2015 WHITE PAPER

CONTENTS

Page 3: Introduction
Page 4:

The Ultra Luxury Road Map, Ruthanne Terrero

Page 7:

Future-Proofing Your Luxury Business, Larry Pimentel

Page 15: The Affluent Traveler: Myths, Motivations and Market Opportunities, Peter Yesawich
Page 23: Best Practices in Content Marketing for the Travel Industry:

How to Create Content Travelers Love, Caitlin Domke

Page 30: Pop-Up Panels: Pain Points in Selling Luxury Travel, Dealing with the Ultra Affluent Client, The Latest

Technology for Travel, What Do We Do that Drives You Crazy, How Do You Close the Deal?

Page 43: Effectively Utilizing Social Media for Business, JD Andrews

Page 49: Luxury General Manager Interactive Panel

INTRODUCTION

uxury Travel Advisors ULTRA Summit

2015, held May 17-19, at the Four Seasons
Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World
Resort, brought together elite travel advisors and
suppliers for an exclusive discussion about the
latest research and trends in ultra-luxury travel.
Nearly 35 ultra-luxury advisors and 40 suppliers,
selected for their expertise as the worlds top
purveyors of affluent travel, participated in the
invitation-only program, which featured intimate
one-to-one appointments intermixed with elegant
networking functions and engaging expert
presentations about high-net-worth travelers,
trends and business opportunities.
New this year were interactive, spontaneous,
15-minute pop-up panels in which moderators
identified business-critical topics and randomly
selected delegates to participate based on badge
numbers.
The event celebrated its third year with a lineup
of expert speakers and an enhanced program
addressing a wide range of critical topics focused
on the ultra-luxury travel market.
Featured speakers included:
John McMahon, Questex Travel Group executive
vice president, and Ruthanne Terrero, Questex
Travel Group vice president content and editorial
director, presented the companys third-annual
survey of travel advisors attending ULTRA.
All advisors surveyed said they expect their
businesses to grow next year by as much as 25
percent or more.
Larry Pimentel, president and chief executive
officer, Azamara Club Cruises, shared insights on
luxury travel gleaned from a Boston Consulting
Group study commissioned by Azamaras

parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.,

which underscored luxury consumers need for
exclusivity; localized, authentic experiences; and
human connection.
Peter Yesawich, vice chairman of MMGY Global,
presented highlights from his firms proprietary
research The Portrait of American Travelers,
which found a resurgence of interest on the part of
travelers in using professional travel counselors,
notably including millennials, and a concurrent
move away from reliance on online travel agencies.
Caitlin Domke, brand strategist at NewsCred,
urged the audience to get in the game with
social media and begin building relationships with
existing and prospective clients through digital
content and storytelling; stop attempting to buy
relationships through traditional advertising,
she said.
J.D. Andrews, an Emmy award-winning
photographer, speaker and social media expert,
reinforced the social media call to action, noting
that 93 percent of a shoppers buyer decision is
influenced by social media and consumers trust
companies that are on social media more than
they do those that are absent.
General managers at top luxury hotels talked
about consumer travel trends, with a focus on
millennial and family travel, while travel advisors
shared their perspectives on the new luxury
customers lodging expectations. Panelists
included Hermann Elger, general manager, The St.
Regis New York; Thomas Steinhauer, regional vice
president and general manager, Four Seasons
Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort; and
Jim McPartlin, managing director of the Loews
Regency Hotel, Loews Hotels & Resorts flagship
property in New York City.

THE ULTRA LUXURY ROAD MAP

ohn McMahon, Questex Travel Group

executive vice president, and Ruthanne
Terrero, Questex Travel Group vice president
content and editorial director, presented the
companys third annual survey of travel advisors
attending ULTRA. The survey was designed to gain
a more thorough understanding of advisor needs
and aspirations as well as the direction of the ultraluxury travel business. Of 42 advisors solicited, 25
participated.
The survey, conducted April 22 to May 6,
consisted of 24 questions, both multiple-choice
and open-ended. The objective of the multiplechoice questions was to establish a common
baseline of responses for comparison purposes.
The open-ended questions were designed to allow
room for more free-form responses.

A LOOK INSIDE ADVISOR BUSINESSES

Terrero took attendees through the results of the
survey, beginning by indicating that the largest
of the consortia affiliations was Virtuoso at 43.3
percent. Italy marked the largest of the top five
destinations sold by attending travel advisors at 28
percent, followed by Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico
and Asia, in that order.
Segments ranked by importance were: individual
leisure, family groups, social groups, individual
corporate, incentive travel and meetings. So heres
what your business is about, she said. Individual
leisure is no surprise. Family groups are the new
group travel. When suppliers talk to me now about
group travel, I think of the good old-fashioned
group travel that we all know from many years ago.
But really, they are talking about multigenerational
travel. They are talking about destination weddings,
girlfriend getaways, couple getaways.
The top three specialization markets are cruises,
multigenerational travel and adventure travel.

Most advisors indicated they grew by 10 to 20

percent, with a few at 25 percent or more. People
are no longer referring to the fact that were coming
out of recession, Terrero said. Its really done. In
terms of how you expect to grow, six of you say
that your business will increase by more than 25
percent this year and nine say 15 percent. No one
is saying they are not going to grow.
The majority of respondents said they have
more than 200 clients. This shows the scope of
the business thats here, she said. Many of you
are individual advisors with an amazing book of
business, sole proprietors doing your own thing.
And of course, many of you are owners, managers
of some very, very large agencies. But were all
doing the same thing in terms of selling luxury
travel. Our goals are the same.
The average age of respondents clients was 50
to 70 years. Thats the sweet spot, she explained.
The 30-to-50 year olds is a nice showing as well.
We are not getting the 18 to 30 segment the
millennials for the most part.
Advisors said the average cost of their clients
principal vacations is in the $25,000-to-$50,000
range, the same as last years survey. The majority
of respondents indicated that their clients are
spending between 5 and 20 percent more this year.
Agency marketing investment was less than 10
percent for most, followed by 10 to 15 percent.

THE WORLD VIEW

Terrero noted that affluent travelers are very
sophisticated people who are not easily scared
away by everything you hear on the news.
However, terrorism is starting to creep into
peoples emotional perspective when they think
about travel. The survey asked advisors which
destinations their clients now avoid. Egypt was the
number-one response. The majority of advisors

Many really large agencies and individual sole proprietors have said their GOAL FOR THE
FUTURE is fewer clients who are generating more revenue,
Ruthanne Terrero, Questex Travel Group Vice President
4

said they hold planning fees if their clients abruptly

cancel.
The research showed that 22 respondents said
they work with suppliers outside of their consortia,
while three do not. Fourteen discourage their
advisors from working with suppliers outside their
consortia and 11 do not.
Many really large agencies and individual sole
proprietors have said their goal for the future is
fewer clients who are generating more revenue,
she said. So how do you get to that point? You
have to edit your client list very well and make sure
the clients youre working with are worth your time. I
think its becoming even more and more of an issue.
Thirteen of you in the room are trying to do just this
with your strategy. And heres what youre doing. If
youve got that lower-yield client, give it to a newbie
in the office and let them practice on them.
The research also showed that respondents are
marketing to top revenue-generating clients, asking
for referrals from top clients, firing low-yield clients
and not accepting new low-yield clients.
The next question centered on clients asking their
travel advisor for those same benefits suppliers
are offering to direct bookers. Eleven said their
clients have asked for this, while 14 said they have
not. There always has been this issue of booking
directly and getting certain amenities, Terrero
said. Heres how youre countering that question:
you offer to go into the clients supplier program
account and make the booking for them for a fee;
you ask your BDM to match the offer; or sometimes
youre just simply able to match that offer because
of your network relationships.
The research indicated that in some cases,
advisor respondents also were politely declining
and moving their agencys business away from
those clients who are not in that mindset.

Respondents also indicated they are assessing

their clients worth, in terms of time spent and
the planning fee charged. Overall, advisors are
focusing on clients who value the benefits of
consulting with a professional and not assisting
those who only call for a deal.
When asked to define luxury travel, some
respondents said it is not having to ask for
service because providers already know their
needs and deliver without a request. Others said
luxury travel is built on experiential programs.
Advisors also said their clients want a sense of
place but also the best accommodations, dining
and in-depth guide services.
You said that luxury travel also is the following: a
hassle-free experience where the clients needs are
met from start to finish, recognition from the hotel
in the form of a note or amenity, fulfilling dreams
and aspirations and high quality and service,
she said. It is creating that unique and seamless
experience, making the client feel special, clarifying
and listening to what that persons concept of
luxury is, and not what we believe it is. Luxury
travel is a state of mind defined by the traveler
where expectations are exceeded and the value of
time is maximized.

PREDICTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Asked to predict the future of luxury travel,
respondents said there will be increased interest
in esoteric, hard-to-reach, previously inaccessible
places, and that clients will focus more on rare and
authentic experiences.
Itineraries will focus on the special interests
of demographic segments, adventure travelers,
sustainable eco-conscious travelers, LGBT
travelers, millennials and seniors with and without
partners, Terrero said. Its about being able to
cater to these niches.

When asked to DEFINE LUXURY TRAVEL, some respondents said it IS NOT HAVING
TO ASK for service because providers already know their needs and deliver without a request.
Ruthanne Terrero, Questex Travel Group Vice President
5

Focusing on millennials, she explained they will

grow the moderate luxury segment, overtaking baby
boomers in overall spending. Baby boomers are
expected to grow the segment more than 20 percent
per year for the near future, with longer trips as more
retire and multigenerational travel becomes more
popular.
A lot of luxury supply is coming online, and the
next downturn will see a glut of supply, Terrero said.
The travel industry does operate in cycles, and the
hotel industry is a cyclical business. Oversaturation
in certain markets will drive ADR lower, and fierce
competition among hotels will force differentiation.

Ruthanne Terrero is vice president content

and editorial director of Questex Travel Group,
which includes Luxury Travel Advisor, The
Informed Traveler, Travel Agent magazine and
InternationalMeetingsReview.com as well as a series
of related digital products. She is the founder of Travel
Agent magazines annual 30Under30 program,
developed seven years ago to entice a new generation of
professionals to join the travel industry. Each year, the
program recognizes the rising stars who have chosen to
become travel consultants. Thus far it has profiled more
than 200 young agents. Over that time, the program has
helped to foster a strong community for newcomers to
the field, fueled in large part to Questexs annual Young
Travel Leaders conference. Terrero also is the founding
editorial director of Luxury Travel Advisor magazine,
which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2015. The
publication was recently recognized with two Eddy
Awards from Folio Magazine for its August 2013 issue
and for its profile in that issue of Victoria Boomgarden
of Best Travel Gold. Travel Agent magazine also won an
Eddy for its annual Pink Issue feature in 2013 on Stacey
Fischer of Fischer Travel Enterprises. A native of the New
York City area, Terrero graduated from Oberlin College
in Ohio with a degree in Creative Writing. She lives
on Long Island in New York State and prides herself on
mentoring new editors and writers.

Luxury travel is a state of mind defined by the traveler where expectations are exceeded and the
value of time is maximized.
Ruthanne Terrero, Questex Travel Group Vice President
6

FUTURE-PROOFING YOUR LUXURY BUSINESS

arry Pimentel, president & chief executive

officer of Azamara Club Cruises, shared
insights on luxury travel gleaned from a
Boston Consulting Group study commissioned
by Azamaras parent company, Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd., of which Pimentel also serves as chief
experience officer. The business and complexity
of luxury is changing, and it is about shifting
attitudes, he said.
The BCG study, which spanned 17 countries
and nearly 1,300 personal interviews, focused
on consumers with a minimum $250,000 annual
income and $1 million of liquid assets, excluding
real estate. BCG found there were some 380 million
high-income people worldwide in 2013, and that
group is expected to grow to 440 million in 2020.
They spent $950 billion in 2013 and are expected to
spend more than $1 billion in 2020. Their top three
purchases in 2013 were real estate, automobiles
and travel, the latter representing the largest
growth sector.

LUXURY SHIFTS TO EXPERIENCES

According to the study, where personal goods were
the hallmark of wealth in Old World luxury, todays
luxury is less about things and more about
experiences. Old World luxury might have been
composed of the finest watches, of couture, the
finest Chanel item and the cognac, Pimentel said.
And there was sort of a notion that personal luxury
goods were the hallmark of wealth.
Now high-income consumers are less concerned
about having as they are being, Pimentel said.
Theres been a shift to: Ive got a lot of wealth, Im
in the boomer era, my kids have grown up, Im now
doing different things. Now its about me, my wife,
my travel partner, my friends or traveling solo. For
these consumers, luxury travel must represent a
memorable experience.
Consumers are buying experiential travel, he
said. I get it: I go places, I see things. But what
was the element that got people charged, tuned in,
excited? It indeed was the ability to connect with
human beings. On cruises, oftentimes its guests
meeting guests and enjoying the world together,

Where are high-income consumers

worldwide spending their money?
In 2013 BCG found 380 million high-income
consumers who spent $950 billion worldwide.
Their top three purchases were:

Real Estate
Automobiles
& Travel
Travel being the largest growth sector
Source: The shift of affluent consumer value sets,
Boston Consulting Group.

he said. The reality is, experiences themselves

were defined by human connection. The more
people, the better it is. And the more times they
can get together, the better it is. This notion of
experience and together is very, very powerful.
Thats where the millennials are participating with
mom and dad, grandma and grandpa. Theyre
doing it, and by the way theyre all influencing each
other in a very, very big way.
The BCG study illustrated the importance of
experiential travel from the perspective of children
visiting Walt Disney World. For young girls,
princess dinners are off the charts in popularity
because the experience is so unique. The girls feel
special and important, and as a result, want to
repeat the experience. Visiting the park is exciting
enough, but dining in the presence of Disney
royalty, thats experiential.
Pimentel cautioned the audience not judge luxury
experiential travel based on traditional measures. In
the cruise line industry, the most expensive space
on a per-unit basis is on exploration ships, which
are more than two decades old and are noted for
small bathrooms and mediocre views and interiors.
7

But they happen to be going to the Galapagos,

he said. They happen to be seeing that turtle
thats 3-4-500 hundred years old. They happen
to be seeing a bird that has a wingspan of six
feet thats laughing at you. Those passengers
want experiences and are willing to pay top dollar
for once-in-a-lifetime experiences, even on old
exploration ships. Moreover, he said, exploration
cruises are projected to grow prolifically.
He cited adventure travel as an opportunity,
noting smaller tour companies that have become
global, like Backroads. Boomers want soft
adventures and millennials want more active
adventures, he said. So they both want
adventure, but its somewhere between the
bookends. And thats part of what we have to
figure out in the consulting process.
He cautioned advisors not to pigeon-hole
products just because they like them or to
promote products they have not visited in many
years, saying it may be one of the biggest
indicators of losing a client. For example, a
luxury travel advisor may be quick to provide the
name of The Peninsula in Hong Kong to visitors.
While its a fantastic property, there are about
four or five other properties that actually outscore it. Youre actually losing clients because
they are crowdsourcing before they talk to you.
And thats why weve got to plug in. Weve got to
plug in more.
Pimentel said experiential travel is recognized as
being more expensive but worth it, adding that
the phrase Let me tell you why its worth it is very
powerful verbiage, particular for travel advisors.
All of our experiences, whatever they may be,
are part of who we are, he said. The experience
we have on that wonderful holiday during our
honeymoon is priceless and not forgettable.
(BCG) actually quantified the fact that people

said experiences at the end of the day were more

precious (than buying things), and the boomer
understood that greater than almost anyone.

