Selling Travel October 2015 by SMP Training Co

10/2015

THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS 4

EDITORIAL

E-GUIDE: BUILDING YOUR OWN ADVENTURE TRAVEL NICHE

SELLING ADVENTURE

18-35 ADVENTURES

THE RETIREE ADVENTURER

PLANETARY ADVENTURES

THE EDUCATIONAL ADVENTURER

THE TRAVEL INSTITUTE

ADVENTURES ON HORSEBACK

THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT!

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ADVENTURER

HOST YOUR OWN ADVENTURE PHOTO COMPETITION HERE

ADVENTURE TOUR OPERATORS

FRAMING THE SHOT

FACES IN IMAGES

WILD BIRD ADVENTURES

READ MORE ME HERE!

JUST PUBLISHED – SELLING TRAVEL WITH HUMOUR

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CLASSIFIEDS

BIG BARK GRAPHICS – PRINTER TO THE TRAVEL TRADE

The DESIRE to travel starts early and continues throughout one’s life – are you marketing to Generation Z?

Share your money making ideas in SELLING TRAVEL. CONTACT Steve Crowhurst steve@sellingtravel.net 250-738-0064 www.sellingtravel.net Publisher: SMP Training Co. www.sellingtravel.net Contributors Steve Crowhurst

Attention Suppliers: Advertising in SELLING TRAVEL reaches the serious business-minded travel agent. Promote your products and services using Selling Travel’s unique promotional formula – you write the articles on how to sell your own products offering step-by-step selling tips, tools and techniques that you know have worked for your agency accounts. Full page rates range from $300 to $425 based on number of insertions. Remember, if you can’t sell it to them, they can’t sell it for you! Please note that Selling Travel, owned and published by SMP Training Co, is not connected in any way to Selling Travel magazine published by BMI Publishing Ltd., and based in the UK. The latter publication focuses entirely on destination and travel/tourism product training and is circulated solely to the UK and Ireland travel industries. To benefit from this resource visit www.sellingtravel.co.uk and be sure to subscribe.

SELLING TRAVEL is owned and published by Steve Crowhurst, SMP Training Co. All Rights Reserved. Protected by International Copyright Law. SELLING TRAVEL can be shared, forwarded, cut and pasted but not sold, resold or in any way monetized. Using any images or content from SELLING TRAVEL must be sourced as follows: “Copyright SMP Training Co. www.sellingtravel.net” SMP Training Co. 568 Country Club Drive, Qualicum Beach, BC, Canada, V9K-1G1 Note: Steve Crowhurst is not responsible for outcomes based on how you interpret or use the ideas in SELLING TRAVEL. T: 250-738-0064.

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10/29/13 2:18 PM

SALES & MARKETING TIPS, TOOLS & TECHNIQUES FOR ALL TRAVEL TRADE PROFESSIONALS

The WILL to

Steve Crowhurst, Publisher

ADVENTURE TRAVEL My own adventures, as a kid growing up in the UK, came into reality when I received my first knife from my Uncle Frank. It was a sheath knife and I proudly wore it on my belt, sharpened sticks for arrows and went-a-huntin’ with my bent bamboo pole bow. As I worked my way through the tall grass over on the common I was in darkest Africa. I was having an adventure… At 13 I joined the school’s outward bound type program and went off each weekend to kayak, canoe, trek, climb and more. At 18 I was working onboard a ship and sailing around the Pacific. The adventurous life never left me. Everything I do is still turned into an adventure. I’m sure it’s the same with you, and most certainly your clients have their own adventures too, many completed and others waiting to be arranged by you. The thing to remember is this: the ‘adventure’ is in the eye of the beholder. What might be mundane to you, is a true adventure to your client. Help your customer start their life of adventures no matter how insignificant they may seem, and then help them build up to standing way out there, on the edge of life where the view is most magnificent. More inside… Here’s to your continued success in SELLING TRAVEL. Best regards. Steve Crowhurst, CTC, CTM Hon. steve@sellingtravel.net www.sellingtravel.net Top up your idea bank with this book!

