How to grow your European
customized group business

Group travel includes a lot of moving pieces when organizing the logistics. We want to provide you with some useful tools to help you increase your groups bookings and grow your business in a sector that offers an excellent revenue opportunity! Listed below are five tips to increase your group bookings.

1. Types of Groups: Speculative vs. Affinity Groups
Spec groups are designed to attract a specific demographic. It is typical in spec groups for travelers to not know each other. Once the itinerary is created you can start marketing the trip to your intended target audience, which may require an advertising budget.

Affinity groups are offen comprised of travelers who were previously associated. Travelers will usually know each other through the same club, lifestyle, school, family, etc… Affinity groups are frequently considered easier of the two types because the client already has a group created.

2. Where do you find groups?
The first place to search out groups is your current

clientele. You have already built the relationship; they trust your services and simply may not have considered taking an international group trip with family and friends. Another key place to look is organizations that you already have a relationship with, such as church, school alumni, trade, etc… A few more ideas for gathering prime prospects include: clubs (i.e., wine, golf and gardening), schools, sports teams and faith-based.

3. What questions should you ask?
Once you have found a group, it's important to know what information you need to gather to begin the booking process. Are the travel dates and itinerary inclusions flexible? This is an important factor to know upfront when booking air and hotel space, or if you need to make changes within the itinerary for any reason. What is the budget? Per person or total? This is a key question as the budget sets the financial parameters of the trip. What are your hotel expectations? Properties in Europe differ from what your clients may be more familiar with in the US, so it's important to clarify what your client is envisioning, such as location, star level or amenities. Is there a specific focus for the group? This is when you start learning about the group's interests and purpose of the trip (i.e., family reunion, pre/post cruise, school related). Would you prefer guided sightseeing, minimal organized activities, or more free time? This helps you determine how much or how little sightseeing you will be expected to pre-arrange. For example, a food and wine club might design a leisurely trip around the Tuscan countryside, while a leader for an educational history based-group could request a full itinerary of museum tours and sightseeing in Rome.

4. Air information
It is important to note that airfare quotes are subject to change until booked as fuel surcharges and taxes can fluctuate until paid in full. In order to reserve a group air block there must be a minimum of 10 passengers. Assigned seats are not available in group air blocks with every airline; exit rows and bulk head seats cannot be booked. Lastly, if people are traveling from all over the country there may be a variety of options that can be arranged. One of our groups specialists will be able to advise which will be the best option for your client's group.

5. Multi-city and Multi-country
In order to maximize travel experiences and budgets it continues to be popular for groups to request multi-city or multi-country itineraries. When setting up the itinerary, it is important to be aware of the distances between the destinations and the amount of time your client has designated. There are a variety of options for groups transportation and determining the best option depends on your group size and the distance being traveled. Our groups specialists will be able to suggest the appropriate form of transportation that fits your group, including potential options of en-route sightseeing.

Now that you know a little more about European group travel, it's time to start growing your business! If you are interested in learning more, we have an abundance of online resources to explore, such as destination and city guides, suggested itineraries and FAQ's.

When you are ready to start booking customized European travel groups, call one of our expert groups specialists at 800-565-7236 or email newgroups@europeexpress.com. The expertise and experience of our groups department will help you maximize your client's journey, while increasing your profitability with our dedicated service.
Happy booking!

This is a modified version of a previously recorded webinar. Listen to more of our archived webinars online.