EXCLUSIVITY AND LOCALIZATION

Next in importance to experience for luxury
travelers is exclusivity and a concept called
localization. The ability for you, as travel
professionals, to connect people by localizing
experiences is a key ingredient of the buy,
Pimentel said. The research cited consumers
who enjoy wandering into cafes and seeing local
residents. Even if they cannot read the menu,
those travelers consider that experience to be
absolutely special.
When it comes to exclusivity, there seemingly
is no end to the extent luxury travelers will go.
Travelers can rent the Sistine Chapel at the
Vatican to baptize a child. A world-famous chef
charged $10,000 for a cooking class that sold
out within minutes. So when you think of it as
localized, people want to eat together, they want
to drink together, Pimentel said. They want
to see the sights. They want to understand the
culture. And its not about the sightseeing bus
tour. Its about connecting that to desires they
have. The millennial is relentless about this. So
indeed is the boomer.

CHINA IS DIFFERENT
While experiences play a large factor stateside,
luxury products still rule in China. The countrys
growth is unprecedented, Pimentel said, with
consumption of personal luxury goods more
prevalent than experiences. Gucci, in an effort
to lure the Chinese buyer, launched an exclusive
collection of handbags to mark the Chinese Lunar
New Year celebrations. Its limited run Year of the
Horse bag, priced at roughly $10,000 a unit, sold
in about 41 minutes, he said.

Now high-income consumers are LESS CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING

as they are being.
Larry Pimentel, President & Chief Executive Officer of Azamara Club Cruises
8

BCG research also revealed that the least

expensive place in the world to buy luxury is
the United States. It is no longer Asia. It is
here indeed because the Asians themselves
want western world products, and those are the
products that we largely buy, he said.

BOOMERS SPEND THE MOST

The research examined four different categories
of travelers: super seniors, defined as 69 years
old and above; baby boomers, ages 50 to 68;
Generation X, ages 33 to 49; and millennials, ages
22 to 32.
While it is true that millennials are slightly
above the boomers in physical number, make
no mistake, boomers spend the most amount
of money, Pimentel said. While boomers
still represent a revenue sweet spot for travel
advisors, statistically, we know the millennials
were lucky because their parents took them
places, showed them things. Its in their DNA,
and they are not going to stop. They are going to
continue to travel in a big way. So five years, 10
years, 15 years down the line, you will find that to
be very significant.

LUXURY CONSUMERS ARENT LOYAL

As a veteran cruise industry leader, Pimentel said
he was shocked that the BCG research showed
luxury consumers are not loyal to any single
cruise line or travel provider. In fact, 82 percent
of those surveyed could not name the numberone provider in any given category. Resistant
to loyalty programs and advertising, luxury
consumers prefer to make decisions on the basis
of crowdsourcing: listening to what others say
and think.
Consumers are loyal to that organization that
connects them with localized, experiential travel

thats exclusive, he said. Thats the key. And it

has to have human connection.

ADVISORS NEED TO SPECIALIZE

Pimentel said travel advisors who become
specialists will survive in a world where more
and more consumers prefer to shop online. BCG
predicts consumers will be using 50 billion mobile
devices by 2020 for a myriad of tasks, including
shopping. Specialization is going to become more
important every day, every year, every week, he
said. Special desires go to a specialist, and the
data was pretty clear about that.
This audience wants solid advice, he said. You
have to be an expert at something, not everything.
Luxury consumers are prepared to pay premiums
for travel booked by advisors who get their
arms around very, very specific topics, he said.
The more you do that, the more you talk about
localized, exclusive travel; the more you talk about
experiential travel, the better off you will be. Theres
a world of opportunity, and its gigantic.

THE BURGEONING DIGITAL SPACE

According to BCG, television and radio 10 years
ago topped the list of media channels influencing
luxury spend. No longer. Updated research shows
that consumers mostly learn about luxury via digital
channels and word of mouth. The Internet accounted
for 47 percent of those surveyed, followed by word of
mouth at 40 percent, with television and radio falling
to the bottom of the list. Expert recommendations
accounted for 20 percent and travel advisors for
14 percent. And shoppers, particularly millennials,
expect the agent community to be online whenever
they are be it a holiday or 2 a.m.
Digital space is so significant that for the first time
last year, people based their top luxury purchase
decision on online search. That is not only going

BCG research also revealed that the LEAST EXPENSIVE PLACE IN THE WORLD TO
BUY LUXURY is the United States. It is NO LONGER ASIA.
Larry Pimentel, President & Chief Executive Officer of Azamara Club Cruises
9

media. Forget about what you dont know,

he said. Why limit yourself? The power of our
potential has to do with our drive, our focus and
where we want to go. Dont be fearful of it. Give it a
shot. Weve all got that capability.

47%
Influenced by the Internet

40%
Influenced by Word of Mouth

20%
Influenced by Expert Recomendations

14%
Influenced by the Travel Advisors
Source: The shift of affluent consumer value sets,
Boston Consulting Group.

to continue, he said, but increase, calling out the

ubiquity of websites such as TripAdvisor and Yelp,
which publish crowd-sourced reviews. Reviews
from customers online are a very, very material
issue, he said, likening Yelp to movie critics Siskel
and Eberts thumbs up, thumbs down review
system, now just done online. Consumers are
adding to the space and its creating a certain
amount of disintermediation, he said.
Despite the digital revolution, many companies
have been slow to adopt to social media platforms.
The most fascinating part of it is that 31 percent
of the worlds luxury providers are not even in this
space today, and most of those who are dont do
it very well, he said. What they think is, I get a
millennial, and Im in the game. Its a little bit more
complicated than just getting somebody whos
age-related.

10

Pimentel encouraged advisors to try to

understand the digital space and embrace social

He cited on-demand taxi app Uber and home

lodging rental site Airbnb as signs of the times.
Uber, which has become an urban phenomenon,
connects consumers with drivers in minutes.
People are using their phones, and theyre getting
taxis, said Pimentel. Who would have ever
thought that you would jump in a taxi that wasnt
licensed by anybody? They want my business. I
get to rate them while theyre rating me. What an
interesting concept. Airbnb allows travelers to live
like a local he said, by connecting them to unique
travel experiences and providing a platform to
rent their spare rooms and homes online or from a
mobile phone or tablet.
Pimentel said all the data points to the enormity
of the digital space, adding: Its growing. Its
changing. And its evolving. You have the largestgrowing in photo app and videography today. You
have Facebook. You have Twitter. Put all these
together, and you have hundreds of millions of
people sharing data.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Ruthanne Terrero, Questex Travel Group vice
president content and editorial director, opened
the question-and-answer session by asking
Pimentel if he was surprised that baby boomers
are looking for experiential travel, adding: I dont
think baby boomers we didnt grow up that
way so, we didnt grow up kind of seeking out
necessarily other people when we travel. But now it
seems to have become a trend. Im not sure if thats
just my perception.
Pimentel said the BCG study indicates baby
boom parents are being influenced by their
childrens way of doing things. As a result, boomers
are having experiences their kids are excited
about, and theyre doing it together, he said,
adding: And as opposed to just saying, were
going to Amsterdam, lets check it out and take
the bus tour. Thats sort of not where its at. But,

Wheres the coolest place that people within that

country eat? Where can you go in Hong Kong to
get dim sum like a local? Rather than the one, two
or three-star Michelin restaurant that maybe their
parents or grandparents did if they had affluency,
now theyre looking for the local sort of flavor, the
local designer. The millennials dont quite have
the money of their parents, so they are doing a lot
of walking, hiking, connecting in all sorts of ways.
Thats through bars; thats through restaurants;
thats through events that are happening. Global.
And all of them have a common element. Its called
just human enrichment.
Pimentel recommended the blog Why People
Travel by Pico Iyerr. It is an amazing piece that
I think will help sellers and marketers because he
was intuitive philosophically, he said. (The blog
can be accessed at http://picoiyerjourneys.com.)

TO ADVERTISE, OR NOT
Helene Singer of Singer Travel was surprised that
television advertising was rated so low on the chart,
when companies like Viking Cruise Lines are so
heavily promoted on television and generate much
consumer interest.
Pimentel replied that Viking has done an
excellent job with advertising, adding: But make
no mistake, theyre multichanneled with a very
robust social media platform and very big directmail content list. But I will tell you, if I had it to
own, I wouldnt own the television stuff. Id own
the Internet stuff. Id own the viral stuff. Id own
the YouTube stuff. All of those mediums are doing
nothing but expanding prolifically. Its shocking,
how big they really are.
Mary Ann Ramsey of Betty Maclean Travel asked
whether more consumers make decisions based
on print ads or stories.
Pimentel replied that stories generated by public
relations efforts are more important than any ad,
any day of the week, at least for baby boomers.
Millennials, meanwhile, dont rely on magazines
or print ads. Instead, they look online for reviews.
They tend to crowdsource, meaning they want to
gather data from other travelers to find out if its a

thumbs up or thumbs down, he said. I will tell you

even as a traveler at this point my kids have taught
me how to do that. Even if I go local, and I have not
been there, Im checking stuff out online, and I can
do it pretty much as I get there. And I think that will
continue to be.
Social media, meanwhile, serves as a validating
mechanism, he said, adding that this is a big
opportunity that travel purveyors are not currently
getting their arms around. Consumers who book
through travel advisors nevertheless check the
Internet six times, he said. So theyre already
going there. You can get in that game and be there.
And I think its important that you consider it.

GEN-XERS AND DIGITAL CONTENT

Ken Neibaur of Cardoza-Bungey asked about Gen
Xers: We keep skipping from millennial to baby
boomers like they dont exist. Are they substantial
in terms of luxury consumption, and where are they
going to be when all the baby boomers move on?
Pimentel responded that Gen Xers are
considered to be the best spenders of the whole
group, but a much smaller group. Researchers
view them as consumers who are very vocal,
especially when things dont go well. They are
viewed as a very valuable client base, but it is a
generation that sort of got right in the middle of the
digital era coming up, said Pimentel.
Joshua Bush at Park Avenue Travel asked if
there were any findings about the efficacy of
digital content marketing and how it related to the
different constituencies.
I will tell you that content is everything, period,
Pimentel said. I mean, everything. Even into
boomers. And by the way, the grandparents
want to communicate with their grandkids and
are learning how to use this space. Theres this
huge, 50-plus growth in social, so content is
everything. So, for example, even the hashtagging
and things that people do. Grandparents want
to communicate with their grandkids and are
learning how to use this space.
Pimentel stressed the importance of
visualization, saying: Get them to be enticed
11

Who are you going to listen to?

The average customer

will pay 22 percent more to
go to somebody
for identically the same
item because he or she
knows what the heck
theyre talking
about.

22%

with visualization. Video and videography

are going to increase. Think of our phones.
Everybody can click on most phones now and
videos are there. People can put up a video and
they are shooting some pretty cool stuff. They
are becoming in many ways the photojournalists
of the world.

PAYMENT TECHNOLOGY AND MILLENNIALS

Alyse Cori at Travelwize asked about spending
practices and security, especially given the debut
of payment technology including Apple Pay,
saying: Are they spending? Are they using their
devices? What about security and being hacked?

12

Pimentel said the BCG study showed

consumers wanted to make it easy, adding:
Pick, click in the box and done. So theyre
quite happy, and theyre loading up their credit
cards on almost any site today. Recognizing
the potential risks, consumers are looking
at crowdsourcing to see if companies are
real and reputable. While millennials appear
to be the most comfortable with payment
technology, boomers also are paying online, he
said, adding: Theyre getting more and more
accustomed to it. Its well over half the market
at this point.

Given the influence of millennials on their

parents travel plans, Ruthanne Terrero of Questex
Travel Group asked Pimentel whether travel
advisors should be reaching out to them now.
I think you should be reaching out to everyone,
and you will get them in the process because they
are playing in the space more, Pimentel said.
Not only are they influencers, their parents are
still providing them money in many cases. Their
trips are interesting, and all of their vacations are
really active and involved. Websites are powerful,
he added, but Dont bore them with type. Excite
them with photography and videography.
Terrero followed up with a question about
crowdsourcing: How can everyone in this room
deal with crowdsourcing? These are the experts,
the specialists, but consumers are going online
and getting strangers opinions about where they
should go and what they should do.
Pimentel advised becoming part of the
conversations by picking a simple medium
like Twitter or Instagram and relaying personal
travel anecdotes or posting dynamic photos.
Begin to post things, he said. Begin to give
your ideas about that unique restaurant you
found, that wonderful bottle of wine you saw. Try
to experientially jump into it because social, by
definition, is in fact experiential. It really is.
Ruth Turpin of Cruises, Etc., who described
her organization as old fashioned in the way it
markets and gets business, said she has been
very successful by using just Facebook. What
other media should we try? she asked.
Pimentel responded that while Facebook,
statistically, is still the largest medium today, its
not the largest growth sector. He said Instagram
is growing faster because its based on photos,
adding: If I were going from Facebook, the very
first thing Id jump to would either be Instagram or
Twitter, which is easy and forces you to distill your
writing to 140 characters. It actually teaches you
to be a better writer. He also suggested having
more than one Twitter account, because people
have different interests. Turpin quipped that she
would hire her grandson.

