Trips and travel and value

[Black Water Diver]

As a shop owner and a travel agency it has been and getting worse to compete with on line entities. My big thing with my customers is value for their dollar. We have been specializing in the ALL-INCLUSIVE areas so that we can provide something for everybody and no hidden costs and no surprises. The down side of this strategy is there are a lot of really nice smaller operations out their that may be as reasonable or even more reasonable.
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My concern on sending customers to places i have not been is what if they have a terrible time or the food if extra was hideous or high dollar. I am sure there are a lot of different resorts and it is important as a travel professional to record what is good and what is bad. We recently went to Caracau for 7 days and nights All-Inclusive for $1000.00 including air, what a great trip and the food was included as well as the beverages, entertainment and water sports. The SCUBA package was extra but for $350.00 is was a great value.

Some of the quotes i get are just unbelievably high and it makes you wonder why?

 

[Doc]

Don't send anybody to where you have not yet been (ask for a FAM when you're at DEMA) or don't have reliable advice from someone who understands the business you are intending.

If you do make a mistake and send the wrong clients to the wrong resort. In other words- some people you just can't please. The result? Your reputation and hopes for future business from others might be in peril.

You'll have to decide what types of trips you want to sell: Do you want to be selling Vacations with Diving or Dive Vacations?

Thus: Your reference to "SCUBA package...for $350" belies part of the problem- what really does that include? How many dives a day?

The easiest way to develop a travel operation is to tie your trips into doing open water portions of certifications. As your shop sponsored SCUBA club takes root... (you do have one, right?) offer "the big trip" once a year (to start) and get everybody gawking at the pretty fish.

That way, you're there to make sure the trip works out well. Do not expect to pay for your trip and your SO or instructor cadre with the % return on the bookings of your student participants. Pay for your trip with additional certifications booked in advance and done on scene. Make the trip something special with some added value- that's the only way you can beat the internet... don't be afraid to reduce the price of their trip against your percentage for booking minimums.

Kansas dive operations have to pick every avenue to develop a strong following. Group trips are a big part of this equation.

 

[billt4sf]

Hi there.

As someone who is interested in taking a dive vacation (or a vacation with diving) what I would like to have from a shop owner is the conviction that it offers something that I cannot get on my own from the online offers. E.g. you have been there; you know first-hand that it is better than what I can book online; there are some particulars (dive sites, boat details, accommodations) that I would not otherwise get.

Some may be interested in the camaraderie of knowing others in the local shop-sponsored club.

To be honest it is more limited by my calendar than anything.

That's probably not much help but I do like Kansas! (Went to KU).

- Bill

 

[Damselfish]

I'm not sure what the question is, or if you're talking about running actual group trips, or just acting as a travel agent for customers.

I don't generally use a travel agent to arrange Caribbean trips for me, or to anyplace where it is simple to get information about destinations and flights and plan it on my own. To me there is no value added, as it's just as much effort to make sure they're doing what I want as it is to do it myself. But I know some people prefer having someone else take care of it. I will only use an agent if they are offering some deal I can't get on my own. (Or if I am traveling with friends and have become the "someone else" taking care of stuff, which is how it often seems to go...)

If I'm going someplace (like many places in Indo-Pacific) where there are issues around getting complete information, language, many time zones, booking some airlines and other travel arrangments, currency, payment, whatever - then I'm more likely to use a travel agent. But I expect the agent to have done some travel to the area and to be an expert at this stuff.


What I'm looking for in a group trip (which I don't do often):
- someone else picking the right places and planning all the details, so I don't have to for a change (although I'm still going to verify they seem like good choices that will suit me.) AI is probably more convienient for a group trip, but if it's not otherwise one of the best choices available for lodging and diving that's a non-starter.

- a trip leader going along who has been there before and is familiar with the place, and is good at taking care of whatever "stuff" comes up, again so I don't have to for once.

- bonus points for having reserved rooms ahead at a peak time that are otherwise hard to get, or a nice liveaboard that is mostly reserved by groups and booked years in advance.

- I'm not looking to be charged a premium for a group trip, as I know the trip leader is getting compensation such as free spots from the arrangement. But I'm not looking for a cheap trip either.

- I'm more inclined to go on a group trip to someplace far away, as I find traveling with a group on a long trip is easier in many ways. For a closer to home trip, the negatives usually outweigh any positives for me.


Where is Caracau? You mean Curacao?

 

[Doc]

...Where is Caracau? You mean Curacao?

Sometimes, the spelling (and pronunciation) of Curacao is mistaken with another Caribbean Islet, Carriacou.

Carriacou has some of the best diving that remains in the Caribbean. Very few people have ever been there to dive.

 

[Damselfish]

that was my second thought but seemed an unlikely guess.