How Baby Boomers Influence Travel, Part 2

Here is the second installment on Baby Boomer Travel:

7. Boomers think they are special. Always been a force to be reckoned with, they are very demanding consumers. "Whether they go budget or luxury, boomers tend to want the best," said Day.

What boomers definitely do not want is herding. To many boomers, group travel has the faint aroma of a cattle drive. This has prompted some operators to drop tours from their names. Others have pared down group size, either by forming smaller groups or breaking larger groups into subsets which engage in different activities simultaneously.

Day suggested tour operators offer products that provide group transportation and accommodations, but impose a less rigid structure on travelers' daily movements. "I can see a much more à la carte approach that allows more independence," she said. The experts also recommended promotional materials down play the group aspect of tours and emphasize the benefits to individuals.

8. Boomers like creature comforts. This fact, according to Malott, actually keeps boomers from booking the exotic locales they profess to like. Day puts a slightly different spin on the issue. "A tent is OK," she said, "but it better have a great view and great food. Even if you're in the wilderness, luxury is being served a delicious meal without having to lift a finger."

9. Boomers are time deprived. To get relief from their stressful schedules, boomers vacation at spas where they can do absolutely nothing but be pampered. Or they may go to the opposite extreme, choosing adventures that are physically or mentally challenging - or both.

When booking travel, boomers also need time-saving devices. They like 800 numbers, the Internet, videos and virtual reality because they offer convenience and interactivity. Their predilection for technology can reduce travel suppliers' costs for agents' commissions and printing and mailing brochures. However, it also means call centers must be staffed to meet whenever boomers call.

Internet use is so common among Mature Traveler readers, editor Malott automatically lists website addresses along with phone numbers. Day pointed out that boomers use the Internet more for information gathering than booking. "It's human nature to want to feel connected to what you're about to sign up for," she said. However, she added, boomers also like the freedom of not involving other people when they are exploring a subject. Their attitude is, "When I've decided, I'll initiate the next move."

10. Boomers will pay for luxury, expertise and convenience. ATM fees, nannies and bottled water prove boomers are willing to pay for what they want. Mancini noted, "Boomers are willing to do things for themselves, if it's a hobby or if they think it won't require too much effort, but they really like to hire others to do it for them because it implies status."

Organized group travel becomes valuable to boomers when it's a physically or mentally challenging adventure, but they don't have the skill level to do it themselves. Or when safety and cost make traveling with a group more practical. "You get to an impasse where you need the experts to facilitate the experience," noted Day.

To attract boomers, tour operators must emphasize their expertise. They must add value boomers can't get on their own. Guides must become like personal trainers and demonstrate the skill and knowledge boomers will respect and pay for.

11. Boomers are skeptical of institutions and individuals. With Viet Nam and Watergate as touchstones, who can blame this generation for lacking trust? As a function of their distrust, boomers are not joiners. They are less involved with alumni groups, civic organizations and museum societies than their predecessors, so these traditional sources of group business may be less viable in the future.

Because they are skeptical, boomers actively research their travel options, so suppliers must expect a lot of information gathering before the buy decision. Public relations efforts that impart third-party or expert endorsement help break through boomers' skepticism. NTA focus groups in 1997 and 1998 said ads in local newspapers and word of mouth were the best sources of information and persuasion for travel products.

12. Boomers like to associate with people like themselves. As noted earlier, boomers do not identify with people older than themselves. According to Day, one of the questions uppermost in their minds when they purchase travel is, "Who is going to be on this trip? Is it going to be people like me or a bunch of stodgy, gray-haired people?"

Day said boomers look for outfitters or operators who "share my values,"so they are very selective about who they'll use. She added, "They want an interactive feeling with the outfitter . . . where there's equality between boomers and the leader."

13. Boomers are not homogeneous. While boomers identify themselves as boomers, they are not a single group. In terms of life stages, boomers may be the least homogeneous generation to date. There are childless-by-choice boomers, others with new babies, others with grandchildren and some with both. Fifty year olds who are retiring and others starting new careers or returning to college. Empty nesters downsizing their lives, parents who can't get their Gen Xers out of the house and others raising their grandchildren. These variations affect spending habits, the amount of time available for vacations and with whom boomers travel.

