This article originally
appeared in the September issue of AGENTatHOME magazine. Subscribe here to receive your free copy each month.
It’s no secret that family travel is a consistently strong
segment. But figuring out how to sell family travel can be a bit more elusive —
especially for travel advisors who don’t regularly travel with kids.
An important piece of selling family travel is understanding
where and how families want to vacation. And while family-friendly resorts,
cruise lines and theme parks are happy to help agents successfully sell their
brands, travel types once considered less kid-friendly are now appealing to
multigenerational groups, as well.
For example, river cruising has become increasingly popular
with families because of the ease of stepping off the ship and right into the
day’s adventure while only unpacking once.
Timing is also important: Many families have to plan their
travel during school vacations, which happen during the already-busy spring,
summer and holiday seasons. That requires pre-planning to secure the best
flights.
But what’s even more important, according to Lauren Quirk,
owner of boutique family agency Travel With Character, is early booking, which
allows families more options and better access to top hotels, tour guides and
experiences.
So, how can advisors increase their family travel bookings?
Sometimes a well-timed email can be the difference between clients considering
a vacation and actually booking one — especially for busy families.
Send regular e-newsletters that highlight upcoming family
vacation offers or kid-friendly destinations to not only spark inspiration for
existing clients, but also motivate them to share the information with their
loved ones, who may then become new clients.
The bottom line: Families are traveling more than ever, to a
more diverse range of destinations, and in segments formerly considered
not-so-kid-friendly. So nailing the timing of the trip and clients’ preferences
are some of the most important keys to successfully selling to this
demographic.
Although it may seem like agents who are parents have the
advantage of a built-in client base (namely, the families of their children’s
friends, classmates and teammates), everyone knows someone with kids, or
someone who has friends or family members with kids. And all those people want
to travel.
It just takes proactive outreach to find out who they are
and how you can best serve them.
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