TAS Tips

This post is a first in a series of “Talking TAS” posts that will focus on how to best prepare in the weeks leading up to the Travel & Adventure Show.

Throughout the years, we have found many exhibitors (especially first time participants) who arrive at the show without a solid event plan. This shortfall in preparation can lead them to make expensive decisions that minimize any meaningful or measurable contribution to their sales and marketing objectives.

Here are some tips that we've accumulated over the past 11 years to make sure that you prepare to put yourself in a position to achieve your goals!

Understand What You’re Really Buying

Many exhibitors believe they are buying floor space, exposure, leads and eventually sales. Successful and experienced exhibitors have learned that they are actually buying “face to face contact” with a highly qualified and motivated travel buying audience. TAS gives you everything you need to reach your exhibiting goals, but it is up to you to make those goals a reality.

Give Yourself Enough Time to Prepare and Execute an Effective Exhibit

Although sometimes due to extenuating circumstances, exhibitors sign up close to the show date – the reality is the more time to prepare, the more they will ensure their investment is maximized. A lot more goes into planning for this type of event than you might think: pre-show marketing, booth design, training the exhibit staff, booking travel accommodations, etc. 

Big Bear Lake uses a colorful display, a contest drawing and other attractions to drive booth traffic. 

Giving yourself enough time to make sure everything is perfect come set up day will not only save you stress and anxiety, but it could also end up saving you (and eventually making you) money as well!

Create a Plan to Achieve Success

Most exhibitors rent the space, send the exhibit, send staff and literature and hope that things work out. But that doesn’t seem very reassuring, does it? We strongly recommend creating a plan of what you hope to accomplish at the event and making plans of how you’re going to make that plan happen. Don’t forget to have an effective plan in place to measure your results and achieve a high ROI.

Train and Re-Train Staff

The single biggest asset you have at the show is not a fancy booth or slick brochures – it’s your booth staff!  Many of our top producing exhibitors actually have pre-show staff meetings to ensure that messaging and qualification techniques are supporting overall show objectives. (more information on staffing your booth in future posts)

Be Sure You’re Getting the Audience’s Attention

Only a small percentage of exhibitors use serious pre-show marketing to identify and attract the right audience to their booth. That being said, make sure you are in that small percentage. With over an average of 158 exhibitors per show, the competition for attendees’ time is vicious. Our most successful exhibitors get on their target audience’s “short list” before the event starts by using pre-marketing tactics.

The Sun Runner promotes its participation in the LA TAS to its Facebook followers!

When the Show Closes, Your Work is Just Beginning

For most exhibiting companies at our Travel & Adventure Shows, the goal is leads. Exhibition-industry research finds that only 13% of leads are followed up on. To most exhibitors, the cost of this unrealized business can be astronomical. Don’t let that happen to you! Whatever you get at the show in terms of sales is just a bonus. Don’t forget to follow up on your leads when you return to the office after the show.

Don’t Judge a Show From On One Experience!

Since our shows have tens of thousands of attendees, it is important to remember that it is virtually impossible to meet all of your prospective consumers over the span of 2 days! If you bring the right destination or service to our show and are doing the right things, it is almost impossible to fail!

For more exhibiting tips from the TAS Team, refer to the Exhibitor Activation Guide on the Travel & Adventure Show website under the Exhibitors Only tab!

For more exhibiting tips from the TAS Team, refer to the Exhibitor Activation Guide on the Travel & Adventure Show website under the Exhibitors Only tab!