There is also a dichotomy between older and younger boomers. For those born between 1946 and 1955, Viet Nam was the defining event of their lives. For those who came later, it was Watergate. When older boomers finished college, jobs were plentiful and interest rates low. Younger boomers faced recession and 21% interest. The older group, the first to benefit from women's movement, tends to be more career-oriented. The younger ones experienced the down side of women's lib - the higher divorce rate. They also felt they never got as much attention as their older siblings, so they are more family-oriented. According to Mancini, older boomers, including himself, "thought our parents stuff was corny and stupid." Younger boomers, who watched Donna Reed and Ozzie and Harriet reruns on TV, he said, "unleashed this whole wave of nostalgia." All these factors too impact travel behavior.

If they keep these 13 truths about boomers in mind, marketers will be more successful in pursuing this large, but complex market segment.

How Baby Boomers Influence Travel Trends, Part 1

Born between 1946 and 1964, 78 million Baby Boomers changed American business at each stage of their development. Diaper services, Barbie dolls, Rolling Stone magazine, relaxed-fit jeans and SUVs - all were created in response to boomers' needs. Now it's the travel industry's turn to be affected.

Baby boomers today are between 35 and 53 years of age. They are in their peak earning years, and the oldest of them have reached the prime age for travel. Boomers, however, are significantly different travel consumers than their parents, and experts expect them to maintain those differences as they age. Travel industry organizations that fail to identify and heed the boomers' unique qualities could soon find themselves in serious trouble.

To help marketers more effectively target boomers today and in the future, Travel Marketing Decisions interviewed a series of experts to gather insight into this enormous and potentially lucrative segment. Below are 13 truths about baby boomers and their marketing implications for the industry.

1. Boomers consider travel a necessity, not a luxury. This is good news for the industry on two counts. First, the sheer number of boomers traveling will cause business to grow. Second, since travel is a necessity, boomers engage in it no matter how scarce their time or money. Their travel behavior, therefore, is less dependent on life stage or the economy.

2. Boomers have traveled more than their predecessors. While their parents first visited Europe when they retired, boomers criss-crossed the Continent as students. As experienced travelers, boomers seek out more exotic destinations or more in-depth ways of experiencing familiar places. "You're not likely to see them on bus tours of the U.S. because they already did that on their bikes or with backpacks," said Courtney Day, senior vice of the Senior Network, a New Jersey research and marketing firm that specializes in the older consumer.

Been-there-done-that is one reason adventure travel appeals to them, Day said. She defined adventure travel as either physically-challenging outdoor activity or an off-the-beaten-path destination. Because boomers are interested in bettering themselves, intellectually stimulating travel also holds appeal.

3. Boomers see themselves as forever young. This cult of youth also affects boomers' choice of travel suppliers and companions. They don't identify with people older than they are, after all, their credo was "Don't trust anybody over 30." Now well past 30 themselves, boomers still don't want to be like their parents. That means mixing the two generations in the same tour group probably won't work. Early bird specials and senior discounts hold no appeal for boomers because, according to Day, because they won't think of themselves as seniors until they are in their seventies.

She said some companies may have to reinvent their images because boomers don't want anything that smacks of being stuffy or stodgy. More youthful models should be selected because boomers relate better to younger images. The word maturity should be replaced with experience and education.

4. Boomers want to have fun. It's not surprising that adult teenagers put a premium on having a good time. Although fun, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, Day said companionship, stimulation and the cultural/social experience make travel fun for boomers. She added, "Part of the enjoyment of the experience is knowing it's unique -that's part of the rush."

Day said tour operators and destinations can increase the fun factor by encouraging boomers to bring friends with them. A group isn't a negative when it's a group of their own friends, she said.

Day also pointed out, "Fun that is too difficult to obtain isn't fun at all." This again underscores the importance of making the travel purchase quick, easy and convenient.