Check out this eGuide and many more published by Selling Travel. CLICK TO VIEW

There are many types of adventures and each one comes with its own level of danger ranging from soft, hard to extreme. The majority of travel agents sell soft adventure which can accommodate most leisure traveller’s needs and wants and thrill level. Standing on top of a low level mountain summit after a hard days trek is a thrill. Kayaking white water is a thrill. Some cruise itineraries have the word adventure in the title. So, as most travel agents, and that might include you, sell soft adventure product let’s start there and move on to Extreme. The age old slogan that ties into soft adventure is this: “Take me out and thrill me, but get me home for supper.” That in a nutshell, is it. The soft adventure client wants maximum thrill for minimum effort and they would prefer to be alive at the end of the day to sip wine and enjoy a hearty meal with their fellow travellers. They do not want to be stranded on an ice floe with a hungry bear. Typically most successful adventure selling travel agents are selling the type of product they themselves enjoy and participate in. If you were an avid white water rafter then this would be your first type of adventure to study, learn all you can about the various rivers, rafting companies and then plan your marketing strategy. Of course you can sell all types of soft adventures however the best strategy these days for niche markets is to focus on your passion and have three options for your main niche market. Apply that concept to river rafting and it means offering river rafting in three different countries so that if one country suffers a tourism blow (could be terrorism or climatic) you have two other destinations and trips to market. You are still in business.

There are some adventure products that offer various levels and state the type of experience and level of fitness required to join the tour. Most people would think the usual river rafting trip to be low end soft adventure – which it can be. However when you hit a Grade 4 - 6 rapid you are entering extreme territory.

In this image I am seated on the right, second in from the front. Very thrilling. It felt like a Grade 6… but not!

Now here’s the thing when it comes to your basic adventure vacation – sometimes they turn nasty. Let’s stay with river rafting and take a look at the various Grades as stated. Otherwise known as the International Scale of River Difficulty, below are the six grades of difficulty in white water rafting. They range from simple to very dangerous and potential death or serious injuries.

Grade 1: Very small rough areas, might require slight maneuvering. (Skill level: very basic) Grade 2: Some rough water, maybe some rocks, might require some maneuvering. (Skill level: basic paddling skill) Grade 3: Whitewater, small waves, maybe a small drop, but no considerable danger. May require significant maneuvering.

How Many Types of Adventures Are There? Generally the trade has a short list of what they consider adventure trips. There are however considerably more and if you head to the website of Specialty Travel – a company I have relied on for many years to stay up-to-date with what’s new, you will find well over 200 adventures and special interest niche markets listed.

Grade 4: Whitewater, medium waves, maybe rocks, maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed. Grade 5: Whitewater, large waves, large volume, possibility of large rocks and hazards, possibility of a large drop, requires precise maneuvering. Grade 6: Class 6 rapids are considered to be so dangerous that they are effectively unnavigable on a reliably safe basis. Rafters can expect to encounter substantial whitewater, huge waves, huge rocks and hazards, and/or substantial drops that will impart severe impacts beyond the structural capacities and impact ratings of almost all rafting equipment. Traversing a Class 6 rapid has a dramatically increased likelihood of ending in serious injury or death compared to lesser classes. Click here to read the full report.

Keep it in mind that with any adventure trip there is always that element of danger no matter how “soft” the adventure might seem. A low impact walk through scrub land could result in a snake bite. Looking up at the wrong time can result in a face full of seagull splat or a small rock hurtling down having been dislodged by one of many means – a supreme danger for cliff climbers.

Once you discern which activities are true adventures and which are special interest you can then decide, if you do not have an established passion as yet, which adventure you could get behind, study and take to market. Although by the heading some activities appear to be low impact, such as Wild Flower Viewing, there are some wild flowers that only live in the Himalayas. The word is to do your due diligence and as mentioned before, go with your inner passions and / or select an adventure from this incredible list found only on the Specialty Travel website.