HOW DO GENERALISTS BECOME SPECIALISTS?

John McMahon, Questex Travel Group executive
vice president, asked Pimentel to elaborate about
his specialization comments, specifically how they
can make the turn from generalist to specialist.
If you define yourself as a full-service or African
specialist, and the (client is planning a trip) to
Africa, the data is very clear: The client will choose
an African specialist over a generalist, he said. So
show the specialization, either by agency or by
agent, so people feel like theyve got a specialist.
You go to a large law firm, there are lawyers who
deal with labor practice, there are lawyers who
deal on estate planning, lawyers who deal on
different topics. Even in the accountancy world,
there are people who are generalists and there are
people who are specialists.
The consumer wants the person who can
tell them the most, Pimentel said. If their travel
advisor cant answer the question, todays clients
simply will call their destinations directly and speak
with the hotel concierge or anyone else who can
help them. They get an answer instantly, he said.
Why? That persons on site. And with todays
telephone, Facetime and everything else, the costs
arent as expensive as they once were. Its not too
complicated to get a quick answer. Theyre doing
that today.

EDUCATING THE MARKET ABOUT

TRAVEL ADVISORS
Alyse Cori at Travelwize commented on the need
to educate the luxury market that advisors exist,
saying: Ive had some millennials say they didnt
even know travel agents existed. They have no clue
who we are, what we are, what we do; and I think
thats the biggest downfall in our industry not
letting people know we exist and what our
services are.
You have to make people aware of what you
do, said Pimentel, adding that 80 percent of

the universe doesnt have a travel agent. He

encouraged advisors to edit their profiles on social
media platforms to reflect their expertise. I say
theres a huge opportunity there, he said. Plug
in and tell them what you can do and what you are
about but you cant be all things to all people.
That generalized focus is the very thing that
doesnt get them on track.
Given that many consumers think travel advisors
no longer are in business, Terrero also advised
having an elevator pitch prepared when
somebody asks what you do; something succinct
to draw people in, instead of them assuming that
youre not around anymore.

TRAVEL ADVISORS NEED TO TRAVEL, TOO

Jill Taylor of Jetset World Travel, which
specializes in destination, special-occasion and
multigenerational travel, asked, How important
is it for the travel consultant to actually get out
and travel? Pimentel said travelers are looking
for expertise, adding that reading isnt enough.
Whats going to cut it is youve been there, he
said. Youve seen it, youve touched it. Theres
nothing more powerful. This creates a more
confident seller.
Hope Smith at Born to Travel, which specializes
in adventure travel, went on a recent trip to
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as a
client, not as a travel advisor. I think that as an
agent we have to sometimes go to a particular
destination as a client to see how other people
are looking at it so that we are better able to sell
that destination, she said. I know its difficult
to do, but I have always sold adventure travel,
and adventure means a lot of different things to
different people the same as luxury.
Pimentel wrapped up his comments with a call
for travel advisors to get out more and get paid
more. Travel advisors should charge clients for
their services, he said. The data says they will

DONT BORE THEM with type. EXCITE THEM with photography and videography.
Larry Pimentel, President & Chief Executive Officer of Azamara Club Cruises

13

pay for expertise. The data actually quantifies it

and says that the average customer will pay 22
percent more to go to somebody for identically the
same item because he or she knows what the heck
theyre talking about.
When I see that, Im very encouraged. It says
there is a future to this, but, again, its not a future
in the transaction business. Its a future in going
back to what the original agent was about. When
Thomas Cook first put up Venice as a selling item
- if you read anything about it - he talked about a
community that had roads that were made out of
water. He described it. People were enticed by it.
So what do you do? Youre a value interpreter. You
interpret value in the world. And sometimes you
need to be saying, I want you to spend more. I can
get you something significantly better. Dont be
fearful of that. Go right into that. The data actually
shows they embrace it if you know what you are
talking about.

Larry Pimentel, president & chief executive officer of

Azamara Club Cruises, is a high-profile, international
travel and tourism industry figure who is widely known
for his acumen in marketing upscale travel products. His
unique body of knowledge on the subject complements his
exceptional skills as a forceful and compelling educator,
speaker, writer and frequent lecturer. Pimentel has a
well-earned reputation as one of the foremost experts
on the topic of selling and marketing to discriminating
travelers. Prior to joining Azamara Club Cruises in
January 2010, he was president, chief executive officer
and co-Owner of SeaDream Yacht Club from 2001 to
2009; president & chief executive officer of Cunard Line
and Seabourn Cruise Line from 1992 to 2001; and
president & chief executive officer of Classic Hawaii, a
tour-operating company, from 1983 to 1992. Pimentel
and his wife, Sandi, live in Key Biscayne, Florida, and
have five children.

14

THE AFFLUENT TRAVELER: MYTHS, MOTIVATIONS AND

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

n the introduction to his presentation, Peter

Yesawich, vice chairman of MMGY Global,
promised to share key insights into the mind of
the affluent consumer, sharing what it is we know
about the affluent traveler and some of the trend
lines weve been watching.

According to Yesawich, the enviable one percent

has an average annual income of $400,000. They
have a net worth, inclusive of their real estate, of just
under $8 million. They also collectively have more
wealth than the bottom 90 percent of the other 123
million households in the country.

He began by describing the difference between

the terms affluence and luxury, then indicated
he would detail how to define the affluent market
including observations about their social values,
how they perceive themselves and how they think
about travel.

These are individuals who live kind of in that

rarified world of income and net worth, he said.
As a result, as you might surmise, their lifestyles,
their habits, their social values and so forth are
distinctively different than they are for this next
crowd, which Im calling, the doing-very-well10-percent. This 10 percent has a base annual
income of $150,000, and an average net worth of
$3.3 million. Collectively they control about three
quarters of the wealth in the United States.

A combination of income and net worth is used

to classify affluence. A millionaire in the United
States is not someone who makes a million dollars
in current income, its an individual who has an
excess of a million dollars in net worth, specifically
investable net worth.
Yesawich noted there are 123 million households
in America totaling 318 million people. Those with
a household income of $150,000 or more equated
to the top 10 percent of U.S. households in 2014,
he said. If we put the bar up to the top 2 percent,
the current income is about $380,000, and the top
1 percent is roughly about $400,000.

WEALTH IN AMERICA
Next, Yesawich posed the following question:
Excluding a primary residence from the equation,
how many of the roughly 120 million households
would fall in that millionaire bucket? The answer is
there are about 10 million millionaire households in
the United States today. A way to think about that
is essentially its one out of every 20 households in
America today has investable assets of roughly $1
million, he said. That number is far greater than
the number of millionaire households in China.

Yesawich said those with more discretionary

income are likely to be frequent travelers who
are impulsive and spend significant amounts
of money. About one out of 20 households in
the United States has more than $1 million in
investable assets, with the highest concentration
being households in Maryland, New Jersey,
Connecticut and Hawaii. In Maryland, 7.7 percent
of households have more than $1 million worth of
investable assets; the highest percentage in the
nation, California, has almost 800,000 millionaire
households, defined as those with an investable
portfolio in excess of $1 million.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

The first principle that we think about as marketers
is a fundamental one that has driven a lot of
demand for travel marketing for years, and it goes
like this: follow the money, Yesawich said.
The term affluent is not limited to the enviable
1 percent. The affluent market in travel is defined

MMGYs research indicates that 63 PERCENT OF AMERICANS ARE OPTIMISTIC

about the future of their jobs, up significantly from the last four years. This indicator is highly
predictive of demand for travel.
Peter Yesawich, Vice Chairman of MMGY Global
15

as households with an annual income of $385,000

on average. Members of this group roughly the
top 1.5 percent defined by current income, have an
average net worth slightly over $1 million and drive
the overwhelming majority of demand for travelrelated products and services.
In 2007, Yesawichs organization invested in
a predictive tool that would survey consumers
regarding future travel. MMGY asked about
interest in travel, time available to travel and the
affordability of travel, among other questions, and
calculated what they call the Travelers Sentiment
Index, or TSI, published every 90 days.
He noted there is a correlation between the TSI
and the index of consumer confidence. Theres
about a nine-month lag, as consumer confidence
will change before the TSI will because thats when
it settles into purchase behavior, he said. The
TSI was able to predict the beginning of the Great
Recession. And the same tool showed an increase
in early 2009, he said. What happened in the
travel business in the first two quarters of 2009 that
would somehow produce this effect? If you dial
back the clock and think what marketing strategy
was embraced by every travel service provider at
the time, the answer is discounting.
Travel professionals relied on discounting
techniques to stay afloat as demand eroded at a
rapid rate. The one way to preserve the demand
that was left in the market was to offer good deals,
Yesawich said. From 2011 to early 2015, the TSI
tool indicated a return to 2007s pre-Recession
highs, and there is nothing on the horizon from the
standpoint of either economic activity or consumer

sentiment that would suggest 2016 and 2017 will

not be successful, with the exception of a global
disaster.

INTENDED TRAVEL
On the positive side, the forecast is incredibly
positive and incredibly robust, he said. He noted
that two-thirds of American adults are planning at
least one vacation in the next six months, a positive
indicator of demand.
MMGYs research indicates that 63 percent of
Americans are optimistic about the future of their
jobs, up significantly from the last four years. This
indicator is highly predictive of demand for travel,
he said, adding: If you feel comfortable about the
future of your employment, that activates all kind
of spending habits, particularly of a discretionary
nature. And if your sentiment toward your future
employment begins to decline, and you become
more anxious, that alters dramatically the way
you think about how you use your leisure time
and, importantly, how you use your discretionary
money.
Given the outlook for travel is on the rise, travel
providers are ready to charge more, as are
suppliers, and consumers are prepared to pay
more, Yesawich said.
The next big challenge for travel providers
is meeting consumer demand for more
personalization, he said. Thats where the next
great fortune is going to be made in the travel
business. Its not going to be the discovery of a
new destination or a better cruise ship or a better
way to book. Its going to be the ability to go ahead

Thats where the NEXT GREAT FORTUNE is going to be made in the travel business. Its not
going to be the discovery of a new destination or a better cruise ship or a better way to book. Its
GOING TO BE THE ABILITY TO GO AHEAD AND CUSTOMIZE THE DELIVERY
OF EXPERIENCES through the use of technology to personalize those kind
of travel experiences for which you will be able to charge a premium and for which
your clients will gladly pay.
Peter Yesawich, Vice Chairman of MMGY Global
16

and customize the delivery of experiences through

the use of technology to personalize those kind
of travel experiences for which you will be able to
charge a premium and for which your clients will
gladly pay.

THE LONG VIEW: THE PORTRAIT OF AMERICAN

TRAVELERS
Yesawichs firm has conducted an annual research
study for the last 25 years called the Portrait of
American Travelers, a comprehensive analysis of
emerging Americans travel habits, preferences
and intentions. Once a year, the firm surveys 2,800
households with an average income of $418,000 a
year. This is the sweet spot for thedoing-prettywell-10-percent, he said.
Nationwide, some 78 million people are classified
as boomers, but the millennial market is actually
slightly larger, which Yesawich said demonstrated
the necessity of paying close attention to that
market. He cautioned that the boomer market is
still powerful and important and should not be
overlooked, but travel professionals will need to be
thinking about the millennials, who are right behind
them.
The Portrait of American Travelers study reveals
that 24 percent of millennials say they are planning
more trips and 14 percent fewer. This group is
very positive and optimistic about their future, and
their travel intentions far exceed those of the older
generational groups in terms of the sheer number
of trips that they plan to take.
In his description of millennials, Yesawich said
they value unique experiences and access to the
otherwise inaccessible, adding: Theres a drive for
novelty in all that they do, certainly when it comes
to their leisure travel behavior. Six out of 10 agree
with this statement: taking a vacation is the event
to which I look forward most each year.

Millennials also cite relaxation as the numberone motivation for a trip. In fact, relaxation is
the highest measured interest in that particular
dimension across all generational groups.
Yesawich attributed this to the dynamics of the
millennial lifestyle, which he characterized as
completely wired.
In the doing-pretty-well-10-percent, Yesawich
noted that although 80 percent are employed and
entitled to 29 days of vacation, they take 20 days
on average. This is significant because it impacts
the length of trips they take, he said. One of the
things weve observed over the last several years
is that vacations are, in fact, getting shorter. And
whats interesting is the typical adult in America
will take four leisure vacation trips this year and we
discovered that about one half of all the vacations
taken by Americans are going to be four nights or
less tied to a Saturday. This is supported by the
cruise business, which in general is seeing demand
for their three- and four-day trips.
In the hotel industry, the busiest night in
America is Saturday night, which aligns with an
increased desire for snackable vacations, or brief
experiences of 36 to 48 hours. Its not the money,
its the time that gets in the way, he said.
Continuing to look further at the affluent 10
percent, he notes four growing vacation types:
general sightseeing, cruising, theme park vacations
and ski and wine tasting. In terms of intended
travel, 20 percent of this group took a cruise at
least once last year. The intention is expressed,
however, among 30 percent, he said. That
10-point spread translates into millions and millions
of dollars of revenue.
Yesawich then detailed the most desirable
vacation attributes among the 10 percent, the first
being relaxation. If that doesnt give you a clue as

A typical adult in America will take four leisure vacation trips this year and we discovered that
about ONE HALF OF ALL THE VACATIONS taken by Americans are going to be FOUR
NIGHTS OR LESS tied to a Saturday.
Peter Yesawich, Vice Chairman of MMGY Global
17

The Digital Elite

Represents four out of 10

affluent travelers.
to how to package a tour, I dont know what does,
he said. People dont want to get over stressed
because theyre leaving that behind.
Another important vacation attribute is the desire
to experience different cultures and what otherwise
would be inaccessible. The more education you
have as an individual, the higher the probability is
that you would fall in that bucket of having investable
assets greater than $1 million and the higher the
probability that youre going to be interested in these
kinds of vacation experiences, he said.
Yesawich also noted that the members of this
group value their privacy and are not interested in
a purely social experience or meeting new people.
Given 90 percent of them possess a valid passport,
the number-one regional destination of interest to
them is Western Europe, with Italy the top travel

pick. The Caribbean is number two. In the general

population, interest in the Caribbean now tops
Western Europe, he said. Over the last five to
seven years, weve seen a surge of interest on
the part of all travelers, not just affluent travelers,
in visiting the Caribbean. I think a lot of that has
to do with the product, its affordability, its ease
of access you can get a three- and four-night
vacation there and have a lot of fun. It kind of
meets all of the criteria when you think about how
you might craft a future product.
In terms of dream domestic destinations,
Hawaii has always been number one, not just
for all leisure travelers but certainly for affluent
leisure travelers. Following that, the list becomes
increasingly urban, he said. Once affluent
travelers cross that imaginary line where the kids
have left the household, the educations have
been funded, the mortgages probably paid and
the net worth begins to rise, their travel interests
become more urban. So increasingly what they
want to do is go places like New York City or
San Francisco. And what they want to do is
experiment with their palette. They want to shop.
They want to see some shows. They want more
urban experiences.
Two wine country destinations also are in the
top ten: Napa Valley and Sonoma in California.