5. Boomers demand immediate gratification. Unlike their Depression-era parents, boomers grew up in times of plenty. Easy gratification bred a desire for still more and quicker rewards. As a result, boomers don't wait to take the trips they want. If they don't have the money, they just use plastic.

Boomers' instant-gratification lifestyle means they don't book travel as far in advance as their predecessors. But when they are ready to book, they want to do it NOW.

Finally, it's important to remember boomers invented the question, "Are we there yet?" They have little patience for long, uninterrupted stretches of road time. Tour operators should plan shorter hauls or more frequent stops or provide entertainment such as personal video screens or Internet access.

6. Boomers are not passive. They want a measure of control in designing their travel experience, and, once on the road, they want to choose their activities. "If you tell them they're going to do A, B and C, they might want to do E or F," noted editor Malott. The challenge for travel marketers is to make it clear their product offers plenty of options.

Boomers also want more interactivity in the travel experience. According to John Stachnik, president of Mayflower Tours, "They don't want to hear about panning for gold, they want to do it." Stachnik called it sightdoing vs. sightseeing.

Malott said boomers also crave the "local human touch." That means activities such as "meet the people" dinners or playing golf with locals will be highly attractive tour elements.

Check back for part two in the series on Baby Boomer travel.

Marketing 101 for Bears Training Camp

MARKETING 101 FOR BEARS TRAINING CAMP

Presented by the Kankakee County CVB, Kankakee County Chamber and 

Economic Development Alliance of Kankakee County

Upwards of 100,000 people visit our community during for 17 days during the height of summer travel season. Join us for a cup of coffee and find out new and exciting ways your business can market to these visitors, draw them to your business, and cash in.

Attend a 1 hour seminar to discover cost effective and efficient ways to promote your business to Training Camp visitors.

* Restaurants
* Hotels
* Boutiques
* Attractions
* Antiques Dealers
* Retail businesses of all kinds!

All are welcome. You need not be a chamber member to attend.

Date: Friday, June 20
Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Place: 4th Floor Library Conference Room of the Executive Centre (200 East Court St., Kankakee)

To reserve your seat, please RSVP to: Info@KankakeeCountyChamber.com

Buses are booming; are you ready?

The number of people riding buses continues its recent upward trend, the American Bus Association said in its "Motorcoach Census 2013" report out recently. Despite the name, it actually looks at 2012 figures, and finds a 1.7 percent hike in passenger trips on buses, making it nearly 6 percent higher than three years ago. Read the full report or a chart of the basic figures. 

But how can you be sure your event or attraction is motorcoach friendly? In order to draw more of this business, see if you can answer these questions about your attraction or event:


ATTRACTION CRITERIA

• Do you have motorcoach parking? 
• Is there somewhere for the driver to rest away from the motorcoach?
• If an on-site lounge is unavailable, do you provide complimentary meals or drinks for the drivers? 
• Is it easy for motorcoaches to maneuver in and out of the parking facility? 
• Will the group have to walk far? 
• How many bus parking spaces do you have? 
• How is this communicated? 
• Communicated through a greeter, available online, or via telephone hotline? 
• Can you provide directions to nearby fueling, dumping or maintenance facilities?

EVENT CRITERIA

• Does the event have a history of drawing groups? How many? 
• Is the event motorcoach friendly? 
• How does the event treat bus drivers and group escorts—free admission? 
• A dedicated driver area?
• Prize drawings for drivers bringing the most groups? 
• Do you have dedicated parking areas for motorcoaches? Free? 
• Are embark/disembark points close to the event entrance? 
• Can nearby hotels accommodate a motorcoach group? 
• Can the event handle passengers being dropped off 55 at a time?

Keeping these things in mind can help make you more attractive to motorcoach groups. For more ideas, contact the Kankakee County CVB.

Kid's Expo this weekend!

The Kankakee County CVB attended is attending the Kid's Expo in Tinley Park this weekend, March 22 & 23. The attendance is comprised of families and groups looking for kid-friendly activities. The two-day event is filled with special demonstrations, fun games, music and unique displays to showcase different vendors. This one-of-a-kind indoor show allows vendors like the Kankakee County CVB to show all Kankakee County has to offer. 