SOURCE OF INFORMATION Click to Adventure Travel News and subscribe for all the latest adventure news.

Travel Insurance for Adventurers Each adventure has its own scale of difficulty so beware the trips, slips and falls that can happen anywhere, anytime to your clients. Make sure YOU are covered in terms of liability and also make sure the tour operator you book your client’s adventure with, is also carrying enough liability insurance to protect your clients. When you book a client with an adventure tour operator be sure to investigate the travel insurance they offer as each adventure tour operator should protect their clients from typical accidents that can happen to them during the trips they sell.

There are free apps and pay to play apps. The paid apps are for the serious outdoor person and locate an international rescue center. For more information on this topic you should check out my Travel Safety 101 eGuide available here.

Here’s one more eGuide you should add to your digital library. Click the image to view.

Also check with your preferred insurance provider as to the type of coverage they offer your adventurous clients. If not available then search online – you may have to purchase your coverage from overseas vendors. The “Been There Adventured That” Selfie If you walk the talk and do what you sell, then you should have a good collection of been there selfies. The selfie is one of your BEST been there images to be used in your marketing. Before clients pay their money and take off with you to enjoy the adventure you put together, they would usually want to see evidence that you have done this before. The selfie image can show you in all your glory.

For more information on worldwide adventures you may want to visit Steve Gillick’s website and subscribe to his magazines. Click to view.

Safety Apps No one should enter the danger zone without having access to a mobile phone, a battery booster and applications that can send a “HELP!” message with a GPS location. 

Nothing Has Changed Selling adventure travel was my passion when I was a front line travel agent and my generational focus was on the 18-35 age group. You know Exodus and Contiki and there were many other firms based in the UK who would load up the truck that had open sides, benches and canvas flaps to ward off the sand when it blew. The truck, coach, limo (?) that present-day travellers “doing” Europe and India travel on is more than a stretch from the equipment used in the past. The adventure is the same however. Perhaps a little simpler back in the 1960s and 1970s, yet still there was danger.

Some travel writers and magazine editors would have you, the travel agent, believe that “today’s young people” are wanting this and that and a bit more of the other, too. Well I can tell you, no matter the era, the decade or the century, when a young person sets out on their adventure, they feel the same in their gut and once they learn the ropes as it were, they will return home a changed person and from that moment on, usually seeking that next adventure. Keep Stirring That Pot. Not talking dope here. Just want you to keep that advertisement out there via social media and all other low to no cost marketing

outlets. Keep promoting adventure, the 1835 age bracket and you will attract the local young traveller to your agency. After that, using today’s technology, word will spread that YOU are the agent of record for them.

Which you have to love, too. Says it all. So now you need your own slogan. You cannot use the slogans mentioned above of course because they are trademarked.

Tweet Your Own Horn You want referrals? Ask your young adventures to send out #goingsoon or, #goingindiasoon. Ask your young clients to help you get your message out there, send it viral, use all social media tips and tricks.

I KNOW YOU WANT THIS!

If you want to tap into this 18-35 adventure market, it is still out there and waiting for you. Companies like Contiki are still out there and waiting for you, too. Young people of today, like the young people of the 1960s, share the same reasons for going overland. Not too much has changed, so start marketing to the younger generation and here’s the thing – once you capture your 1835 customer, they will stay with you all the way through your travel trade career. If you are let’s say 25, then you and your clientele will grow together and as they/you age you will eventually be booking their family tour, their cruise, their retirement adventure and more - and it all starts with your 18-35 customer. Slogans to Attract the Young Adventurer You can start building a slogan list by studying what your suppliers are using as headlines and also non-travel firms who cater to the 18-35 group. Contiki is using this phrase: “I WANT TO GO” which is similar to the phrase “I WANT THAT” that The Source uses to push market its tech products. Of course you want it and of course you want to go. It’s very clever wording. Contiki also uses this one:

