Lesson 1: Sales Models & Target Markets

How does a traveler arrive in Chocó?

They go through a process… that looks like a funnel

Dreaming

Deciding

Planning

Booking

Experiencing

The traveler buying cycle

Dreaming: “I want to go on vacation someplace with a beach.”

Deciding: “Chocó looks amazing!” Planning: “I want to go for two weeks

and while I’m there I want to go hiking” Booking: “I’ll book a tour with

Palenque Tours” Experiencing: “I’m having a great

time!”

How does Juan-Tourist find you?

Two sales models:

Direct: Juan contacts you about buying your product

Indirect: Juan contacts someone else who then buys your product for Juan

Direct Sale

FIT Travel

Planning

Tourism Busines

s

Direct Sales to FIT In Chocó, it is

difficult to sell directly to the FIT

However, some travelers will spend a lot of time researching online

They are more adventurous and willing to explore

The FIT Like the freedom of

planning their own trip

Rely heavily on word of mouth, the internet, and social media when planning a trip

May arrange some core components prior to traveling

How do FITs find you?

Word of mouthInternetBrochuresSigns/ Posters

What if Juan-Traveler is not so adventurous?

Indirect Sale

Outbound Tour

Operator

Inbound Tour

Operator

Tourism Business

You!

Customer

Step 1: Outbound Tour Operator

After Juan-tourist decides he want to visit Colombia, he usually visits a travel expert in his home town –

This person is an Outbound Tour Operator

They lead tours Out of their own country.

Step 2: Inbound Tour Operator The outbound tour

operator has a local partner- the inbound tour operator

A Colombian company who specializes in bringing people in to the country

Step 3: Tourism Business

The inbound tour operator has a series of partners that run local businesses

These are hotels, boat drivers, airlines, guides, translators, activity providers, etc.

Roles

Outbound Tour

Operator

Inbound Tour

Operator

Tourism Business

• Develops tour packages

• Markets and sells packages

• Organizes local logistics

• Hires tourism businesses

• Provides essential services, like activities or trans-portation

Roles

Each time a product moves along the supply chain, additional costs are added to cover the expenses of each actor and to ensure they all make some profit.

Added Costs

Outbound Tour

Operator

Inbound Tour

Operator

Tourism Business

• Marketing• Sales

staff• Customer

service

• Vehicles• Equipmen

t• Marketing• Staff

• Staff• Overhead• Fuel• Food

Direct Sale: no added costs

FIT Travel planning

Tourism Busines

s

CustomerOutbound

Tour Operator

Inbound Tour

Operator

Tourism Business

Indirect Sale: added costs

Direct vs. Indirect Sales

In the case of a direct sale, the tourism business wins all the profit and commission, because it did all the work to sell the product.

When other people help to sell your product, they get some of the profit too, to compensate for their work.

Direct vs. Indirect Sales

• Intermediaries make their money through commission eared on selling your tourism products.

• Remember that because intermediaries are selling your product, they expect to receive a wholesale price that is less than what the enterprise is charging on an individual basis to FITs.

Benefits of Direct Sales

Advantages: Higher profit margins for businesses, lower selling prices to customers

Requirements: Tourist companies need marketing, professional staff (e.g. multilingual) and reservation systems and reliable payment (e.g. website transactions, bank transfers) high quality and effectiveness. It is much more work!

Benefits of Indirect Sales

Regular business Partner works as marketing and booking

arm Partner offers access to international

markets Easier communication with clients and

payment recovery Handles any issues or problems with

travelers

Sales Channels Review

Relying on just direct sales or just indirect sales will limit your audience and causes you to depend on one source for all your sales.

Ideally, you should have a mix of direct and indirect sales.

Marketing

The process of selling directly to FITs and finding new sales partners is called marketing.

Marketing to Travelers

The most important thing is that you understand your audience and know what they are looking for

There are all kinds of travelers, each respond to different marketing messages

What are travelers looking for?

Autenticidad Unicidad Calidad Participación

Segmentos del Mercado de Turismo en ChocóQue es un segmento de mercado?

Es un grupo de compradores que comparten características similares como demografía, intereses y patrones de gasto.

Que son en Chocó?

Mochileros Tradicionalmente eran parte de un

mercado “joven” de turistas (por debajo de 25), uno de los segmentos de crecimiento más rápido en turismo (20% de las visitas internacionales)

Ahora, este segmento se ha transformado, mostrando una mezcla de edades, demografía, y motivaciones

Preferencia por alojamiento económico y actividades informales

Itinerarios flexibles, auto-organizados, viajes largos, viajes de múltiples destinaciones (FITs)

Énfasis en conocer residentes y otros turistas

Profesionales Jóvenes Turistas con educación universitaria

y conscientes del medio ambiente El 25% son menores de 35 años,

dando a este segmento de mercado un toque de aventura

El 50% vive en ciudades grandes, y el 25% vive en la región Pacifica

Muestran una clara preferencia por destinos con auténticos lugares de interés histórico, las diferentes culturas y experiencias educativas

Lo más probable es que están conscientes de las prácticas de las agencias de viajes para  preservar el medio ambiente de los destinos

Baby Boomers

Mayores (65+) pero activo Nivel elevado de conocimiento

cultural y ecológico El 67% están dispuestos a

escoger una agencia de turismo que protege y preserva el medio ambiente y cultura hereditaria de los destinos

Es más probable que cualquier otro grupo para hacer donaciones a organizaciones históricas, culturales y educativos

Interés en Turismo “Experential”

La OMT califica al "turismo vivencial", lo que favorece a las experiencias más q las comodidades, entre los sectores de crecimiento mayor en las próximas dos décadas

Experiencia = Producto

Deseo de Conectar con la Naturaleza Las ciudades del mundo, incluyendo a Norte

América y Europa, están creciendo más rápidamente q el resto de los países

Las vacaciones de “conectar” con la naturaleza a través de actividades como escalar y ver fauna y flora está incrementando

Consumidores modernos no solo buscan experiencias… ellos quieren experiencias autenticas

Experiencias artificiales basadas en consumo (por ej. Compras, casinos, etc.) ya no son favorecidos

Los turistas quieren ver la realidad y tienen los conocimientos suficientes para saber diferenciar fácilmente entre lo q no es real

Por ejemplo: la demanda por interacciones con animales en cautiverio ha disminuido drásticamente  debido a que turistas ahora buscan la auténtica experiencia de presenciar animales salvajes en su hábitat natural

Demanda por Autentidad

El segmento de mercado joven y un creciente número de baby boomers quieren experiencias que proporcionan emoción y un cierto grado de riesgo.

 Con eso dicho ... la seguridad sigue siendo de gran valor, y las empresas que ofrecen "dura aventura de" tours (bicicleta de montaña, rafting) necesitan una formación adecuada y medidas de seguridad.

Aventura Activa