The CVB would like to extend a special thanks to all our partners that are helping man the booth with us; The Exploration Station, The Kankakee Valley Park District, Legends Sportsplex and the Community Arts Council.

One size does not fit all!

When it comes to meetings, one size does not fit all.

Before you book your venue, consider how people will be arranged in the space. For example, 250 people can comfortably stand in 1500 square feet (a room roughly 42 ft. x 35 ft.), which is great for a reception, but classroom seating would only allow 85 in the same space and 125 for a seated dinner at round tables. 

Space and Capacity Calculator
This calculator will calculate the capacity of a banquet hall, wedding hall, or meeting room in many setup scenarios. It will also calculate space needed for a specific amount of people. You can also find out how many trade show booths will fit in a space, or how much space is needed. One thing to note, the calculator will not take into account odd shaped rooms. Also, remember to subtract the square footage of dance floors etc.

Need help calculating the size you will need? Vicki Layhew, our Sales and Marketing manager can assist you with site selection issues when you use the CVB to plan your event. Call 800-747-4837 or email her today!

Get Creative

Smart hoteliers pay attention to what’s happening outside of their own markets and comp sets to identify emerging travel trends and opportunities. Our last article focused on trends for 2014 and now let's look at packages. 

Packages don't have to offer a discount to be attractive. Consider some of the trends on the rise and incorporate them into your packaging. For example, making a creative hands-on package  to include a cooking or art class. Offer a unique opportunity with a behind-the-scenes tour of a factory or business. You could also work with an event to offer a VIP experience. None of these have to provide a discount, just an experience travelers want to try.

In Jacksonville, a market that is driven largely by its submarkets, hotels were unaccustomed to utilizing packages because they assumed they were too far from the airport for their offerings to be effective. By experimenting with the package path, one hotel ultimately grew its business by 20 percent and became one of Jacksonville’s top producers. While packages are not the lion’s share of this hotel’s business, you can be sure they’re not interested in giving up those incremental room nights either.

It’s imperative for hotels to use market-specific demand data in addition to trends when creating packages. For example, if 15 percent of shoppers in a given market are looking for four-night packages, 15 percent of any area hotel’s bookings should be for four nights. If a hotel’s booking metrics don’t reflect market averages, the hotel can adjust their package offerings to capture that lucrative guest. Offering discounts on a fourth night might convert three night shoppers into a four-night guest and capture the four-night shoppers along the way.

Major vacation markets are naturals for package offerings, but with a little creativity and some solid trend data from experienced market managers, hotels in markets big and small will find that when it comes to packages, there’s something for everyone. Please contact the Kankakee County CVB sales department for package ideas and to post your packages online.

Six Travel Trends to watch in 2014

The Travel Market Report has sent out surveys an the results are in for what they say are the travel trends to watch in 2014. Not only are baby boomers still going strong, but indulgence and adventure travel is on the upswing. Check out these trends:

Trend #1. Impact of millennials
Trend #2. Seniors are unstoppableTrend #3. Rise of conspicuous leisureTrend #4. Growth of ‘creative tourism’Trend #5. Strength of luxury travel Trend #6. More multigenerational travel


Please visit their website for more information on these emerging trends. Contact the Kankakee County CVB for more information.

Easy Customer Tracking; 1 - 2 - 3

Geocoding Bears Fans from Database

Have you ever wondered why they ask you for you zip code when you make a purchase at your favorite store? Unlike loyalty programs where a customer submits a profile and is identified with every visit to the checkout by scanning a card to compile a history of purchased items, geographical tracking is a way of seeing where your customers come from.

Geographical tracking, or geocoding is the process of turning an address, city, state, zip or postcode into mappable coordinates. This enables you to find trends, hot spots and cold zones in your marketing efforts. Where should you target next? What items are popular in a certain area. These questions are easy to answer when you visualize your sales data using a database mapping software.