How about:

WHEN CAN YOU GO? SEE IT WHILE YOU CAN SEE IT FOR YOURSELF! The key to marketing to Gen Y is said to be “give them something to talk about, to share” versus an in-your-face push. No need to try and speak their language or trick them. They are media savvy and technology is their information source. You’ll lose. Support Your Slogan If you can support your slogan with something humourous, something that can be shared then you are on the right track. Not talking 3 minutes of video – but a few seconds might do it. A post to Instagram might do it. What else might do it? Chat with your GEN Y clients… go to the source. The Selfie Once Again As and when you do close an 18-35 tour ask your customer to send you a couple of selfies as they enjoy the wonders along the way. Ask if you can use them to promote the same adventure to others of his/her generation. The Blog Post Ask your young adventurer if they would post to your blog, to your website or email you what’s happening so you can post it. Either of these will help you send the right message versus the wrong ad. If you have GEN Y and GEN X customers start a group where you can chat with them and get the answers you need. That’s YOUR adventure! 

Why not put even MORE adventure in your life and read Anthony Daltonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book and then send a copy to your BEST clients when they arrange their next trip. Click imageâ&#x20AC;Ś

Red Hot and Rarin’ To Go! The retired customer may not be getting the right treatment from you. Especially if you are thinking all retirees cruise or take coach tours. There are many more who are seeking a series of adventures to spice up the last ten to twenty years of their travelling lives. There comes a time in everyone’s life when they just cannot rough it anymore. Once that point is reached, they will for sure return to cruising and the beach and that short coach tour. In the meantime they are wanting to climb, trek, walk, kayak, and go places they have seen on destination based TV shows. Still Active It has to be said that many retirees are much fitter than the younger generations who spend way too much time sitting and staring at a computer screen. This older group also get cabin fever and need to get out of the

house. They are actively looking for that next adventure – and that’s your marketing theme to get behind.

That’s right. Make new tracks instead of visiting the same old places time after time. Decide on your next adventure and we’ll make it happen for you.

Even at 65 and 75 and 85, retired people, seniors and even old people still have adventures they want to complete. Start marketing now and tell your retired senior population that it’s never too late and you can help them arrange that next adventure. 

So how do you feel about leaving home for a few years as you tour the universe? What a great tour this would be. You could opt in as the tour leader and escort your group to who knows where? Away from the sun would be the best route me thinks. But let’s explore this opportunity some more.

Interplanetary Travel Is Almost Here There are as you well know tours around mother earth outside the gravitational pull. So you can start to use the promise of galactic travel as a pre cursor and promotional concept to get your existing clients thinking about their next adventure. On September 27th 2015, the world watched the moon turn red, then an eclipse and with some guru on TV telling us that this will not repeat for another 18 years. So as I was taking photographs of the event I was thinking how you could use this same event to promote your 2016 adventures.

such as tour when it becomes the thing to do, you can incite and excite your clients and prospects into planning their current and very much doable adventure. The Movies Can Help Too If there is a box office hit that features tearing around the universe, then jump on this too. Going where no one has gone before can also mean, to your clients, cruising on a new ship and heading off on an itinerary that’s new to them.

September 27th 2015

Your Flight Plan Whenever you hear about or read about a space related event, you must jump all over it. Meaning you link your promotions to it and include a mention in your blog and all social media you manage. The reason you do this is this: space and space travel is the ultimate adventure and although most people cannot and will not be able to afford

Here’s one idea you can play with. So once again, when you see anything in the consumer news related to space travel you use something like this flyer to incite and excite. When such tours are available (in your lifetime) your name will be linked. 

