.
“There have been so many of this type of successful documentary on the TV that people are now keen to see more of the same sort of thing,” said Bartrop. “The videos we have produced so far have been hugely successful.”
TCA’s videos, which are financed by tourist offices with sponsorship from airlines and/or tour operators, are used by all the multiples except Going Places. The videos are accompanied by written exercises based on the sponsors’ products.
Bartrop, who set up TCA after 10 years experience of sales and marketing in the travel industry, said each training session could be completed within an hour.
A questionnaire completed by Lunn Poly agents who were shown the first video a Thailand revealed that 96% rated it as either “excellent” or “good” and 97% said it had helped them sell the destination.
Interestingly, 96% said they would also show the video to customers.
Bartrop’s plan is to develop a whole series of destination videos which she hopes to distribute to all retailers including independents.
Her next project is in August when she will be filming a Passenger Shipping Association video on cruising.
n Agents wanting videos or interested in starring in future productions should contact TCA by sending an e-mail to cathybartrop@btinternet.com or by faxing through a request on 01342 301108.
Family viewing: even clients, above, have asked to see the videos of agents’ travels