MULTIGENERATIONAL TRAVEL
Among all households in America with investable
assets in excess of $1 million, three out of 10 are
grandparents. During the last year, four out of 10
of those took at least one vacation that included
their grandchildren. And in 84 percent of those
trips, the childrens parents came along. The
American population is aging, he said. And as
we continue to age, well have more individuals
that fall in this bucket, which will drive more

INTEREST IN THE CARIBBEAN NOW TOPS WESTERN EUROPE. Over the

last five to seven years, weve seen a surge of interest on the part of all travelers, NOT JUST
AFFLUENT TRAVELERS
18

Peter Yesawich, Vice Chairman of MMGY Global

multigenerational demand. This is a wonderful

opportunity because it is going nowhere but up.
A couple of years ago, MMGY studied the
importance of 25 life events, defined as
something significant like graduation from
college, getting married, a new job and first
communion. MMGY asked 4,000 households
to rank life events considered celebrating
with a vacation. The two dominant life events
to celebrate with a vacation are milestone
anniversaries and birthdays. MMGY found that
celebration vacations were planned much further
in advance than other vacations, and tended to
be longer with more people and more money
spent. The single most important piece of data
you can get on any one of your customers is their
anniversary date or their birth date, he said.
And if you put that in the database, and you
nurture that, Im here to tell you thats money in
the bank.

USE OF TRADITIONAL AGENTS AND

THE NEW FRUGAL
One out of four affluent travelers were found
to be using a traditional agent; three out of 10
said they intend to do so in the future, he said.
We are now beginning to see a resurgence of
interest on the part of travelers who are using
professional travel counselors. And the irony is
the highest rate of growth in the incidence of
usage is among millennials.
Yesawich noted that consumers have embraced
a new purchasing mantra, which he calls the
new frugal. These consumers are not buying
the cheapest products and services, but they
do not want to overpay and are not willing to
compromise quality. Yesawich predicts pricing
transparency is the trend around the corner. It

doesnt matter if youre in the hotel business,

the cruise business or the ski business, he said.
Its right around the corner, driven by consumer
demand that says Im not going to compromise
my quality, but Im not going to overpay.
A little bit of that sense of indulgence is coming
back as the full effects of the Great Recession
continue to dissipate. And increasingly we see that
people say luxury travel is an appropriate reward
for hard work.
MMGY found that 63 percent of people sleep
with their smartphones next to their beds on
vacation, and 55 percent say they enjoy being
treated like a VIP. MMGYs surveyed showed the
affluent 10 percent are prepared to pay a premium
for luxury lodging. He concluded that this should
help travel providers offer premium supplements
for their clients.
Unexplored territory lies in retail opportunities for
luxury travel marketers, Yesawich said. Two-thirds
of those surveyed say they spend more money on
dining out and entertainment while on vacation
than at home while one-third say they frequently
purchase expensive luxury items on vacation.
Yesawich asserted there is an emerging class
of affluent travelers, which he called the digital
elite. These are affluent travelers who own and
use three mobile devices: laptops, smartphones
and tablets. Today they represent about four out
of 10 of affluent travelers. Their travel interests
planning, booking and sharing behavior are
fundamentally different from those who do not fall
in this classification. On vacation they are using
these devices to find restaurants or shops, with the
smartphone being the preferred device. Therefore,
travel providers should ensure their web content is
compatible with mobile devices.

THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF DATA you can get on any one of your
customers is their ANNIVERSARY DATE OR THEIR BIRTH DATE.
And if you put that in the database, and you nurture that, Im here to tell you THATS
MONEY IN THE BANK.
Peter Yesawich, Vice Chairman of MMGY Global
19

Smartphones also are preferred by affluent

travelers for sharing information, photos and
videos about their experiences. The tablet is the
preferred device to compare air and hotel rates
and to then book.
Yesawich identified a shift in where consumers
feel they will get the best price. From a period
of roughly 2007 until about two years ago, every
traveler in America even affluent travelers
felt they could get the best price through an
online travel agency. Today they believe the best
rates are available on the respective brands
own websites. Theyre not suggesting theyre
avoiding the use of conventional travel agents for
this reason; this is simply one data point in the
process of planning and booking, he said. The
new frugal applies.
Thirty-one percent of affluent travelers have
gone to TripAdvisor on at least one occasion
during the last 12 months compared with the
general population of travelers, which has
increased its use of TripAdvisor by 68 percent.
So, as you might surmise, the wealthier you are,
the more likely you are maybe to sample opinions
from friends, relatives, people who have taken the
trip previously as opposed to going online for that
insight, he said.
In his conclusion, Yesawich posed the question:
what do affluent people do more on vacation? He
answered: 52 percent eat more, 47 percent drink
more, 37 percent make love more, 36 percent
sleep more and 27 percent exercise more.
John McMahon, Questex Travel Group executive
vice president, opened the presentation to
audience questions by asking Yesawich to
elaborate on his observation that millennials are
likely to use travel advisors.

I would tell you for two reasons and this is just

speculation: one is theyre less knowledgeable
and initiated, Yesawich said. So if its a travel
experience that is new for them, they are going
to be a little more anxious about that so they
are going to default to someone who has more
knowledge. The other is this thing that we
think is true, but I cant give you a data point to
confirm it. Thats the value they ascribe to time.
And that is, they are more willing to pay a fee
because they put a higher value on the time to
do other things someone to help them through
that than they are to do that themselves. So if
you put those two together, I think those are the
two driving reasons.
Bonnie Sherman of Protravel International asked
whether the MMGY survey differentiated between
river and cruise ships, given the current high
interest in river cruises. Yesawich said the survey
did not differentiate cruise types.
Brenda Klausmann of the Venetian Palazzo
Resort Hotel Casino asked whether more travelers
prefer branded booking because of their best rate
guarantees.
Yesawich attributed the shift to two causes:
One is increasingly if you book on these OTA
sites, you do not get your bennies. Weve actually
asked that question thats a big driver. The
other is, theres this really interesting kind of
residual impression I dont know where it comes
from that the travelers who book on OTAs think
somehow theyre going to be treated in a different
manner, like they are kind of second-class
citizens. Weve all heard stories about they get the
worst rooms in the hotel, they get the worst cabins
on the ship. Now I dont know if any of that is true,
but that seems to hang in the air. What seems to
be the primary driver of that is that a lot of these

SOCIAL MEDIA appears to have the POWER TO DISSUADE, not persuade. The
positive commentary is generally not sufficient to accelerate a transaction. THE NEGATIVE
COMMENTARY IS GENERALLY SUFFICIENT TO DEFER A TRANSACTION.
Peter Yesawich, Vice Chairman of MMGY Global
20

providers have provided the best rate guarantees,

so thats taken away that issue for a lot of
travelers. But I think its really more a question
of are they going to relinquish their benefits, and
thats the driver.

Loyalty is an anachronism in travel, Yesawich

said. Its a fragile idea. And if you didnt believe
that, it is most fragile for millennials because
theyre dilettantes. They like to try something,
move on, try something else. But loyalty used to
be a very powerful driver of transactions probably
up until five, seven years ago. And I think what
burst that bubble was the fact that there are now
so many places to plan and book, so many places
to look for prices.
Nobody is loyal anymore other than to
themselves. And that is that you say, I dont want
to overpay, and if I can get a better deal through
this guy over here, then theyll get my business.
Because I dont want to compromise the quality
of the experience. The strength of these loyalty
programs and I dont know if this is true in the
cruise business, but I can tell you in the lodging
business, in the airline business its a very
fragile idea. It no longer has the power that it
used to have.
Beth Rubin of Select Italy & Select Croatia
followed up by asking about Groupon,
LivingSocial and similar e-commerce discounters.
Thats where that whole loyalty thing the
bottom fell out, she said. And everyones like,
Im going to get a cheap discount if I try this.
Or, like no one has the same massage therapist
anymore. No one has the same hair dresser
because theyre going to take the deal.
Yesawich responded by saying, One way to
puncture any competitors loyalty program is to
offer a better deal. I mean, thats the truth. And
if you can get access to the customers, what
happens is you can generally convert a significant
percentage. Now, you have to be prepared to
do that on business terms that make sense. But
thats a very fragile commodity today.

52%

Eat More

John McMahon followed up by asking about

loyalty programs.

47%

Drink More

Make Love More

37%
36%

Sleep More

27%

Exercise More

10

20

30

40

50

60

I can tell you there are a lot of airlines that are

booking flights today from Orlando to LaGuardia
for people that have platinum level status, and
then JetBlue comes along and, by the way, the
fare they want is $399. And JetBlue comes along
and says we have a $159 fare. And you pay us $15
more and you get an aisle seat, leg room. I can tell
you where that reservation is going to go.
You have to think about how consumers look
at the products: Do they see them as easily
replaceable. For the airline business, it is reality.
Where are they prepared to pay a premium? And the
answer is, primarily for lodging. And thats because
they really do see a difference. Youre going to get a
bigger room, better room, better view.
I think service is, has been and will always
remain critically important. The question is, how
do you charge for service? Thats the question.
And I think, increasingly, what youre going to

21

discover, and I think the travel industry, certainly

your industry, discovered this years ago, and that is
to carve out the value of your time and charge a fee
for that. Dont tie that to the cost of the experience
itself. People get that. And theyre prepared to pay
for that if service is important to them. And we
know that it certainly is - certainly for these more
affluent travelers. So its a way of packaging and
delivering that.
Klausmann asked Yesawich whether loyalty is
different for the affluent versus the non-affluent,
because Im very loyal, and maybe Im just a
sucker. I pay more for my preferred airline. I dont
care. I pay more for my preferred hotel. I dont
care. These are the things that I want, and so I
remain loyal because of the bennies.
Youre not alone, Yesawich said. There are
many of you out there. I will tell you though, as
a percentage of all of those out there, youre
increasingly smaller. And thats the truth. Its
not to say that its all or nothing, so please dont
misinterpret that. Its just to say its more or
less. And so the question is there will always be
individuals who are responsive to that. I will tell you
that one of the myths and I guess I should use
that word because that was part of the title of this
presentation one of the myths is that this crowd is
incessantly loyal. Theyre not.
Theres a reason why they made all that money,
as I like to say. If youre in that lofty space, youre
far more likely to have multiple computing devices,
you saw that. To have a stockbroker, to have a
travel agent, to have an estate plan - youre smart.
So as a result of that, you can scan all this stuff and
say, hmmm, is that cruise really worth $12,500 a
person? I bet I can get a better deal. Now, I dont
want to go on a different ship, a different itinerary
- thats what I want. I just want to make sure that
Im not going to overpay for that. And if I see that
theres a competitor that can provide an experience
of comparable quality that might appear to be a
deal that is attractive, that might be sufficient too.
Yesawich took this opportunity to address social
media, saying: I will tell you two things. One is I
absolutely agree with Larry that we havent figured
22

it out. And anybody that stands up here and says

we got it figured out, beware. Nobodys figured it
out because its changing that rapidly. I will also
tell you that what weve been trying to figure out
is whether or not it has the power to influence
choice. And the answer is it does not appear to
have that right now. In fact, it appears to have
the power to dissuade, not persuade. So what
that means is people go into TripAdvisor or they
go into a community blog or whatever, and the
positive commentary is generally not sufficient to
accelerate a transaction. The negative commentary
is generally sufficient to defer a transaction. And
thats what were learning. Now, we dont know
if thats going to continue, but the reality is thats
kind of the headline.

Peter Yesawich is vice chairman of MMGY Global,

Americas leading marketing services firm specializing
in serving travel, leisure and entertainment industry
clients. MMGY Global, headquartered in Kansas City,
Missouri, is a leading source of insights on emerging
travel habits, preferences and intentions of Americans.
MMGY Global conducts a study at the beginning of
each year entitled Portrait of American Travelers, which
tracks shifts in consumer sentiment, makes predictions
about the future and poses questions about contemporary
interests. With more than 30 years of experience in
marketing and travel services, Yesawich is regarded as one
of the most respected and insightful sources on the habits
and preferences of American travelers. He is a frequent
commentator on travel trends in publications such as
The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street
Journal, USA Today, Time, Newsweek and Business
Week. He has been featured on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC,
BBC World and National Public Radio. Yesawich leads
all of MMGYs efforts in consumer insights. He received
three degrees from Cornell University, Ithaca, NewYork,
including a doctorate in applied psychology, and is a
graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Yale
University, New Haven, Connecticut. Yesawich is the
recipient of the World Travel Award from the American
Association of Travel Editors, The Albert E. Koehl Award
from the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association
International (HSMAI) and the Silver Medal from the
American Advertising Federation.

BEST PRACTICES IN CONTENT MARKETING FOR THE TRAVEL

INDUSTRY: HOW TO CREATE CONTENT TRAVELERS LOVE

aitlin Domke, brand strategist for

NewsCred, a content management and
syndication service, discussed the whats
and whys of content marketing and provided
examples of who is using content effectively in the
travel industry.
Domke told the audience she moved into the
field after working at several print and digital
publications, including The Atlantic magazine.
While at The Atlantic, which evolved from the oldest
print magazine in the country to a digital-first
publication, she said she saw an interesting shift.
We started to see an uptick in companies
coming to us and being interested in doing
sponsored content or native advertising or
whatever description you want to use of it, but
using content to reach our readers, she said. The
dollars were following it, and people were really
responding.
In 2013, more than 50 percent of The Atlantics
revenue came from sponsored content. Thats
overall revenue, not just digital revenue, she said.
So it was clear marketers were seeing value in
this, and the programs we were putting out and the
content was really resonating with audiences.
Research backs up her anecdotal evidence,
Domke said, noting 70 percent of consumers prefer
getting to know a company through content over
ads, and 72 percent of marketers think branded
content is much more effective than advertising.