The Academic Adventurer Every school holiday, when the vacation kicks in, you have access to thousands of teachers and school staff who are in need of their vacation and many times they seek an adventurous route. The academic traveller might be heading overseas to immerse themselves in a culture or to explore a region they want to know more about. The Non Academic Educational Adventurer This client is already on your client list, or strolling past your agency tomorrow. To attract them you need to know what’s trending in the world of educational

adventures. Learning languages on-site is one. Studying yoga in India is another, tai chi in Hong Kong, ancestry in the UK and Europe. Whatever it is you can identify or have a personal passion for, there is an adventure for it. It might be that you conjure up the adventure and then promote it. Just pitch the idea of it by mentioning: “I’m thinking of arranging an adventure to visit…” That’s all you need do to start this off. Based on the positive response you’ll know whether or not you have a hit in the making. 

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If it wasn’t for cousin Lesley and husband Mike, I would not have known too much about fitting a trail ride into a vacation. Who knew? Well I do now and so I pass the information on to you and in doing so, here is a niche market that is worldwide and that makes sense when you think about it because the horse has been with us globally for a few thousand years. Perhaps you ride yourself, or have clients who do and if either is the case, then you have the start of a brand new business opportunity. Let’s explore: When Les and Mike asked about a trail riding experience where we live (Vancouver Island) I had to check on line and do some digging. Came across Paradise Acres Ranch owned and operated by Bev and Gerd Voigt.

The ranch is very close to where we live so we drove over for a chat with owner Bev who told us what we needed to know and my cousin booked a trail ride. On the appointed day we turned up early and as Les and Mike selected a pair of western boots and helmet to wear, their horses were being readied for them. After a get-to-know-your-horse session in the riding ring, Les and Mike followed their guide out of the ring, along the drive to the road where they eventually entered the trail through the woods. During their time away I had the opportunity to photograph many of the horses owned, leased and boarded at the ranch. It became very apparent that those dark eyes are what you need to use in your “attraction marketing” concepts

After their ride Les and Mike returned with a satisfied smile and I’m sure they could have carried on for a few more hours and take in more of the countryside views etc. But, time was up. Overall a nice introduction to riding western style and they were already planning another trail ride experience for when they arrive into Jasper, Alberta.

Mike and Les’ ready to set off…

“Jackson” receiving loving words from Les.

With thanks to Les and Mike for introducing me to horseback adventures, I decided to explore this niche a little deeper and found out that your horse loving clients can book their horseback adventures in these countries: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bhutan, Botswana, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Greece, India, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Patagonia, Peru, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Here’s the link to view more information: http://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/horse-riding

The image above shows many of the horseriding adventure products to be found at the link mentioned above. You can make contact with the Responsible Travel and explore the various products and of course, go online to review and download the brochures that interest you. Be sure to request images of the horses your clients will ride as there is no doubt, as mentioned above, those dark eyes will attract your clients to ask for more information. Just read through Mongolian website and here’s the introduction you could use, copied from the website:

“This horse trekking adventure takes you to Tsambagarav National Park, in the far west of Mongolia. The remote glacier-capped mountains and high valleys are habitat for snow leopard, argali mountain sheep and other rare species. During the summer nomadic herders bring their flocks to graze in the high valleys. It's a place of great natural beauty and fascinating culture, and superb to explore on horseback!” Doesn’t that sound fantastic! That would certainly attract your adventurous clients and help launch your new niche.

If you like the sound of this niche market then check locally for ranches like Paradise Acres and once you’ve checked them out, you could promote a local trail ride to your existing clients to get them interested in going further afield. During the local trail ride, be sure to photograph your clients as they ride their horses and capture the moments you can use in your overall marketing of Horseback Adventures. As you know, you must obtain a release form signed by your clients who appear in your photographs. Be sure to check with your travel insurance provider, and track down the information you need for your clients related to being insured when undertaking a horseback vacation. It may not seem extreme, however accidents do happen. Don’t forget to check out Paradise Acres Ranch. 

