Tourism Winnipeg

TRAVEL TRADE The Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council defines the travel trade sector as supporting the bookings and sales of travel. The bookings include all-encompassing tour packages, or as single bookings for individual travellers (FIT fully individual or independent traveller). There are three sub groups of travel trade and they include: » Sales Activities Tourism Winnipeg will collaborate with stakeholders to promote Winnipeg as a packaged tour destination to the travel trade by attending key trade shows and marketplaces. Relationship marketing will also include: Internet marketing specific to the needs and interests of the travel trade for itinerary development, group-friendly facilities, etc. Retail travel agencies, who are brokers re-selling travel Wholesale tour operators, who develop travel packages and sell them to travel agencies Affinity clubs (clusters of people linked by common interest or purpose) that travel together as preformed groups, and either purchase travel packages or book travel themselves A changing demographic is affecting group travel as the new mature traveller demands shorter trips, more flexibility, choice and in-depth experiences than the senior citizen group tour of the past. Hosting the travel trade on site visits of Winnipeg to build itineraries, and create and/or expand packaged tours Conducting call centre training seminars and sales calls on major travel agent consortiums Sales calls on travel agencies, tour operators and affinity clubs Excellence in servicing group tours by providing tour escort notes, pre-tour Winnipeg marketing materials to increase the number of tour participants, and in some cases, cooperative partnerships to promote Winnipeg as a packaged tour destination Tour operators are responding to these trends by: Introducing new products, such as shorter tours and special interest tours Offering new destinations that provide different and unique experiences Targeting different market segments, such as family travel, learning travel, etc. Offering more experiential products Taking smaller groups Developing fully independent travel packages Putting more focus on affinity clubs The travel trade sector is lucrative as travel agencies, tour operators and affinity clubs develop their own markets for selling travel packages. They provide suppliers with a source of new customers through their marketing reach and influence. Travel agencies, tour operators and affinity clubs generally have recognizable brands that are effective in generating sales and building business from different target markets. 28 » Winnipeg Tour Connection A growing trend in destination management is destination marketing partnerships or consortiums among partners who have common missions or organizational purpose. Destination marketing partnerships are beneficial as they provide cost-sharing of marketing services, training and development, along with access to a greater number of markets, resources and expertise for mutual benefit. They also increase credibility by having key industry partners associated with them. In 2007, Tourism Winnipeg, along with 21 industry partners launched Winnipeg Tour Connection. This destination marketing partnership promotes Winnipeg as an attractive group and packaged tour destination within the high-volume markets of northwestern Ontario, Saskatchewan and North Dakota. Today, the partnership raises awareness of Winnipeg through increased sales activities, marketing communication newsletters, client appreciation events and trade show meetings in the high-volume markets, as well as specific marketplaces in Canada and the United States. Tourism Winnipeg will continue to lead this partnership to maintain relationships with the travel trade, to increase number of group and packaged tours of Winnipeg and to develop cooperative marketing promotions with tour operators, travel agents and affinity clubs, resulting in increased tourism to Winnipeg. Tourism Winnipeg will also hold networking events and workshops for partners in order to elevate visitor experiences, develop travel learning/experiential programs for groups and build themed itineraries. A Master Tourism Plan for Winnipeg | 2011-2015 | 2013 UPDATE

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