MILLENNIALS DONT RESPOND TO ADS

When it comes to millennials, a recent Forbes
story noted that only 1 percent said a compelling
advertisement would make them trust a brand
more, she said. And thats a compelling
advertisement, not just an advertisement. Youre
actually more likely to get struck by lightning than to
click on a banner ad on purpose. Clearly they arent
really working. Obviously, they still exist.
Domke quoted David Beebe, head of Marriott
Internationals Content Studio, which she said is a
leader in the travel industry, with a 35-person studio
thats churning out film, photography and websites:
Rather than talk at consumers, were shifting to

speaking with them using attention-grabbing content

that adds value to consumers lives by providing
them with information and entertainment at the right
time and in the right context.
NewsCred, she said, helps brands do that with
three core offerings. The first is software, which
marketers can use to simplify and scale the entire
content marketing process from an editorial
calendar, to publishing, to a website, to posting to
social media and an analytic suite to help track
how the content is actually performing.
NewsCred, Domke said, also has the worlds
largest content marketplace, with licensed offerings
from more than 5,000 publishers, including The
New York Times, Forbes and Fodors, which allows
brands to host that content directly on their site.
The company also has a network of freelance
journalists that can create custom content, as well
as rights-cleared, user-generated content.
The third pillar, she said, is its services pillar, or
strategy team, which meets with brands to instruct
them on content marketing best practices. That
is her team, and the focus of her presentation to
ULTRA.

CONTENT MARKET REPLACES ADVERTISING

Content marketing provides a solution to the failure
of traditional advertising, Domke said, noting that
content marketing is not that hard, adding: There
are certainly obstacles to overcome, there are
challenges that we speak to our brands about every
day. But, in essence, its answering your customers
questions and creating great stories.
She cited a definition from the Content Marketing
Institute, which says digital content is neither
advertising nor PR. Its continuous, and its
customer-focused rather than brand-focused.
The promise of content marketing is to earn your
audience versus buying it, she said, adding that
marketers should stop inserting their brand spin
into content messages. By doing so, they risk
becoming so consumed with their own story that
they forget about their customers.
She shared another quote from Beebe, who
compared content marketing with a first date,
23

saying that if all you do is talk about yourself, there

wont be a second date. Content marketing is
about building relationships. As part of that, its
about asking questions, she said, And its about
truly understanding what your audience wants to
hear about as opposed to just droning on about
what makes you so great.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A STRATEGY

Domke said it is important to develop and
document a strategy. She said research from the
Content Marketing Institute shows that effective
content marketers are five times more likely to
have a documented content marketing strategy,
something that everyone in the organization
can refer to and reference to make sure that your
content marketing program is on track.
To do this, she said, its necessary to think
and act like a publisher, meaning thinking about
content as an asset, delivering content the
audience wants and doing so frequently.
First, its important to think about luxury travelers
and what they find to be interesting. Truly
understanding your audience really helps you
develop content that theyll ultimately want to read
and want to engage with you, Domke said. Then
you want to think about the business case. So
what are your business goals? Why are you doing
this in the first place? Are you trying to get new
customers? Are you trying to create and develop
relationships with your existing client base?
Determine and document those goals.
Second, review existing content from ads to
YouTube to Facebook and develop a content
hub, she said. We found that companies will

come to us and say we want to get started and not

even realize they have this huge wealth of content
already that isnt getting used.
Third, review the budget, branding and design
and think about your team, she said. Whos doing
what? Whos creating the content? Whos pushing
it out on social media? Are you working with an
agency? Are you working with a company like
NewsCred to help you? And then thinking about
who your distribution partners are and where you
are pushing the content.
The fourth step is structure, setting up topic
types and formats, Domke said. Are you going to
be doing infographics or photo slideshows or blog
posts? And what are your content pillars? So what
are the key facets of your brand that you want
to be talking about? Think about the customer
journey: There should be content for different
stages, from inspiration to booking.
Fifth is to track results. This will help identify
content that is resonating and evaluate the
performance of platforms and information channels.

MISSION STATEMENTS ENSURE

CONTENT IS RELEVANT
It also is important to have a mission statement as
a means of ensuring content is relevant. A mission
statement should address the brands principles
and purpose and include key audience insights,
Domke said. Thats what your editor or your
journalist will use as a guiding star for when you are
creating your content.
She cited NewsCreds mission statement as an
example: Become a destination for marketers
interested in content marketing to help them

Custom content is GOOD FOR WEAVING IN YOUR BRAND, telling your story
and inserting search engine optimization keywords. LICENSED CONTENT CAN BE
SCALED while still delivering high-quality messages. COMMUNITY CONTENT
ORIGINATES WITH CUSTOMERS, employees and influencers.
Caitlin Domke, Brand Strategist for NewsCred
24

be better at their jobs and achieve marketing

success. This will help us reach, engage and
convert new buyers and engage with existing
customers.
Next, she said, its important to think about
the content team and key responsibilities,
whether those fall to one person or several.
A content marketer and editor are needed
to strategize and oversee content projects
to ensure messages are on brand, that
theres brand consistency and that content is
aligned with business objectives. A community
manager is needed to distribute the content
across social channels and engage
online communities.

DONT NEGLECT ANALYTICS AND DESIGN

Many social media managers fail to review
analytics that can reveal what content is
resonating and which channels are gaining the
most attention. Design is also hugely important,
especially in travel, she said. Making sure it
looks on brand and that you have a beautiful
presence is key.
To be successful, she said, it is important
that there is one person who is accountable
for content and knows what is going on in
all of these areas and making sure there is
consistently published quality content.
Good content can be reused across different
platforms, Domke said. You can have one piece
of awesome content and turn that into 30 blog
posts, two photo series, a slide show, a YouTube
video. So, really just one piece of high-value
content can be turned into 10 different pieces of
content to share with your audience.
Once publishing begins, the team should
conduct health checks, she said. Give yourself
a grade, and be hard on yourself.

THE THREE TYPES OF CONTENT

Domke said there are three types of content:
custom, licensed and community content.
Custom content is good for weaving in your
brand, telling your story and inserting search
engine optimization keywords. Licensed content

...travelers visit 22 different

sites over an average of 9.5
sessions before booking.
Its not sitting down and
going from this website to
this website to this website.
Its definitely over multiple
sessions, multiple sites.
Caitlin Domke, brand strategist for NewsCred

can be scaled while still delivering high-quality

messages. Community content originates with
customers, employees and influencers, she said,
Anything thats really engaging and fostering
your community.
Research shows, according to comScore, that
theres a 28 percent lift in brand engagement
when you do utilize a mix of these, Domke said.
Consumers really react and like seeing this mix
of content.
Domke suggested using licensed content as a
way to keep up with the incessant expectations
of the social media audience: It allows you to
borrow from the credibility of publishers like
Fodors or The New York Times. It is important
to host that content on your site, not just share
it on Twitter, since consumers arent likely to
remember who shared what.

25

ANALYZING THE TRAVELERS

BUYING JOURNEY
Domke said its important to think about and look at
each stage of the travelers buying journey. Citing
Google, she said travelers visit 22 different sites
over an average of 9.5 sessions before booking.
Its not sitting down and going from this website to
this website to this website, she said. Its definitely
over multiple sessions, multiple sites.
The top stage is the inspiration stage,
she said. So someone might not necessarily
be looking to book a trip, but everybody loves
reading travel content. They might just be
interested in it, so its an opportunity to reach
those people early on and when theyre thinking
about booking a vacation.
For the inspiration stage, Domke recommended
posting broader, shareable content that
inspires travel. Its not about overemphasizing
your brand, she said, its about keeping them
in your environment by doing something like
recommending destination guides.
The next stages are research and discovery,
booking and preference and retention. The
research and discovery phase is the place
to help clients when theyre starting to think
about actually planning a trip, she said. That
could be destination-specific content, activityspecific content, it could be content around
those experiences that weve heard about are
so important and valuable to travelers today. But
again, you dont really want to pressure towards
booking yet.
The booking and preference stage is the place
to tell the brand or company story, emphasizing
why it is unique, Domke said. What I usually
advise brands to do is think about your stories
from a journalists perspective. If I were a journalist
working for The New York Times, would I think this
is an interesting story? This is also a great place to
consider user-generated content like reviews and
testimonials, she said.
The final stage is retention, where it is important
to keep the conversation going on social media
channels. NewsCred has found that clients who
26

are newsletter subscribers have 24 percent

higher monthly recurring revenue than average
clients, she said. So it really does pay to nurture
those relationships even once theyve become a
customer.

TALK ABOUT DESTINATIONS, NOT YOURSELF

When NewsCred first engages with a client, it
conducts a content audit and typically discovers
the client primarily talks about themselves, she
said. They dont really have a lot of that early stage
content, and thats really important to have because
thats where the search and social volume is.
People are going to Google and typing in
What are the worlds best beaches? much more
frequently than typing Four Seasons in Bali. Its
important to capture those people, especially if
your goal is to increase awareness at those
early stages.
Citing Google, Domke said 70 percent of people
dont know where they want to go when they
first start looking to book a trip, and many leisure
travelers go into planning undecided on a brand.
When thinking about content for the research and
discovery phase, she said, its important to think
about what people are typing into Google when
searching for activities and destinations, adding:
Googles algorithm actually rewards those that
give the best answer for those questions.
Research shows content directly influences
purchasing decisions across all industries,
she said. According to Nielsen, 85 percent of
consumers regularly seek out trusted content
when considering a purchase. People are looking
for that content, she said. So why not be the
ones to deliver that to them? She added that the
booking stage is a great place to weave in usergenerated content.

MOST CONSUMERS READ TRAVEL REVIEWS

Ninety-five percent of surveyed consumers say
they read travel reviews prior to booking, she said.
So its an important step that we all do. We go to
the TripAdvisors, we go to the Yelps to see what
are people saying about this. People trust that
information they seek it out actively. So why not

deliver that to people on your own properties?

When it comes to millennials, she said, 97
percent are posting on social networks and sharing
experiences with friends while traveling, so its
smart to interact with them and utilize the content
they are providing.
Domke said it is important, however, to make
sure youre using that content legally. Asking those
users for permission to post their testimonial or
picture is a great way to fuel social channels and
gain credibility.
Domke said you can also work with a company
like Twenty20 that has rights-cleared photos,
meaning you can just sign in, type in something
like Walt Disney World, and it will flood you with
Instagram photos that are already approved to use
for business purposes.

CASE STUDIES IN TRAVEL CONTENT

Domke said Four Seasons and Mr. & Mrs. Smith
hotels blog are two examples of great content
marketers in the travel space. Four Seasons, for
instance, has a magazine that is now both in print
and digital. The Four Seasons mission statement,
she said, is to provide interesting and evocative
content about some of the worlds most fascinating
travel destinations. It reads like a high-quality travel
magazine, she said. So when I talk about quality of
editorial, they really take this to heart.
One example of Four Seasons inspirational content
is a guide to pairing vodka cocktails with food. This
obviously has nothing to do with the Four Seasons
property, she said. Theres not any mention of the
Four Seasons inside of it. But it does sort of speak
to that the Four Seasons cares about their food and
beverage. They care about their cocktails. Theyre
going to teach you something. Content marketing is
a lot about either entertaining someone or educating.
So its teaching their readers, Were going to teach
you how to do this because were sort of saying that
were experts at it.
An example of their research and discovery
stage content is a story about artistic traditions in
a destination, she said. A sample of booking and
preference stage content is an article about the

new Four Seasons jet aircraft. So heres where

theyre talking about themselves, she said. But I
think if you asked, would a journalist be interested
in this? I think the answer is yes. I could see a travel
magazine covering this. Its a very cool thing. So
I think this is a good use of how to tell your brand
story and talk about things that are important to
you while still maintaining that editorial quality to
your site.
Finally, the magazine has great calls to action, she
said. They have a share button, a newsletter and a
find-a-hotel feature that isnt buried.

CONTENT FOR ALL STAGES OF THE BOOKING

PROCESS
Domkes final case study was the Mr. & Mrs. Smith
hotels blog about high-end boutique properties. For
inspiration-stage content, it featured beachwear.
In the discovery stage, the blog featured Londons
best brunch spots. In the booking stage, the
company wrote a story about sleeping with Oscar
nominees that notes the stars who have stayed at
Villa Armena in Tuscany, Italy.
A little cheeky there, she said. But its a great
way to talk about their property without just saying
we have a property in Tuscany, like, Look at
pictures. Its a fun editorial angle.
Still, she noted that even great content needs
a push. So as I said, you can have the greatest
content in the world, but if its just sitting on your
blog, its not really doing anything, Domke said.
Get on Twitter. Get on Instagram. Share your
stories. Start creating that online community,
interacting with people when theyre posting
photos of your properties or from a trip that you
booked for them.
Even in Hollywood, Domke said, the average
movie splits its budget 40 percent to 50 percent
with production and 50 percent to 60 percent with
distribution. A good overall content strategy, she
said, brings customers full circle.
I have a friend of mine who is an editor at
Food and Wine, Domke said. I was sharing this
presentation with her, and she was saying that she
actually reads the Four Seasons magazine in order
27

to inform some of her travel coverage. So thats

sort of how that full circle works. You pour into your
own media and then people will come looking for
you. People will discover your content, and that
really resonates with people.
In conclusion, Domke said there are six things
to remember: 1) have a documented content
strategy and mission statement; 2) have someone
accountable for your content; 3) consistently
publish high-quality content; 4) map content to the
buyer journey; 5) balance paid, owned and earned
media; and 6) track your return on investment.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

John McMahon, Questex Travel Group executive
vice president, opened the session to questions.
Alex Herrmann of Switzerland Tourism asked
Domke for advice on picking the right distribution
partners. Generally our advice for brands is just
test, she said. So, as we said, get out there. Get
in the game and start posting to Twitter, posting to
Facebook, posting to Instagram. And then seeing
where is your audience going.
Some brands might find that theyre having a
ton of success on Twitter. So really ramping that
up and pushing your content there because its
clear thats where your audience is, and they are
looking for the content there. Or perhaps its on
Instagram, so you focus on that. But again, its
just getting in the game and testing it out and
seeing what happens. Obviously doing some
background research in advance is helpful to
figure out if you see that luxury travelers are there.
Perhaps millennials are more on Instagram, and
youre trying to reach that millennial. Then maybe
concentrate on the Instagram portion.
In terms of paid distribution partners we work
with a variety, again its sort of a balance, and its
testing things out. So we work with some people
like an OutBrain or Share Through. Outbrain is
those links that youll see sometimes in the bottom
of an article on a publisher site that says, May we
recommend ... and then they have an algorithm that
basically says, This person you are trying to reach
reads this magazine. So it will place your content
28

there. When you click on it, it will take you to your

content hub, which is great for driving site traffic.
Then there are companies like Nativo, which is
a native advertising platform. Thats a little more
for general brand awareness. So if youre reading
an article on Forbes, you could get served a
native ad within that environment. So youre
still on Forbes, but you can read an article from
Delta. So obviously you lose the site traffic there
because its not driving, but you do get that brand
awareness lift.
And then obviously paid social is huge for us
as well. Again, its just (a matter of) testing it:
Testing the waters. Seeing how much spend, how
often you want to be doing that. And seeing the
jumps that happen when you do the paid social
promotions.