The Main Lodge at Paradise Acres and Boot Selection Area

124_TAND Joomag f-p Testimonial-Oct 2015:Pax Mag 15-09-20 11:17 AM Page 1

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That IS how you do it. And check that date, too…. 1790. That front page reads like one of those l-o-n-g scrolling web pages that’s selling you a ‘how to’ something or other with the price at the very end of that ten foot scroll. Once again, the date. Can you imagine those masterful promoters selling travel guides way back then and using this type and style of verbiage to draw the reader in. Fabulous! So, 225 years ago your travel trade and guide book publishing rellies like Mr. Cary were hard at it, writing copy that would sell their guide books. Each plate in this book was hand engraved and even carries the engravers name. Wouldn’t it be something to own a copy of such a book? Yes it would.

It’s ALL Free – But For Your Time It’s true. You can open an account with the company I use for publishing Selling Travel and the basic account is free. Explore Issuu.com and once there, open that account and start planning your travel magazine or guide book.

Today of course we can download a digital copy of a guide book and read it on Kindle for instance. But where’s the romance in that? Well perhaps for some, that is romantic. We all take out romance differently, however when it comes to books like Mr. Cary’s – well, you just have to own an original copy.

Now, when you read that front page again from 1790, read it and then think about how you would draw your reader in, once they turn to page two or three in your magazine or guide book. That was 225 years ago, what about now? When you write such a page, it helps you focus on the content for your own publication.

But enough about owning a copy, the real reason I’m including this article here is to show our new comers to selling travel that IT has been done before, and that “we” in the trade can learn from the past. Here’s what I mean. Produce Your Own Travel Guides and MORE If you can type, you can produce a travel guide, a magazine, a three pager about your latest trip or a coffee table sized photo book. It’s all there waiting for you and starts with your current PC and keyboard.

Write To The Reader Selling Travel is written for you, the travel trade professional. Your publication would target the travelling consumer. You’ll need to decide whether or not you are writing to everyone or targeting a segment of that travelling population. This issue is all about selling adventure travel so there’s one segment you could aim for if that’s your niche. Work on it. Rev that keyboard up a’la 1790 style and show your old rellies what you can turn out. 

Ah, the sound of that shutter! Music to the ears of any photographer who is ‘out there’ on a mission, on an assignment and on an adventure. You know it to be true that the camera is now a part of pretty much everyone’s travel kit – even if they only shoot selfies. For the photographer that uses more professional gear there are many options for them when it comes to booking a photographic tour or adventure. Many of these prospects are very focused travellers and book through their own camera club, or sign up through the photo magazines they read, and here’s where you enter the scene. To attract the would-be adventurous photographer, you’ll need to be marketing yourself and your agency where such consumers go for their news. Lists of Camera Clubs: Everything you need and want is online – so that means you simply search for Lists or Directories and add Camera Clubs. Many times a photographer or club member has already created such as list like this one: http://www.digitaldarrell.com/clubusers.asp

Here you will find various links to photo clubs across America and also professional and international clubs. Once there you can click on your own state and review the club website.

Making Contact Once on the club webpage, look for the club admin people and send them an email to introduce yourself, and the services you provide. This link: https://www.psa-photo.org/ will take you to the Photographic Society of America. When you explore this website you’ll be looking for travel related pages and here is that link: https://www.psaphoto.org/index.php?divisions-phototravel#ad-image-5 Once you click on that travel page link you will access the names of those who run this division. Important to Take Your BDM One thing you must realize when contacting clubs of this caliber is that they have heard it all before, almost. They’ve been pitched many times. So… you’ll need to be better than the rest, have something phenomenal to showcase and if you can, work with a supplier so that you can visit with your BDM and conduct a joint presentation. With your BDM in the meeting they can quickly assess the situation and offer inducements you cannot. Canadian Clubs Check here for provincial contacts: https://www.vistek.ca/community/directo ry/list/1/photo-clubs.aspx Follow the same process as above.

http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/triptypes/photoexpeditions

