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The "Ethnic" Market

Here's an excerpt from a recent email: "Here is my problem. Let's say, all the members of the community I live in and my target customers are international air travelers. These people travel from USA to Asian countries each year to visit their relatives and loved ones. For the last 13-14 years I didn't hear anyone show a desire to travel on a cruise."

The writer is referring to something known in the travel trade as "the ethnic market." The good news is that it is a large market. The bad news is that the competition is fierce. Aaso, as the writer says, most of the business is in international airline tickets and people are looking for the absoute lowest price. Travel agencies that serve this market operate on wafer thin margins, often just a few dollars per ticket.

There are a number of strategies I can suggest, none of which is guaranteed to produce tremendous results or bring you a substantial income.

First, find out where these "target customers" are buying now. If they are buying from a local source, perhaps you can enter into a business arrangement with that source, as outlined in Chapter 4 of Home-Based Travel Agent.

While you're at it, do a little "market research." Ask people if they would be willing to do business with you. If they already have a favorite source for tickets, ask, "What would I have to do to win your business?" It could be as simple as hand delivering tickets (in the ethnic market, paper tickets are still prevalent).

If they are buying directly from an airline, then make contact with that airline's sales department and see if you can enter into some sort of arrangement. If it's a foreign airline, you will have a better chance than if it's one of the major domestic carriers. But in any case, it will be a "hard sell," especially if you don't have any experience.

Network within your community and try to get introductions to consular officials or prominent businesspeople from your home country. It's a long shot, but they may be able to introduce you to someone who can open doors at the national airline.

Investigate consolidators who serve the market you're interested in. You'll find leads in Chapter 12 and the Desk Reference. You may have to do some negotiating to be able to compete on price, but if you can work something out you may find that your per ticket income will be decent.

Like I say, I can't offer you a great deal of hope that any of these will provide you with a terrific income, although I'd be happy to have you prove me wrong!

But I would like to encourage you to think outside the ethnic box.

As ethnic enclaves mature and prosper, people begin to have different priorities. The ties to the "home country" inevitably weaken and as immigrants prosper they have more and more disposable income. Sure they might want to go back to the home country once a year, but there's nothing to prevent them from taking a second vacation somewhere else. You have an opportunity to be something of a "success ambassador" to the community, offering people a chance to reward themselves and their families.

Why not promote the idea of having family in India or Vietnam or Taiwan, meet their American relatives in Australia, or New Zealand, or Hawaii for a cruise or a resort vacation? What a great way to show off how well you're doing in your adopted home.

Remember, too, that the "home country" has a lot more to offer visiting immigrants than grandparents and cousins. On a trip to Greece some years back, I was struck by how many Greek-Americans I met who were touring their homeland, a luxury they couldn't enjoy when they lived there. These people are excellent candidates for escorted tours or a fly-drive vacation.

Another possibility is to suggest that folks extend their trip "back home" to take in nearby sights. Family in India? Why not visit the Taj Mahal, Jaipur, or even Nepal? Family in Vietnam? Why not visit Angkor Wat in neighboring Cambodia? Family in the Philippines? Why not visit Taiwan or Hong Kong or Hawaii? You can sell a lot more than an airline ticket.

Target members of the second-generation and their families. Their memories of "home" may not be as powerful as those of their parents; and they may have kids who are completely "Americanized." For what it would cost that second-generation family to visit grandmom, they could take the kids to Disney World.

And who says you can only sell to your own ethnic group? If you know your home country well, you should be able to establish yourself as the "go-to guy" for anyone, regardless of their ethnic or cultural heritage, who wants first-rate guidance on tours to your homeland.

So I would encourage anyone who finds themselves in my correspondent's situation to spread their wings. Remember that one of the secrets to success as a home-based travel agent is not to do exactly what the storefront agencies are doing. Maybe the reason my correspondent never heard anyone express an interest in a cruise is that no one is offering it to them. You might be surprised at how much "pent up demand" there is in your community for travel opportunities above and beyond a cheap ticket to the "Old Country."

Travel Industry Twitterers

Tweeted anything lately? If you haven't yet, you probably will soon.

Matt Parsons has posted an extremely useful list of travel industry members who are on Twitter. The list isn't exhaustive, but it will probably become more so as word gets out.

If you're on Twitter, be sure to add your name and use the list to locate people you want to follow.

While you're at it, follow me!

Make Your Travel Dreams Come True - TODAY!

Don't ever say you can't become a successful home-based travel agent.

Susan Boyle on Britain Got Talent
by dwarthy

Now it's your turn. Start building your travel business now.

