Travel Agents Stake Their Claim at NY Times Travel Show

If you had the chance to have a trade show booth where you could be seen by more than 22,000 consumers, would you be interested in presenting your travel agency there?

Four travel agents invested thousands of dollars each for a 160-square-foot booth at this year’s New York Times Travel Show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, Jan. 26-28. They were bankrolling the opportunity to market their businesses to high-net-worth individuals and consumers interested in their niche markets.

Friends, the four agents posed the idea to each other following their attendance at the 2017 show. They wanted to see if they could inject their email databases with hundreds of new warm sales leads, and network with suppliers who could help them grow their businesses.

The 15th annual New York Times Travel Show had the highest attendance since its inception, with 32,398 total attendees (a 7.6 percent increase over 2017).

“When I run my Facebook insight reports, everything tells me that my ideal client lives in and around New York, so this exposure for me is priceless,” said Lisa Wood Rossmeissl, owner of Boomerang Escapes in Old Bridge, New Jersey. Wood Rossmeissl principally marketed her curated Australia vacations, including a complimentary trip planning consultation for anyone attending the show.

Exposure was the driving factor for Diane Bean, luxury travel advisor at Off on Vacation in Bangor, Maine. “Every good agent is always looking for sales leads. Being in Maine, I don’t have a lot of options to reach a service area like Metropolitan New York, and this show put me in touch with a completely different crowd than I would meet at a New England show,” said Bean.

The other two agents partnering with Bean and Wood Rossmeissl were Tracy Drechsler-Waite, owner of Your Dream Travel Concierge in Oakdale, New York; and Irwin Shires, owner and travel consultant at Eagle-I Tours and Travel, in Medina, Ohio.

Drechsler-Waite regularly attends consumer shows close to her home-based business on Long Island, and depending on the niche, has found them to be very productive. Shires is building a brewery and distillery tourism business, and used the show to speak to consumers, as well as garner sales leads.

The opportunity was not cheap. All four agents had to pay for at least two nights’ lodging in New York City, and purchase meals. Shires drove from Ohio, while Bean estimated that all in, including airfare to New York, lodging and the incidental expenses with the notoriously high costs at the Javits Center (trade show WiFi access costs $8/day), she spent $2,500.

The other three agents estimated their total expenses in the same ballpark.

Bean worked with Uncruise Adventures to help finance some of her exhibitor costs, handing out the company’s brochures with her business name and contact information printed on them, and offering a social media contest with an Amazon Echo prize.

Early results are positive
Wood Rossmeissl started working three active sales leads as soon as she returned to her home office. In the first complimentary planning session she conducted, a couple had her working on the Australia portion of a 5-plus-week world tour. “They need me to fill in the gaps,” she said.

Another prospect is looking at New Zealand, and a third is looking at Paris, Wood Rossmeissl said. “I figure I need four bookings to make back my investment this year,” she said. Any repeat bookings from these clients would add directly to her bottom line in future years.

Bean said she is working with a sales lead for an April trip to London and Paris. The prospect called her a week after the trade show and said “’you won’t remember me,’ and was excited to start working with someone to put together their vacation,” Bean said.

Drechsler-Waite said she is working on a Christmas market river cruise booking with a couple she met at the show.

All four agents said there also was tremendous value in meeting vendors and mingling with colleagues.

Shires made four connections at the trade day on Friday when only exhibitors and suppliers could attend (consumers were welcomed only on Saturday and Sunday). “I met a lot of tour operators who don’t have brewery itineraries but are interested in working with me to adapt their itineraries to include my specialty,” he said.

Tourism Australia did not attend the New York Times Travel Show, so Wood Rossmeissl could not meet with any of their marketing or agency sales reps, but she did spend some time with Hawaii Tourism officials after the show, as she actively sells that destination for travelers not willing to fly all the way to the South Pacific.

Prompt follow-up is key
One of the main attractions at the New York Times Show is the ability for trade show exhibitors to automate the collection of attendee email addresses by scanning their badges.

Over the two days, the four agents scanned 531 attendee badges (though some were duplicates, and others did not include contact information). When Wood Rossmeissl cleaned up the database the Times Show sent to her, the total number of qualified leads was a little more than 400.

She sent out the first thank you response email a week later, referencing all four agents. The email had a 38 percent open rate, and an unsubscribe rate of around 5-6 percent.

Focusing on her Australia business, Wood Rossmeissl’s future emails will offer some of her ebooks including one with packing tips, an Australia trip planner, and an Australia wine guide. “It’s all about the follow-up and what impression I made on people,” she said.

Shires said he had about “50-60 solid leads” that he was communicating with, but had no bookings directly from the show yet. “I’m still assessing whether it was worth it. That’s the thing with consumer shows. You won’t know for at least a couple of months, and maybe not a year, to see if it was worth the investment.”