It's hard to imagine that show season is only four weeks away with out Chicago Travel & Adventure Show leading the way. Throughout 2013 in our newsletters, we have focused on how to raise ROI for exhibitors and what's working for others and best practices. Now that show season is upon us, I thought it might be helpful to share with you what attendees want.
We recently undertook an extensive research project on Travel & Adventure Show attendees through Mercury CSC, a leading consumer research and market intelligence firm focusing on Travel. The research was both Quantitative, with over 3,000 past attendees participating in the survey, as well as Qualitative, with dozens involved in our focus groups. The results reaffirmed many of our beliefs and, more importantly, presented us with some stunning new insights.
Travel & Adventure Show Attendees Are Power Travelers:
While we will share the full report with you in weeks to come, I think some of the data I have summarized below will help you with final show planning.
Show Impact
95% of TAS Attendees plan on returning to another Travel & Adventure Show
60% have attended for more than two years
35% have attended 3-7 years
Trip Booking Impact
89% of those looking to book a vacation booked with an exhibitor they met at the show
79% of all attendees based a trip decision on destinations from attending the show
53% found more confidence in making travel plans with the exhibitors BASED on their involvement with the show
86% of attendees booked one or two trips based on meeting an exhibitor at the show
14% booked 3 or more trips
Trip Spend from Meeting at Show
72% of attendees spent more than $2,000 on EACH trip booked after a meeting at the show
38% spent over $5,000 per trip
10% spent over $10,000 per trip
Domestic Travel Propensity
91% of TAS attendees took a Domestic Trip in the past 12 months
74% of TAS attendees spent over $2,000 PER Domestic Trip
51% spent over $3,500 PER Domestic Trip
33% spent over $5,000
International Travel Propensity
67% of TAS attendees took one more more International trips over the past 12 months
91% of TAS attendees will take the same or more International Trips over the next 12 months with HALF of them taking MORE
90% of TAS attendees will take International Trips of one week duration or more with 63% of them taking two weeks or more
50% of TAS attendees spent over $5,000 on International Vacations PER TRIP, with 32% of them spending over $8,000 per trip
Story Behind the Data
The data is strong and certainly confirms why so many leading travel marketers are expanding their marketing mix to include the Travel & Adventure Shows. It also is confirmed by the fact that our Q1 shows are 92% to 98% sold to capacity. That's an order of magnitude greater than any other major travel show in the market! (I know - a shameless plug, but I can't help be proud of what all of us have built together)
But the real story is behind the data and a result of our qualitative interviews with our focus group volunteers.
What Travel & Adventure Show Attendees WANT
Trip Planning
Our attendees are motivated to come to a Travel & Adventure Show to plan their next trip. In fact, many attendees stated they enjoy the planning process as much as the trip.
Expert Advice
They want to meet exhibitors to learn from experts on how to travel like a local in their destination. So make sure you have authentic advisers in your booth ready and trained to answer many excellent questions from the attendees.
Knowledge & Experience
Attendees are motivated to attend for both the Celebrity travel speakers, increasingly for destination seminars, as well as the cultural interaction and culinary theater.
Attendees Want A Deal
What surprised us the most were the very prevalent comments the attendees come to the Travel & Adventure Show with the pre-conceived idea that they will get a GREAT DEAL on travel from Trusted Suppliers.
We know that more than half of the attendees feel more confidence booking with a supplier they found at the Show. That's a key benefit for exhibiting. Your reputation increases simply by participating and being seen!
But, attendees want a deal. They overwhelmingly stated they would seek out and wanted to be offered a travel deal that is better than elsewhere or more inclusive than elsewhere.
Further, we were also told by many attendees that they were disappointed that so many exhibitors and destinations did not appear to offer a show only special. A deal with an exclusive add on no one else could get, affected who they booked with or which booth they stopped in.
How to Maximize This Inside Information
So if you want to maximize your return at the Travel & Adventure Shows, make sure you display some kind of monetary savings or exclusive additions to itineraries Attendees can't get anywhere else.
Make sure you make this visible for all passerby's.
Make sure all the booth staff can pitch the deal as well as expert advice.
Easy for a tour operator or travel supplier, but if you're a DMO, make sure you have private sector deal info in your booth.
Let Us Help You Market Your Special
Finally, make sure you tell us about your special deals. We are working hard to let attendees know about show only specials - on our website, post registration emails, mobile apps and at show handouts.
Email your special to Kira: kdoran@unicomm.org or call 203-878-2577 x 100.
As always, thanks for reading!
Until next time,
John Golicz, CEO
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