(Bath)rooms With A View

Just when you thought you had a firm handle on all the things to
check on before booking a client into a hotel comes this news:
"From the chic boutiques of London and Los Angeles to hot new
hotels in more exotic locales like India and China, exposed bathrooms
are a growing trend," reports the New York Times, "whether in the
form of transparent glass walls and shower stalls or bathtubs set in
the middle of the bedroom like free-standing sculptures."

That last reference is to London's Sanctum Hotel, where bathtubs
sit in the middle of the room on a bed of "backlit black pebbles."
The experience is supposed to be "glamorous and otherworldly."
Hmmm. Then why does the dictionary define "sanctum" as "a
private room where one is not to be disturbed" (or, presumably,
spied upon)? Maybe they should call it the Flasher Hotel.

Exposed bathrooms, also called "open bathrooms," have a number of
rationales, according to their defenders. Some say they are "sexy."
Designers say they save space and create a "sense of added luxury."
One says that they allow visitors to "multitask" by watching TV in
the other room.

The best justification cited by the Times comes from designer Alicia
Loo (I'm not making that name up) who says her exposed bathrooms
serve as a "design ambassador" for Renaissance Capitol Hotel Beijing.
"Exposed toilets may strike some as a rather literal interpretation of
China's open door policy," she explains.

Michael Attenborough, who heads up interior design at Radisson
Edwardian Hotels, is equally enthusiastic. "All our friends who've
seen it say, 'Oh, my god, that's so fantastic," he gushes. "Some
people are very prudey," he sniffs at those who disagree. Prudey
may be current Brit-speak for normal.

Now I'm a big believer in travel as an opportunity to (ahem) expose
yourself to new ideas, but I tend to agree with seasoned traveler
Lisa Feder-Feitel, who is given the last word in the Times piece:
"This is the design equivalent of 'too much information.'"

Travel agents may also be interested to know that Ms. Feder-Feitel,
having surveyed her exposed bathroom with its equally exposed toilet,
immediately decamped for another hotel.

Promoting Your Travel Agency Blog

If you have a blog (and if you don't maybe you should be asking yourself, "Why not?"), you should make at least some effort to promote it.

There are many ways to do that, but in this post I want to concentrate on a number of specialty sites that exist to point people to blogs of interest, and there's no reason yours can't be one of them. Not incidentally, these sites are also a good way to locate blogs that you might want to read yourself for ideas, inspiration, and contacts!

Alltop.com describes itself as an "online magazine rack" that allows people to find interesting blogs and web sites on various topics.

There are afew ways to use Alltop. You can click through to the Travel category and browse the blogs and web sites listed there. If you sign up with the site, you can select the blogs you want to read regularly and browse them on your own "home page." But you can also submit your blog for Alltop's consideration.

Travel Blog Exchange is a "community of those who share the journey." Thus, it is something of a specialized social network. Travel professional who are also bloggers (that'd be you!) are welcome but required to identify themselves as industry insiders. Still, this can be a good way to do some low key networking and perhaps identify yourself as a specialist to other bloggers and members of the press.

Blogtopsites tracks the "best" blogs on a variety of topics. I put "best" in quotation marks because the blogs that listed are self-selected -- that is, a blog has to register and add special tracking code to its site to be tracked and ranked by Blogtopsites.

The good news is that, in the travel category at least, the competition doesn't seem to be too stiff. Your blog can get ranked with as little as one visitor a month! The counter resets each month.

A similar site, with a similar name, is Blogtoplist. It operates in much the same way as Blogtopsites, except that a blog can gain stature if its readers "vote" for it. Also, the counter here resets weekly.

Yet another blog visitor tracking service that resets weekly is Blogflux, which seems to be especially strong on non-U.S. blogs. It also seems to use the same underlying software as Blogtopsites.

There are some others, which you can find by clicking through to some of the blogs you find on the sites above and looking for the tracking site buttons they are required to display, but this list will certainly get you started and may prove to be more than you need.

Space Tourism Still Has Takers

Oh, for clients like this!

Recession or no, billionaire Charles Simonyi couldn't pass up another shot at space, even if it meant shelling out $35 million more.

Besides, it may one of the last times the Russian government allows tourists to hitch a ride to the international space station.

"It's now or never," said Simonyi, who has now spent $60 million for a couple of space vacations. The first was $25 million.

A computer genius who helped build Microsoft, Simonyi (sih-MOHN'-ee) will become the world's first two-time space tourist when he leaves Earth behind Thursday. He'll be accompanied by two professional astronauts -- a Russian and American -- who will be going up for a six-month stint at the space station.