BALANCING WORK AND SOCIAL MEDIA

McMahon noted that many advisors are getting
tools and content from consortia, but they also
travel a lot and as small-business owners
are struggling to organize everything. I think
people get really overwhelmed by seeing that a
big brand doing content marketing, and saying,
oh I cant do that, or its too much, Domke said.
But some of these huge brands are actually just
still one person doing it.
So I would just say by publishing anything
and by diving in, thats sort of a guide. So think
about those stages, but dont get too stressed
out if you dont publish as much as Fodors, 10
times a day. Just try your best at getting in there
and in there and doing it consistently and taking
a stab at it would be my advice.
Jill Taylor of Jet Set World Travel asked how
to evaluate social media performance without
committing a sizable investment in analytic
tools.
Some people still use Google Analytics, which
is perfectly fine and it gives you your top articles
and site traffic and how its trended over time,
Domke said. Again, the biggest brands in the
world are just relying on that sort of analytics
suite. But obviously you can pay more to dive

deeper into the topics. What Im talking about is,

literally, Just what are your top 10 articles that
youve ever posted? And then taking learnings
from that and seeing what is resonating more.
Alyse Cori of Travelwize asked Domke whether
it is critically important to develop a content hub,
given its labor intensity.
Basically what I was saying is by having a
content hub, you can keep people engaged with
different pieces of content, she said. So if Im a
consumer and Im on Twitter and I see you post
one thing and you are sending them somewhere
else, you sort of lost them. But if you send them to
your website, maybe they land there and maybe
they click on another article. Or maybe they click
on your About Us page, or maybe they click on
your pricing. So it basically keeps them engaged
and they see that its your brand. Your brand reaps
all of the content, and you can keep talking with
them and keep the conversation going.

Caitlin Domke, brand strategist for NewsCred, has a

decade of experience in integrated marketing, helping
brands achieve their business goals and craft great stories.
At NewsCred, she has helped brands like Pfizer, Discover
Student Loans, Fidelity and Avon understand content
marketing best practices and craft their content strategy.
Prior to NewsCred, she spent three years at The Atlantic
magazine, where she conceptualized award-winning
integrated marketing programs for brands like Porsche,
Bank of America, Boeing and Delta.

29

POP-UP PANEL: PAIN POINTS IN SELLING

LUXURY TRAVEL

Ruthanne Terrero, Questex Travel Group vice

president content and editorial director:
What are your biggest pain points in selling luxury
travel? Whats difficult? What are the challenges?
What are the issues? Lets have everyone introduce
themselves first.
John Mannion, Starwood Hotels &
Resorts Worldwide
My name is John Mannion with Starwood Hotels &
Resorts Worldwide and Im responsible for some of
the key luxury consortia and luxury hotel programs.
I manage the relationships between our global
sales, the hotels and those accounts.
Hope Smith, Born to Travel:
Im Hope Smith. Im an independent contractor with
Monteceito Village Travel. I go under my own name,
which is Born To Travel. Ive been in the business for
29 years.
Ty Horn, Corinthia Hotel London:
Good afternoon, my name is Ty Horn. I am with
Corinthia Hotel London. I oversee all of our North
and South American sales and marketing programs.
Happy to be here.
Josh Bush, Avenue Two Travel:
Good afternoon, I am Josh Bush with Avenue Two
Travel in Philadelphia. Were primarily a luxury
leisure agency just west of the city of Philadelphia.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Great, welcome. Josh, do you want to take a
stab at it?
Josh Bush:
Well, when you work with partners like Starwood,
theyre absolutely fabulous. I think today our
consumers, or customers, are so savvy, and they
have all those different check points that theyre
going through.
I think Larry Pimentel said this morning, if were
making recommendations about a hotel thats
a great partner of ours or something that weve
been selling for a very, very long time, [we need to
realize] that that consumer has already looked to
TripAdvisor, has looked to their friends, has looked
to their family for advice. Or maybe they have
looked to that credit card thats in their wallet. And
30

sometimes, when we get down to the amenity war

- is the consumer going to get X with American
Express, are they going to get X with Virtuoso or
Signature or other consortia? I think the pain point
is having things be too black and white. If we can
have a true partnership where were talking with a
relationship manager on property and say, This is
what my customer really values, and its roughly
the equivalent same cost as what that amenity
might be, thats where we can really win. Its when
its a hard and fast rule of no, we cant do that.
Ill use an example, and Ill disguise the names to
protect the innocent. I have a customer who is all
about free parking. Thats all that they want. They
dont want the $100 golf credit. They dont want to
go to the spa. They dont want food and beverage.
All they want is the equivalent of the $23 free
parking. And theyre in a big suite. Lets make that
happen.
As long as we can have a dialogue; lets make
a special package. Lets do something. Lets get
creative. Lets make sure we are rewarding the
right customer.
John Mannion:
One of our major pain points in the luxury segment
is actually education. And its education on our own
luxury product and on destinations, especially new
destinations where we have a lot of hotels opening.
Thats about educating the guests and also
educating our partners, like travel professionals.
Thats one of our biggest pain points, and thats
why we have a very robust training program.
The key thing in our industry moving forward
where these new luxury properties are showing up,
is how do you get there? How do you get the travel
professional to experience the product? If Ive been
to a hotel, I will sell that hotel and not just because
Ive been there and I like it. When youve been
there, you have a different way that you present.
You have a different level of confidence in the
product.
Thats very difficult especially in these new
destinations. We have so many new luxury hotels
in China that its difficult to educate the community
on. Thats one of our major pains.

Ruthanne Terrero:
Thats got to be a challenge. Its a physical
challenge just in terms of getting people there.
Thank you.

We really do want to know because thats how

we can all work more closely together and help
with your client retention and make you look good.
Were all in it together at the end of the day.

Hope Smith:
Both things the gentlemen said are so true. The
pain becomes when the client is so much more
educated than you are. And you have to be honest
with that client and say, No, I have not been to this
property or to this particular destination, but lets
do a three-way call with either your DMC or your
supplier, or perhaps with even somebody else in
your office who has been to that destination.

John Mannion:
I have another pain point actually. The other pain
point we have is that many of our hotels join the
preferred consortia luxury consortia and theyre
all here in the room: Virtuoso, Signature, Ensemble,
and so on. And we say sometimes that clients
dont have any loyalty. They could be here one
day, get a better deal and move there the next day.
I think our pain point is that travel professionals
and companies that are in consortia need to
support those consortia. They need to support the
hotels that are paying to be in that consortia to be
preferred. I think thats one of the key areas of how
these programs will develop and be successful.

You have to be very frank with todays clients

because some of them do know a lot more than
you do. You think we know everything, know
every destination, but we really dont. And that
sometimes becomes a pain that you get somebody
on the phone, and especially if theyre younger.
Millennials are very educated and savvy. They read
everything. We dont have time to read everything.
As much as I try to travel and educate myself, I
dont know everything. But Im very frank and I say,
I dont have that answer but Im going to get the
answer for you. Thats how I build a relationship
with someone, so hopefully they will come back
and stay a client.
I really believe that today nobody owns the
client. And any agent that says to me, Well, thats
my client, it really isnt. Its about harboring a
relationship with that client, so hopefully they will
trust you and come back to you.

Yes, there have been a lot of new programs that

have been introduced, but I think that members
of these consortia need to stick to their consortia
and support those hotels not to go outside the
consortia preferred list just because theyre getting
an extra 2 percent commission, and just because
somebody said, well, Ill give your client a sweet
upgrade, but Im not in your program. At the end
of the day, its about partnership.
Audience Member:
Isnt it about the client first? We should be taking
care of the client before the consortia.

Ty Horn:
The only other thing I would add is, as being
someone who is actively selling and servicing
bookings as well, Ive always approached the
business from the perspective of, we are here
as an extension of your business and to make
you look good and help your clients have the best
experience.

John Mannion:
Surely there are enough hotels in the consortia
for you to book. Im not saying to support the
consortia one against the other. Im saying when
hotels that are not in any of these programs offer
you an upgrade just to get you in. You havent had
a relationship with those people. But you have a
relationship with the hotels that are in Ensemble or
Signature. And if youre in both of them, then yes,
you have to support one of them.

[The issues arise] with basic things like, Please

tell us when the clients coming. That does things
like guarantee early check-in. It really helps when
we have a comprehensive profile on your client. Its
not over-communicating or too much work for us.

Ruthanne Terrero:
Great, and thank you. You know what? This was a
great, candid conversation, and I appreciate your
candor. Anyone in the audience have one pain
point they would like to add to the conversation?

31

DEALING WITH THE

ULTRA-AFFLUENT CLIENT

Otherwise, well just move on to our next question.

Beth Rubin, Select Italy and Select Croatia:
Hi, my name is Beth. Im with Select Italy and Select
Croatia. The pain point that I thought of when you
first brought this up doesnt match anything you
guys mentioned. I was interested to hear what you
had to say. My pain point with the luxury client is
when they claim that theyre luxury, but they dont
want to spend like theyre luxury.
I just had a travel agent write to me and say, Oh
my God. These clients have more money than God
and they travel all the time and they still have more
money than God because they dont spend any of
it. Its a huge pain point. I mean, I guess thats how
they stay rich because theyre not spending their
money. But theyre still coming and looking to get
the deal.
John McMahon,Questex Travel Group Executive
Vice President:
I think that goes back to Peter Yesawichs big
hats and no cattle: No cattle. Stay away from the
no cattle.
Katie Ladomerszky, The Cosmopolitan of
Las Vegas:
Obviously Vegas is a very different market. We
all know that. So the one thing I always ask of my
advisors is you tell me your guest is a VIP. VIP
means different in Vegas. Tell me who they are.
Give me their profile, what they like and why they
are VIP, just so we can make sure were curating
that experience to them as opposed to your
brother-in-law or something. Like you said, the more
information, the better. Its never overload for us.
John McMahon:
Thats great. Communication, communication,
communication.

Pop-Up Panel: The Latest Technology for Travel

Ruthanne Terrero:
Lets try something completely different. What is the
latest technology for travel that youve heard about
or are using? Could be an app, could be real hard
technology: hard-wired technology, websites.
32

John McMahon:
This is a great question because I think the
presenters kept on saying its new every day, so if
you feel like you have something thats working.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Or even if youve read about it or youre using it,
youre implementing it. It could be a favorite app.
Mary Ann, if we could start with you, and well start
with intros one after the other.
Mary Ann Ramsey, Betty Maclean Travel:
Good afternoon, Im Mary Ann Ramsey, and Im
with Betty Maclean Travel in Naples, Florida.
Ken Neibaur, Cardoza-Bungey:
Hi, Im Ken Neibaur with Cardoza-Bungey
Worldview Travel, a Virtuoso agency, Palo Alto,
California.
Alex Herrmann, Switzerland Tourism:
Hi, my name is Alex Herrmann, the director for the
Americas at Switzerland Tourism, based in New
York. I spent a few years with IBM actually about
nine so, hopefully, that will help a bit with this topic
here. Thank you.
Mauricio Aveves, Fiesta Americana Grand Coral
Beach Cancun Resort & Spa:
Im Mauricio from Coral Beach, Cancun with a
part of Preferred Hotels and its a Grand Fiesta
Americana brand.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Great, well lets start right with you then. What are
you hearing? What are you seeing?
Mauricio Aveves:
I was trying to get into this because that was one
of the items that was part of my conversation with
some of the advisors. Were launching this app with
concierge. When a consumer makes a reservation,
way before they arrive, they can go in and create
an agenda. But today I realized that the tool is not
only relevant for the consumer, for the guest, but
also for the travel professional because the level of
service that you provide to clients goes beyond just
booking a room.
So that was great input from many of you about
your engagement by doing this type of service and
how an application could help them enhance their

experience. And on top of that, if you can make a

buck or two in the process, its even greater. So,
definitely, from the resort point of view, to approach
the product way before they arrive has a lot of
value. It has a lot of value to the client, especially
the ones who want to make the best of their
experience, and they want to pre-book everything
and make sure they take advantage of their time.
But also, for us, before you arrive to Cancun you
are bombarded with all the options. Capturing a
big percentage of that revenue on property has a
lot of value. So, were very excited about this tool.
Thanks for that opportunity.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Excellent timing. Perfect. So planning ahead to
make the clients stay better. Great. Alex, you want
to take a stab?
Alex Herrmann:
I think, first of all, the fact that were all here together
is great proof that technology is important, but
its not the most important thing. So that might
be a starting point. And also, something said
this morning I very much appreciated. It was all
the talk about content, and I believe content is
so much more important than any technology
platform because the content stays, the technology
platforms they change, and they switch.
We talked about Facebook. We talked about
Twitter and Instagram. Now we talk about
Periscope. Some of you might have heard about
that. I dont know whether its something we should
follow. Its basically a live video feed app. Well,
actually its a live video feed app that you can load
on your phone or on your iPad. And who knows.
Maybe in a few years we will all use that and this
event will be live Periscoped to all the parts of
the world or it can completely disappear. The
content will stay but the technology platforms will
change. Having worked for IBM, I can tell you that
technology platforms sometimes change rather
quickly. Im very happy with my Mac now.
For us at Switzerland Tourism, the one most
important development in technology is social
media. We try to stay on most of the platforms.
Were not married to one or two. We try to do a little