Batchgeo is a free online mapping service that can create pinpoint maps based on your customer database; whether is includes full addresses, just city/state or even if it is only zip codes. You can even use databases you probably already have; attractions can use visitor sign in sheets, businesses can use customer databases and inquiry requests.

The Kankakee County CVB uses geotracking to measure ad results, see trends for a particular publication or track visitors to a specific event. Try it today to see how geotracking can help your business!

What to do before and after an Event: It’s not just about Tradeshow Exhibits

If you’re attending a marketing event to promote your property or attraction, the work can begin well before the event and isn’t finished when the trade show exhibits are packed away. Follow these tips for beforehand and afterwards and you can help ensure that you have a successful trade show, whether you’re a complete newbie or a veteran marketer.

• Make Sure Your Materials Are Being Shipped To The Correct Place

You can't always bring all your materials with you when going to an event, so having your trade show materials shipped to the right location is vital.  If any of the shipping details are incorrect, such as the zip code or city, or even which hall at the convention center, you could be stuck at the event without your trade show exhibits. Additionally, check that your company’s name or booth location is clearly labeled on the boxes so that the staff knows exactly where it should be placed for installation.

It’s also a good idea to make sure that your company’s name is clearly labeled on the inside of each box or shipping crate.  These crates can sometimes become damaged in transit and it could be a disaster if the container is damaged and no one knows where the contents belong.

• Think About What You Want To Accomplish With Your Trade Show Exhibits

Make sure that you understand what you want to get out of the expo. Many businesses set vague goals — that is, if they set any at all.  If your goals are something like “capture more leads,” sit down and think about what this really means.  How many leads to you want to capture?  Do you want to get 10?  Or is 200 a more reasonable number?  Also consider the strength of the leads.  It’s not enough to capture leads without qualifying them first.  A cold lead is as good as no lead so make sure that your leads actually have a reason or a need for your company before you spend hours following up once you get back into the office.

• Make Good On Your Promises

If you’ve promised to send an attendee information about your company, make sure that you actually do it once the event is over and the trade show exhibits are packed away.  If you promise to send something and don’t actually do it, many customers will assume you don’t want their business and will move on to your competitor.

Even if you didn’t promise information, you should still follow up with people you met at your trade show booth.  If someone filled out a lead card, but it didn’t seem like they were a hot lead, make sure that you call to check in every once in a while.  They were interested enough to visit your booth at the event so it’s possible that their needs could change in the future. Take care to not seem over-aggressive, however, since aggressive tactics can turn customers away.

While these tips aren’t complicated, they are extremely important if you want to maximize sales from a trade show marketing event.  Use these, but realize that they’re not the only things you should be doing.  Sit down with your staff and see if you can come up with other tasks that can help ensure your event is a success.

For more ideas contact our sales department.

Attention Grabbing Strategies for Your Event

Build Local Interest- From the use of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) to partnering with events, the power of grassroots efforts cannot be overstated. 

Think Strategy- Timing is everything when trying to secure local media coverage and encouraged planners to write and distribute press releases to local media groups a few weeks before the event as a general rule.  Strategy  plan your announcement so it is more likely to get picked up. Follow–up is important as well. Following up press releases with a media advisory the day of the event and incorporating as much local focus as possible.  Try to find a unique or interesting local angle. People are more inclined to attend an event if they care about it and can find some local connection. 

Leverage Social Media- Quickly gaining mainstream acceptance, event social media is a great way to gain publicity. Start a few weeks out/check Twitter and Facebook feeds of local media and bloggers. Social media platforms make it easy to search topics and open conversations that bridge the community to the event. 

Brand Carefully- The Branding of the image can go a long way toward attracting attention on its own. You want people to be able to see your signage, website, advertisements and promotional items and automatically know who you are without having to read the logo. Keep a common theme in your Brand. 

Generate Excitement-Keep the promotional momentum going during the event. There is a lot of energy and excitement missed when there is not a welcome party or opening night banquet. Communities need something to rally around. 

For more ideas, contact the Kankakee County CVB!