Back in 2012 I contacted NGE and asked about their connection to travel agents and here’s their response. We do work with travel agents. We pay 10% commission on all trips except the private jet trips, Trans-Siberian Railroad, Southern Africa private jet for which we pay 8%. The Photography Workshops have a different pay schedule. I didn’t mention it because we don’t handle those workshops in this office. They pay 8% on the workshop cost minus the hotel cost. Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you have further questions. Sincerely, Sandra Bremer E-mail: sbremer@academic-travel.com

So there’s a great name to be representing in your overall photography adventure program. The Local Pro Check locally for a professional photographer and view their work, and if it meets the level you want, make contact and discuss how you can work together. If we term this photographer the “draw” and the “attraction” and they have their own following, usually you would set the goal of let’s say 25 people signed up and under deposit from the pro photographer’s contacts. That pays for his / her seat.

The most important thing to discuss with your pro attraction is their personality and what they do during the tour. You’ll not want to work with any prima donors who love their drama. Your Own Photographic Tour of Anywhere This is as basic as it gets. It’s YOU and your Brownie 123 (or better!) and you simply promote, “HEY! I’m off to Rome and I’m going to take a ton of photographs. Who would like to join me? Key focus is on photography as we roam the ruins, eat, drink and enjoy Rome close up.” Or, something like that. Let it come from you and your existing clients will be attracted to your new tour idea. It’s important to mention the focus is taking photographs so that the tour group is made up of those who like to dawdle along snapping left and right. No need to go the NG route here. Keep it simple. Create your group from your existing client base and their friends. This requires low to no ad-costs. All done through email and social media. So there’s your Photographic Adventures mission and you can tie it into any supplier. 

Hosting your own photo contest is now a done deal when you use websites like Instagram and Facebook and then there are standalone photo contest websites too. Yes indeed, whatever you want and need, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s online. Ya gotta luv it. Click below to view and search for more online.

BE SURE TO DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE AND READ THE RULES

This just popped up in my email: NG and G Adventures combining their talents to bring a new set of adventures to market. Can’t go wrong booking your clients with this team. Now check out this list of tour operators found on the Wanderlust website. You can subscribe to the Wanderlust magazine, enter competitions AND why not encourage your clients to do the same but with you. That’s right, YOU can host a writing competition and a photography competition just like these tour companies do.

Be sure to read the How To Host a Photo Contest Page

If you intend to make adventure travel your niche then start building a data base of tour companies that sell your brand of adventure which would refer to your niche within the adventure niche. Don’t forget the listings you can find on the Specialty Travel website. 

When shooting that image of your adventure, you’ll want to think about not only the image itself but also how it is naturally framed. Not all the time mind you, but when it makes sense and the ‘frame’ is there as a natural element. See below where using the branch above and the rocks below frame the view of the ocean and islands.

In this image the framing is done by the two trees causing the eye to focus on the sky between them. The frame can be a natural element or ‘arranged’ meaning you create the frame digitally.

Here’s a great way to frame your image and demonstrate that you are current in all things mobile too. Using the frame of a tablet in this case an iPad you can look for a PNG image which means the center is transparent. You simply import your image, arrange it so that the frame is in front and you have your “framed” shot.

There are several frame choices available to you when you insert your image into MS Word or PowerPoint. Just click on your image to reveal the Picture Tools tab, and then click on the down arrow found next to the first row of frames. Here’s an example: Once framed you can then re-capture your image using SNAG IT, and then paste into your website, blog, and other social media. Framing helps guide the viewer’s eye into the image. Try it now using your own photographs. 

Okay, you got me! It’s one of my favourite things to do when driving down the highway (looking ahead only!) – looking for faces in the upcoming cliffs, clouds and tree scapes. It’s amazing what you will discover and some people on the planet have even seen the face of Jesus in their morning toast! So hey, this is a worldwide phenom’ and could be a religious experience too. Great if you specialize in Faith Based Tourism. When you find that face, here’s a few ideas as to how and when to use what you found.