bit on everything. The one thing that we do always

is have some major brands or strong partners
involved because there is so much out there and
it changes so quickly, as Peter Yesawich also
confirmed this morning. So what we do is we use
brands that are well known and well-established
in the travel space and, working with them, using
these social channels, leveraging their brand,
leveraging their reach.
National Geographic on Instagram has however
many followers, and you can expect these to be
quality people. So in order not to be lost, we try to
work with partners. We try to focus on the content,
and we try to continue to attend events like this in
person to get interaction.
Ruthanne Terrero:
So a combination of both human interaction and
technology, of course. Good. Thank you. Ken?
Ken Neibaur:
I think we probably have a somewhat different take
on what technology means to our business than you
guys might. As advisors, we have so many different
channels for booking. We have BBS. We have
cruise line booking engines. Every hotel company
wants us to book directly through their own dot
com. So we can preserve our amenities and have it
customized to our clients.
You end up with an FIT booking, and its two
weeks in Europe and youve got 14 different
booking mechanisms to pull together. I think,
historically, what weve done is we printed it out in
a big fancy book if we have the time and send it off
to the client. Maybe we scanned it as a PDF. Its
been pretty rudimentary. I come from a technology
background as I worked in Internet marketing for
a number of years. For me, coming in an advisory
role, I could not believe the completely backwards
nature of all the agency offices that I went to.
Our agency Worldview is developing an
internal proprietary technology to serve kind of a
cross-platform booking system and integrate the
GDS, integrate the client base, so the agents dont
spend so much time shoving so many square pegs
into a round hole. Until that happens, each agent
has to fend for themselves and figure out not just

33

how to book it or compile it but how to deliver it

to the client. And now the client is already way past
us because theyre on apps and theyre on hotelprovided technology, and were still pretty much in
the dark ages as far as the tools that we provide to
our clients once we make a booking.
We can send something on Saver through Trip
Case. Theres three or four new apps. I just tried
an app called UMapped for my recent trip to
Africa. I dont think its fabulous. It asked me to
scan my itinerary in. I thought, Oh thats great,
maybe it has OCR and will read it all. What it did
is it created a PDF on my iPad, which I could have
done on my scanner at home. It did import my
Saver bookings, but it still ended up sort of a mess
on my iPad.
So I havent really seen a lot yet that bridges
the weird technology that we have at our offices
and delivers something easily managed by the
consumer, because they want to get involved, too.
They want to be able to be kept up to date on flight
changes. They want to be able to click and see the
hotel, get to the concierge, have an email address
for the concierge. There are probably four or five
apps out there all kind of fighting for attention
right now. I think the market is still pretty green.
Theres no homerun yet. There is UMapped and
Joe mentioned Axis, which I think is a little further
along, which I havent used yet. Theres a few
out there.
I think we have a dichotomy because we have
this increasingly narrow number of channels in
certain ways that properties will ask us to book so
we maximize benefits. Fewer and fewer agents are
in GDS anymore. I think a lot of the stuff is coming
from weird little places and if all youre going to
do is manually type it in to an interface to create
an app, thats still a tremendous amount of effort
for the agent to go through. Maybe theres no Holy
Grail, I dont know.
Hope Smith:
Theres another one called Fit Explorer, which is
integrated with Virtuoso. Its live. Book the whole
product. Youre going to get a commission on
it. So, theres a lot of things out there. I think as
34

somebody who works from home, we have to

constantly make ourselves aware of whats out
there for us. I dont work with the GDS, and Ive
been in this business for a long time.
Ken Neibaur:
I hate booking hotels in the GDS. I dont like it at
all. My favorite technology is the iPad app in this
room at this hotel. I actually set my alarm by myself
last night. It works.
Mary Ann Ramsey:
I have two things that I wanted to talk about,
both of which were mentioned and we have a
better expert in the room, but I think Axis is really
revolutionary in the industry. Its sort of sexy
looking, and its pretty easy, and I think its very
robust. The clients like it a lot. So, if you havent
tried it, you should take a
look at it.
Ruthanne Terrero:
A travel planning app, just for those who dont
know. You put your clients itinerary in there.
Mary Ann Ramsey:
You can put your clients itinerary in it. You can
put all sorts of information. You can put personal
comments in it, and it looks really good to the
client. Its excellent. A lot of companies are using
it for their meeting planning and that sort of thing.
Its really good.
And then Hope just talked about Fit Explorer.
Weve been beta testing it for a while. Its pretty
good. It doesnt have every hotel in it, but you can
book hotels and transfers and then it creates a
nice document for your clients. Its pretty good.
The agents like it. There are some agents who
like to do it the old-fashioned way, there are some
agents that like technology and they just want to
book you know, type it in and book and move on
to the next thing. Its sort of like your consumer,
your client. You want to be able to personalize how
you approach booking. Its really a good thing.
Ken Neibaur:
I do think suppliers are way ahead of agents in
terms of delivering simple technology to their
customers.

Audience Member:
I just wanted to make a comment where I think
the suppliers, some of them, are not on the
bandwagon. With any sort of app that were going
to create I think client base needs to really be fully
integrated with all of this because were collecting
data about the general sale and our revenue, but
I think in the long-run all of the new updates, etc.,
need to really go through the client base.
So if they do want to put in restaurant
reservations, and then were collecting that data
so its just part of the client file. And it just needs
to be very easy for us. I think its really going in a
half manner. So I wanted to say you should have a
technology panel. That could be where all of us go
and we can give them feedback and develop the
new software.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Ok, good advice.
John McMahon:
Well, sounds like theres a lot of client base needs
to move on and theres disrupters in the
marketplace here now. So thats a good thing. And
theres a strong need. Certainly itinerary apps are
hot and cold.
Pop-Up Panel: What Do We Do That
Drives You Crazy?
Ruthanne Terrero:
Ok, so were going to have two suppliers and two
advisors. The question that you get to ask each
other: what do we do that drives you crazy?
John McMahon:
This is meant to be constructive. Those little pet
peeves that if you could have the perfect supplier,
what should they be doing and what if theyre
not listening?
Ruthanne Terrero:
And you know the point that Ty made, if theres a
way you can let us know what time your clients are
arriving. We were talking about this last night: You
dont always know when your clients are arriving.
Thats really practical, good takeaway stuff. So

thats kind of the tone that were looking for. So

as I said, this is meant to be collaborative and
constructive. Lets start by introductions. Gary? If
you could start and well go right across.
Gary Davis, Acendas:
Im Gary Davis from Acendas out of Kansas City.
Jill Taylor, Jetset World Travel:
Im Jill Taylor of Jetset World Travel out of Chicago.
Tristan Dowell, Hyatt Hotels Corporation:
Im Tristan Dowell from Hyatt Corporation out of
Chicago.
Alexis Romer, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company:
Hello, Alexis Romer from The Ritz-Carlton Hotel
Company based in New York City.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Great, welcome guys. Well thank you for being in
the hot seat. Gary, can we start with you?
Gary Davis:
Kind of going along with some of the things we
talked about, it sounds like our biggest pain point
the first question was actually technology. I know
that probably everybody in this room has had
some of the same issues we have where we want
to provide this high-end experience for our clients,
but were afraid as hell to give you all of that
information because of what you might do with it. I
guess the question I would ask is, is it reasonable
for us to feel that way? Should we be able to give
you all of the details about our client, so that you
can help us provide a high-end experience for
them. Is that something we should be afraid of?
Or not?
Alexis Romer:
Yes, you should give it to us and no, you should
not be afraid.
Tristan Dowell:
I agree, but I also want to add something as
well. We also really truly want to partner to really
enhance the guest experience. Weve got to
understand what the preferences are to help us
deliver that because we wont do it just one on
one. Weve got to do it collectively.
Alexis Romer:
I think, ultimately, our goal is the same as yours,

35

which is to give the guest a great stay. And we

just cant do it without your help. Were not going
to run away with it, well probably lose it, anyway,
after they leave. Dont worry. The goal is the same.
We just want a good stay, and the more you can
help us, the more we can get that. Were probably
marketing to your people anyway already, so youre
not giving us anything thats going to take us further
or take the customer away from you.
Gary Davis:
Ok, fair enough. So maybe the next part of that
question is, thats great, and we would love to do
that. Why isnt there an easy way to do that? A lot
of times we call and say, hey could you be sure and
do this for our client and sometimes it happens,
sometimes it doesnt. Its like the bottle of wine
on a cruise does it ever get delivered? I dont
know. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesnt. So why
wouldnt there be more investment in some kind
of technology or some way for us to provide that
information if that would really work for us?
Jill Taylor:
Signature has that amenity form, but we dont know
if its delivered or not.
Gary Davis:
Do you hand-fill that out?
Jill Taylor:
No, its all electronic. But, again, we could fill that
out, and is the wine delivered? We dont know until
we ask the client or until the client lets us know.

36

Tristan Dowell:
I think sometimes we can get wrapped up and I
think we have to remember what industry were
in: The people business. And I think certainly
with regards to Hyatt and my team, thats why we
have a team of people and we have some great
relationships with a number of you in the room. If
something is not going to be delivered, or there is a
breakdown in communication, let us know, and well
take it off your hands and call the GM and say weve
got to deliver this. These are the crme de la crme.
We have to make sure this is delivered. Technology
maybe hasnt worked, we invest. But we have to
partner with technology to deliver. Were never
going to do it just with technology.

Ruthanne Terrero:
Thank you. Alexis, lets give you a shot now. You
get to ask a question, or pose an opportunity for
feedback.
Alexis Romer:
Well, I think the question was what drives you
crazy, right? So at the risk of, perhaps, opening
a Pandoras box here, as a hotel company, we
get business from a lot of different sources, a lot
of different channels. Its not just transient, its
corporate, its group, its international markets. We,
as hotel people, have to sell to all of these markets,
and we have different teams that sell to them.
And I hate to say it, but I think what makes me
crazy sometimes is the fact that working in this
market, which is my bread and butter and this
is the reason I have a job, so I love it. I just wish
that everybody was a little bit more aware of the
business implications that hotels have in the fact
that they have to sell business to all different
sectors and all different markets, and its not just
about your consortia and your amenity and what
more can you give me, and why cant I get that
room, why cant you give me a lower rate?
Its a really big universe out there that were trying
to juggle a big puzzle to make everything work and
to keep us all in business. Thats what drives me
crazy.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Well said. Thank you.
Gary Davis:
I dont know if I can answer it but I will tell you that
we feel your pain. One of the things that weve
done, not only with that, but with customer service
issues is we try to have all our advisors channel all
of that through a single person, so we try to have
our director of vacations filter all of those things
out before we come to you. And so her job is to
determine whether its really valid or not or could
we just send a $25 gift card and just call it a day
because the transfer didnt show up or whatever it
might be.
So I think all of us can work better to help you
with that by not letting just everybody in the
company call you at any point in time they want

but try to funnel it through somebody who can filter

that, so the things that do make it to you are the
things that really count. These are the ones that we
really need.
Alexis Romer:
Thank you.
Tristan Dowell:
And this is not addressed to everybody in the
room here. We want to be a bit provocative, dont
we? One of the things that drive us crazy is we
understand youve got different booking channels
as well, but I think were all here to support, were
in partnership, but when bookings go through a
wholesaler, and then we get a call from you and
you say can you also give Virtuoso amenities and
Signature amenities on top. We cant have our
cake and eat it. We want to help to make sure we
can drive the best rate for you as well. I think just
understanding that is important.
Alexis Romer:
Along the same lines, you kind of have to pick your
channels. Understand that theres a reason why
we work through different channels and collect
business from different avenues.
Jill Taylor:
Well, Im going to take it to the supplier side since
Ive got two great hoteliers sitting up here. I think
communication. We spend a lot of time getting
information from our clients, and we spend time
getting to know them, Im sure as most or all of you
do. But when we actually go to a supplier, a DMC
a tour operator whoever it may be. And weve
given them all that information, and then they come
back with an itinerary that is absolutely nothing
that Ive requested. I go to somebody because I
know theyre the experts on the ground in an area
that I dont know as well. Or even if I know it, I
want somebody to be creative with the information
that Ive taken the time to get. So I dont want you
to just cut and paste and send me something. If
were going to do the due diligence on our side, the
suppliers have to do it on their side as well. I guess
that goes to the hoteliers as well.
I also think that I understand your pain because
we always say we have a VIP client coming, and

everybody is a VIP client, but I do think you have to

sort of look back and say, is this really somebody
that I need to go to bat for because there is going
to be that person you do need to go to bat for, and
youve already used up all your cards, right? But
I do think, if were going to give communication
to you, if were going to let you know when our
clients are arriving, and that they are allergic to red
wine, dont put red wine in the room and dont be
there to meet them if youre asking us questions.
So I think its a little bit of both, and let us know if
there is too much communication, which Ive never
had that happen. But again, I think its a matter of
listening and actually providing a resource or an
itinerary that is actually what Ive asked for. Does
that happen to anybody else?
Alexis Romer:
I mean, its important from our side. People travel
for different reasons and want different things for
when they travel. If Im traveling on business, and I
want one thing, and then Im traveling with my family
and I want another thing, its important to share that
information, and its definitely our responsibility to
understand that to help.
Jill Taylor:
Its our responsibility to give that to you because,
again, Ive had clients say, Oh my gosh, someone
knocked on my door like eight times to give me
eight different things, and it was fantastic, but we
were in the middle of a romantic encounter. So,
if theyre on business and they dont want to be
bothered, then thats something we need to be
selling. Hey, theyre going to be
dont knock on the door past whatever. Whatever
the case, I think thats our job. Then again, it has to
come back this way.
Tristan Dowell:
In addition, I think it also comes to a point we
focus very much on this whole guest seven-touchpoint experience. I think what we can do together
for the pre-arrival way before the arrival, the prearrival we can work together because its a winwin for both of us. Communication, preferences, but
also understanding that we can also help and let
you know theres something taking place in the city
37

tonight from the resort. Thats the key thing as well.

