Trends in Group Dive Travel - Not Just for Divers Anymore

(Dive Travel Business News - October 13, 2011) -- While many dive travelers still enjoy the camraderie, comfort and value provided by group dive trips, Group Travel has been quickly evolving as consumers look to add more experiences and make more memories as a prime reason for travel. It's not just about the diving anymore.

The changing nature of groups is opening new markets for Dive Travel Professionals. Group travel is growing to include more experience-focused trips for families and smaller groups. The way group tours are booked is changing too, as clients find new ways to customize trips to suit their interests and travel preferences: Individual traveler needs are being addressed while still appealing to the whole group. At the same time, group tours that cater to special interests are attracting younger people in growing numbers.  Dive Travelers are traveling in smaller groups too.  As a result, the very definition of the “group” in group travel is changing. 

Trend toward small
In the dive travel business, group trips that were once defined as 16-20 people have shrunk to 10 or 12.   Instead of full-boats, live-aboards are selling half-boat "group" trips.

Friends & Family
While Baby Boomers and younger clients want to travel with family and friends:  Scattered across the country, these segments use travel as a means to get together and guarantee a great time with people who share a similar interest.. They enjoy the price benefits, customizable itinerary and comfort of traveling with people they know and want to hang out with. As a result, these smaller dive travel family "pods" are forcing some operators to recognize 6 pr 8 people as a "group". More dive resorts and tour operators catering to diving families has helped pump up the trend for family dive travel.

Weddings & Honeymoons
Along with the trend in friends and family, the popular trend of destination weddings and honeymoons has not abated. Diving and snorkeling are the top 2 activities chosen by honeymooners. Guests at destination weddings are looking for sun and sea activities before and after the big day.

Singles
Another prime market for group travel consists of the growing singles market. Singles aren't just young adults anymore. Singles of all ages often make friends on tours and become a good source of repeat and referral business

Customizable
Dive Travel has been on the forefront of the travel trend for groups to purchase packages originally designed for individual travelers, allowing groups to customize their vacations without sacrificing the value provided by the operator’s buying power. Dive Travel Group customization has exploded as smaller groups sizes and more discerning customers want to spend more time exploring the destination, take part in day tours, adventure activities and the culture between dives. Dive Voluntourism is on the rise as more divers want to make a difference taking part in a volunteer activity (and receive a tax deduction) while diving.

Customization means your Group Tours become exclusive to you - nobody else can sell them. Successfully customized tours create repeat customers and referrals - and lower your marketing costs. Add a top notch group leader who is savvy about the destination who can provide personalized tours to unique sites below the tourist radar, and give access to local people and experiences not found in guidebooks. The combination of having a trip that no-one else can price-compare from a brochure, a reputation for quality and value, and being able to sell out your group without advertising expenses is pure gold in this industry.

Higher earnings too
The entire group travel industry is remaking itself. Group trips are no longer the cookie-cutter vacations they once used to be and this bodes well on the revenue side.  Dive Travel Specialists who specialize in Group Travel have discovered that customizing trips can mean much higher earnings. Group travel these days is much more personal, flexible and customized. While still designing trips around a standard dive package, the Dive Travel Specialist adds unique components (dinners, side-trips, extra activities, even complimentary bonus activities not included in the itinerary ) not included in the regular FIT package and can charge a premium for these add-ons.  And let the clients know that their needs and expectations are a priority and can be accommodated. With an experienced Group Leader, customer satisfaction is as high or higher than an Individual Dive Trip experience.

You Don't Have to be an Expert
While selling groups required competence and organization, you don't need to be a group travel expert in order to sell groups. Dive Tour operators and Dive Suppliers are always available for tools, tips and support for agents.  It's critical to keep in mind important dates and amounts for deposits, cancellations, final payments; and Free Spot Policy, which include promotional deals, freebies and more. You are responsible for collecting the money from the group and getting the appropriate amount to the  appropriate party on time.  Handshakes don't work in Group Travel: Get everything in writing.

Group Marketing Misconception
There is sometimes a misconception about the simplicity of selling groups. The fact is Dive Travel Specialists need to be much more involved in marketing the trip than posting a few ads and sending emails. Group travel cannot manifest on its own and produce numbers: It takes a pied piper to bring a group trip together.  Dive Travel Specialists need to learn the interests of their clients and build on those interests by getting them the best products to fit their needs and rally those with the right fit for the trip.

In addition, invest time and money in travel shows, postcard teasers presentations, Dive Trip Night presentations, and other activities to materialize the group trip. Dive Travel Specialists should look beyond their walk-ins and usual "Suspects" to local organizations, Chamber of Commerce, local travel shows, colleges, religious groups, fundraisers, fairs, festivals and joint ventures with other local businesses to help market their group trips and up their numbers. Handing out professional- looking business cards should be part of your daily routine.

Narrow-casting Your Market
Group trips are as "individual" as the individuals who travel in them. You don't want everyone to buy your particular group trip. You want the right match of people to group trip.  This brings up the marketing notion of "Narrow Casting"  – the opposite of broadcasting (which means casting a broad net) – is not reaching a lot of people but reaching the ones you want to reach in a relevant way. If you reach 10 people who will buy from you, it’s better than reaching 100 who will not buy from you.

‘Spray and pray’ marketing, where you spray your marketing efforts all over the place and pray that it works, is history because Dive Travelers are more diverse, more segmented, more discerning. Dive Travelers are not a homogenous chunk. If you go for the number of potential clients rather than the right match of client, you could end up shooting yourself in the foot down the line, creating unhappy clients who won't rebook with you - or no clients at all.

Think ahead.  People respond to marketing messages that are targeted to them. Be sure to know who your ideal client is before you launch your marketing. Make sure your marketing message speaks to that ideal client. And when live potential clients come to you, qualify them. How do you do that? Be genuinely interested in finding out their wants and needs. Does the destination, the itinerary and the price reflect what they have in mind?  By putting your client's interests first, you are no longer in hard sell mode, you'll be in creation mode, providing the right kind of group trip to the right kind of people, while positioning yourself for repeat sales and referrals.

Serving New Opportunities
The customization trend opens up all sorts of possibilities for promoting group travel beyond the hardcore diver. Now, depending on the destination, Dive Travel Specialists have more reason to go out into the community and tell Non-Divers about their expertise and value-added services.

But Dive Travel Specialists must introduce these opportunities to new markets with understanding and sensitivity. If you tap into a new market, you have to be ready to serve that particular market. It will require some adjustments. Your marketing has to be backed up operationally:  Your team needs to understand what you are doing and what their role is. If they don’t, bad behavior can result.  For instance, one Tour Operator decided to target the burgeoning Hispanic market. When a "Mystery Shopper" called the company to test their customer servicce with a question in Spanish, the employee who answered the phone said, ‘This is America. Speak English!’ One individual had sunk their marketing efforts.  Lesson Learned: Everyone on your team needs to be on board.

With an upsurge in travelers looking for unique experiences, there has never been a better time for Dive Travel Specialists to expand their reach and tap into new group sales.

By Laurie J. Wilson, MBA, CMC
Dive Travel Business News

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