In the cloud-scape above there is the face of a goblin and to me that shouts Halloween Vacations, Morbid Tourism, Graveyard Tours and so much more.

such adventurous events! Click the image to read the Telegraph UK report from 2014.

When you find that face in a cliff or in the snow bank of a mountainside, then it’s an obvious link to a trekking vacation and as mentioned on my Selling Travel Facebook page in September you could promote climbing a ‘cliff face’ whilst on the trek. As you can tell, how you use your discovery is only limited by your imagination. The image shown here of a craggy face on a British cliff ‘appeared’ to a photographer… proving I am not the only one engaged in

Whilst you’re at it, Google more faces on rocks, cliffs and wherever else you think they may be hiding. Then ponder how to embed the images you locate into your adventure marketing activities. 

You may want to watch the movie Rare Birds starring William Hurt to get an idea of how wild and crazy birders are. They do go to great lengths to tick the box and will chase a lesser spotted thingamewhatsit around the world to spy it through their super zoom binoculars. Thousands of dollars are spent on birding kit and camera equipment andâ&#x20AC;Ś wait for it, TRAVEL. There are associations, chapters, international events and much more, where you have the opportunity to approach the big guns and offer your services. Better still if you are passionate about birds.

The birding customer you are interested in is the one that travels. That’s right. This is very important to note, otherwise you could be stalking the wrong client – the one that never leaves home. Just hovers locally. With some due diligence you could research which birds and places are trending in the birding community. One place to check is Field Guides – Birding Tours Worldwide. Although the act and art of birdwatching and related activities such as photography sounds like soft adventure, there are some fanciful birders who have gone extreme. Check this out from this Wikipedia link where you can read more. First thing to be reminded of is this: there are about 10,000 species of bird and few have seen more than 7,000. Some birders have been known to go to great lengths and many have lost their lives in the process. Phoebe Snetsinger spent her family inheritance travelling to various parts of the world while suffering from a malignant melanoma, surviving an attack and rape in New Guinea before dying in a road accident in Madagascar. She saw as many as 8,400 species. David Hunt who was leading a bird tour in Corbett National Park was killed by a tiger in February 1985. Ted Parker travelled around North America In 1971 and saw 626 species in a year - he was killed in an aircrash in Ecuador. His record was beaten by Kenn Kaufman in 1973 who travelled 69,000 miles and saw 671 species and spent less than a thousand dollars. In 2008 two British birders, Alan Davies and Ruth Miller, gave up their jobs, sold their home and put everything they owned into a year-long global birdwatching adventure about which they a wrote a book called "The Biggest Twitch". They logged their 4431st species on 31 October 2008. From 2008 the top life-list has been held by Tom Gullick, an Englishman who lives in Spain. In 2012 he became the first birdwatcher to log over 9,000 species.

Okay. There you have it. More than a few birders are nutters, and that’s not a bird species. Thing is, as the prior text points out – they will go to great lengths to see a feathery friend. This is where you come in. or fly in as it were. Birding Associations etc. Look around your area and sift and sort to find the local chapter of whatever birding group exists. Make contact with the admin person and set up a time to meet. It goes something like this: “Hi this is Steve of ABC Travel and I operate a custom group travel planning service that I think you might be interested in….” Now, the next sentence is down to you and it will be based on a few things: are you truly a birder, bird photographer – or perhaps you are neither but you have sent groups of photographers around the globe. Find your point of difference and package it into your script. You can bet your birdfeed that whoever you are speaking too, if they run the show, then they have heard it all before. So best to be honest and straight forward and sell yourself first and then sell your group travel planning services. If you happen to be an artist, and you can draw, paint, sketch birds for instance you could use your own artwork to promote your services AND also offer your art for sale to your birding clients. This is called spin off marketing. Here’s one of mine. 

PSST! This year eat something else! Thanks.

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