SO LONGWOOD Holidays maintain they have spent a considerable amount of money on agency educationals and then received very little in return from the trade. Hence their decision to give them up and spend the money on direct marketing.
All I can say is that I don’t share Longwood’s experience. My company has always believed in the importance of fam trips – I wouldn’t take 800 agents away every yearif I didn’t.
But merely taking people to destinations and giving them a good time isn’t enough. The successful trip is one where everyone has a great time but their stay is put to effective use – they actually learn something about the company and the destination. And learning can be made fun with quizzes, competitions etc.
No, they won’t immediately rush home and give the company hundreds of bookings.But with a better appreciation of the destination and the operator’s product, when the right client comes into the shop it’s a fair bet the educational organiser will be rewarded.
This industry is more cost-conscious today than it has ever been. Educationals wouldn’t exist if they didn’t work. Longwood should maybe take a look at how they ran their trips – and who came on them – before giving the entire exercise up as a bad job.
Gary David, MD, Cadogan Holidays, Southampton