Having as much pre-arrival experience is critical.
Jill Taylor:
So that brings up a question, as we all do email
you to let you know we have a VIP coming, how
soon in advance do you want that information?
Because my fear is if I tell you six months before
they get there then Im still going to need to do it
again, which I will do. But what is the right timing
for us to give you that information?
Alexis Romer:
Probably both.
Jill Taylor:
Is it a day? Is it a week? Is it the day of?
Alexis Romer:
Its as soon as you know.
Jill Taylor:
Well, well know right away.
Alexis Romer:
You dont want to miss the opportunity. If you say
theyre super-duper VIP, which, ok, who isnt?
But if we can upgrade at that time, we might want
to do it. If you wait too long, we may not have it
available. So as soon as you have it, it is important.
But I do know that youre probably not going to
feel comfortable unless you tell us again right
before.
Jill Taylor:
Whats right before?
Alexis Romer:
The day before? A week?
Jill Taylor:
So what should be on that email?

Audience Member:
In my opinion, who it is, why theyre important,
what theyre coming in for. Maybe its your VIP
client that you book all of their business travel for
but this is actually their sons 21st birthday. If there
are preferences, if there are any allergies. Because
if Im not told what they like, Im going to send a
generic cheese platter or a bottle of wine if theyre
coming in for a few nights. Maybe they dont
drink. Its not the right thing for them. What time
theyre arriving, so we can note the arrival time.
If theyve got a preference for a king or queen.
Truly, anything that you guys know that you feel
is pertinent, we want to know as well. If theres
something that - you know he doesnt like high
floors. Thats an easy one. But if you know that he
absolutely loves skittles, tell me that, and Ill go get
a bowl of skittles and put it in his room. The more
the merrier.
Tristan Dowell:
I wanted to add that understanding the level of
the customer and constantly keeping informed of
changes. I think thats the key thing because then
we can ensure that it goes through all levels of the
operation.
Audience Member:
The other thing, too, if its a repeat client, you dont
have to tell us that again. We have that all on file,
but do tell us that they just got married or theyre
on their babymoon or whatever, so theres updates
we need to know. But well keep everything on file,
so you dont have to do the work twice.
Jill Taylor:
All right, so what about the dreaded question
when we ask for a free nights stay? Nobody talked
about that for the travel advisor.

What I try to do, and I really tell my staff to do, is TELL A STORY. You have to paint
a picture. You have to whet their appetite. And I mean, GET EXTREMELY GRAPHIC,
just gush, whatever it is you need to do. But you need to LEAVE THEM SITTING
THERE AND JUST SAYING I HAVE TO DO THIS, this is a life experience.
Kate Murphy, Wings Travel Group, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
38

Audience Member:
I mean, absolutely, this is a partnership. If you
dont have experience at my property, and youre
selling it, thats probably an issue. If its Tuesday
night in New York, and Im down 14 rooms tonight,
it is probably not going to happen. So it comes
down to giving me advance notice, and say Ive
never tried your property and would love to come
in. Ill be there next month. Im going to roll out the
red carpet for you.
Jill Taylor:
But, were talking about what pains you.

just emailing with a client right now. So the clients

are coming on June 9, and are VIP status. All set.
The great thing is the agents come back right
away to say thank you. Right away. A lot of agents
sometimes forget because theyre overwhelmed
on a daily basis with various requests. So its also
a vice-versa thing. You have an expectation from
us to get back to you right away, but please do the
same on your end.
Jill Taylor:
Thats awesome. So thank you goes a long way.
Those little things you learn in kindergarten.

Audience Member:
What pains me? What pains me is if youre asking
for your sister for a Friday night when Im sold out.
That happened about three hours ago, by the way.

John McMahon:
Thats a great point. Its a two-way street.

Alexis Romer:
I think you dont realize how often we as suppliers
get asked for that. A lot of us have travel industry
rates. You kind of have to have a system in place
because otherwise its mayhem, especially those
of us who have a lot of hotels. We get hit daily.
Numerous times. You have to have a plan in place.
A certain percentage off that you can rely on, so
that you can do it when you can and when you
cant, you just cant.

Audience Member:
One big pain point are holidays. And I get it: its
your customers that are coming to you. Can I get
a rate? Can you do something better? Its really
hard for us on the holidays. Especially in the Vegas
market to say yes, we can, and well try everything
we can do. So just be aware of that fact when
youre looking at Memorial Day and the Fourth
of July and Labor Day. Those are really big pain
points for us, and were going to try.

Audience Member:
One quick nitpicky thing that I have is that our
margins are so small to begin with, and I love the
way a payment processor really expedites our
commission, but I hate the fact that they take a big
chunk out of it. And different payment processors
take different amounts, but there are some, like
Onyx that takes seven percent. So when I get
a $5,000 or $6,000 commission, thats a lot of
money that theyre taking out from my bottom line.
Tristan Dowell:
Thats why we use WPS. No fees. All of our hotels
pay in the currency of the country. If youre in
Europe, youll be paid in euros. If youre in the
United States, youll be paid in dollars. No fees.
Audience Member:
It was just a comment to Jill. We were just asking
how far in advance to be notified. Actually, I was

Ruthanne Terrero:
Time for one more question, then well move on.

You talked about your VIP clients. To me, my

VIP clients are this person or that person thats
booking me. So yes there are times when we do
get that person who asks for the wholesale rate
that they sold and they want to get an amenity, but
you know what, if youre booking me, youre my
client, and Im going to take care of your client. So
thats a big difference for us as well too. If you are
really out there taking care of my business, then
Im definitely going to take care of you and your
business as well.
Audience Member:
And I think, too, just one point on that is we have
to come from the client were getting it from
someplace else but I definitely agree theres a
polite way to ask and know that youre not always
going to get a yes. I think it does go a long way
to say listen I am so sorry I have to ask you this
39

because this is one of my best clients theyre

idiots because they waited too long to book but
please know that whatever you can do.

Michael Holtz, The Smart Flyer:

Im Michael Holtz of Smart Flyer based in New
York City.

And I think theres ways, and I hear it from all my

hotelier friends that its the way its being presented.
People expect that because I work for this agency
or I sell this much that I should get whatever I want
whenever I want and thats where you cant lose
that. You have to be grateful every day for the things
that people do give you or youre not going to get it.
And I dont understand this. Why would somebody
win for being a jerk? But sometimes it works. The
meaner you are, sometimes the more you get, and I
dont agree with that.

Ruthanne Terrero:
Welcome and thank you for coming up to the
hot seat. Kate, lets start with you. How do you
convince that difficult client who you know has the
means to have a fabulous vacation? How do you
convince them to spend their money to get the
experience they are asking you for?

John McMahon:
Thank you, everyone. That was a tough topic.
Interesting topic. I can say this is one of the times
where technology and the old way are kind of
crunching together. It was kind of easier in the old
way when you used to call the general manager,
and he would pick up the phone. Its a balance.
Pop-Up Panel: How Do You Close the Deal?
Ruthanne Terrero:
What do you do when youve got a luxury client
whom you know has the money to spend but is
resistant. How can you close the deal? Does that
sound good? Convincing the difficult client to
spend the money to get the experience they are
asking you for.
I dont want to forget the introductions, so Kate
can we start with you? And well go right across.
Kate Murphy, Wings Travel Group:
Im Kate Murphy, Wings Travel Group, Blue Bell,
Pennsylvania. Im north of Philadelphia, and a
vacation.com member.
Kelly Messina, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors
Authority :
Im Kelly Messina with the Las Vegas Convention
and Visitors Authority.
Cheryl Bennett, Viceroy Hotel Group:
Good afternoon, Im Cheryl Bennett with Viceroy
Hotel Group.
40

Kate Murphy:
What I try to do, and I really tell my staff to do, is
tell a story. You have to paint a picture. You have
to whet their appetite. And I mean, get extremely
graphic, just gush, whatever it is you need to do.
But you need to leave them sitting there and just
saying I have to do this, this is a life experience.
Im a talker, so its really easy for me to paint a
picture. I kind of get wrapped in it myself, and I sit
there and Im home, and I say to my husband, we
should do that trip also. That sounds really great.
So I can almost taste it and smell it and believe
in it, and I want them to do the same thing. My
hands go. You would think Im Italian and not
Irish, and I just build this picture. You build it
slowly. The other thing I do, I remind my staff all
the time, God gave us two ears and one mouth.
So you listen, and you see what points just stir
the person and make them want it. And you just
build from that. And try not to let them leave from
in front of you.
Ruthanne Terrero:
So its not a hard sell, but you kind of watch to
see where their eyes might be lighting up.
Kate Murphy:
Absolutely, and you can tell by their body
language and my body language. Im almost
across the desk getting closer to them, talking to
them. Or I stand up, and I sit on that side of the
desk with them. Because I want them to read my
body language the same way. To know that Im
so excited about what Im talking to them about.
Theyre not going to leave the office without that
money put down.

Ruthanne Terrero:
So it is a hard sell, they just dont realize it. Well
done.
Kelly Messina:
I would say selling something that youve done
yourself. That has to be probably one of the most
important things. Somebody I think it was earlier
today talking about Should we travel, should
we go out and experiences these things? I think
that has to be the most valuable tool that you have.
Being with the convention and visitors authority,
we bring a lot of agents in. And I can tell when
theyre seeing the new product or new property or
experiencing something for the first time. I can see
the wheels turning in their heads: I know the exact
client that will do this and will want to do this and
will pay to do this. So take advantage of those trip
opportunities that come your way.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Very well, well said.
Cheryl Bennett:
So I think its speaking from the heart and being
passionate but really finding out whether youre
an advisor finding out truly what your clients
want because what they tell you what they want,
may not really be what they want. From a hotel
standpoint, sometimes when guests are at a hotel,
and there was a mismatch.
So if the agent hasnt been to the hotel or is
unfamiliar with the property, reach out to the hotel.
Ive been on numerous calls with actual guests
selling them for the agent because the agent never
experienced the property to make sure it is the
right fit. We are partners with you. We want to
make sure that your clients are enjoying the hotel
that youre selling them.
And also, with all the marketing consortia out
there, showing them the value of booking through
an agent, other than just saying I can get you all
these free things showing them the value of what
a breakfast is at some luxury hotels. I mean, that
really adds up. Some people take that for granted.
We get phone calls all the time: Can you upgrade
my client? Well, tell them what that value is and
what that room would be because I know when Im

selling to an agent saying, Oh, Ill upgrade your

client or giving them this, I associate the dollar
amount to that so they realize what theyre actually
getting.
Michael Holtz:
For us, its really easy. Weve got about 110 travel
advisors all over the place, and when a situation
comes up and the client is spending $50,000 to
$100,000 and the agent is a problem, I often get
involved. I always remember what my parents say.
They travel all the time, and my parents say its
real simple. We can spend the money, do what we
want, go where we want to go or we can leave the
money to our grandkids. And thats what I tell the
clients.
Generally, for the clients that are spending $50,
$80, $100 grand, they can spend anyway. Its not
an issue. The ones spending $5,000 often cant
spend $8,000, and I think as everyone said, we just
explain to them that you only live once, and if you
want to go just do it.
But then on the flip side, we have a few legitimate
billionaire clients. Im not talking about $10 million
billionaires. Im talking about legitimate billionaires.
And we had one recently that went to Japan,
and all he wanted to do was use his frequent
flyer miles, and he wasted four hours connecting
through Seattle, which is mind-boggling if the guy
is worth a billion dollars, but it is what it is.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Its almost like the free parking in the sense that
theyve got the one thing that they know they
can get, and thats important to them. You never
know whats important to people and has value.
Anybody else have any tips in terms of that client?
Tamra Waslewski, Meadowood Napa Valley:
Im Tamra Waslewski with Meadowood Napa
Valley. Whenever we go down that rate road, and
I see it coming, I always ask the client not the
advisor What do you remember about your last
vacation? Theyll tell me it was a great experience.
They never tell me how much it costs. And so I
say, that just goes to show you, remember that
great experience, but you probably dont even
remember what you spent on that vacation, so

41

spend the money now to ensure youre going

to get a great vacation because youre going to
forget the money you spent. Just book what you
want to book.
Ruthanne Terrero:
Thats really wise. Good stuff. Anybody else?
Audience Member:
One of the things I say to people, too, is
the Internet equals information and a travel
professional equals knowledge and wisdom. And
I think they really believe that now. Were getting
the good ones back because thats the difference.
Someone said earlier about your elevator speech
and what do you when youre kind of competing
with it? Thats an easy competition. Thats really
an easy competition.
Audience Member:
What I tell people is how many times are you
going to go back to that destination? How would
you like it if you had gone there and realized
you didnt do it because you were trying to save
money? And Ill go back to something my parents
taught me when I was younger. They said, spend
your money while youre healthy and you have it
because no ones come back from the other place
to say you should be saving your money and
spending it over here. And I tell that to the clients
and then theres no question. Its just done. And
its a true story. If anyone knows anyone Id be
happy to hear about it.
John McMahon:
Ok, Ruthanne. Panelists, thank you very much.
The one line I always use, I always tell our clients,
you cant VIP yourself. And were all in the
relationship business, and we know the clients
that you all are booking are the ones that need to
be VIP. You cant VIP yourself.

42

EFFECTIVELY UTILIZING SOCIAL MEDIA

FOR BUSINESS

n the introduction to his presentation, J.D.

Andrews, award-winning photographer,
speaker and social media expert, promised
to illustrate how travel businesses can fully
maximize the opportunities available through
social media to grow their companies and
increase their exposure.
The way I think about social media for
business is like having a telephone for your
business that rings and rings and rings that
you never answer if you dont use it, he said.
You must think of it as another extension of
your business.
Andrews assured the audience that social
media offers bona fide return on investment.
Measuring that ROI is similar to evaluating
the value of a billboard: You do not know the
ROI of the billboard. You do not necessarily
know for social media either, but you are in the
conversation. And instead of that one billboard,
youre putting up hundreds and maybe
thousands of different billboards, and theyre
being seen all the time.
Andrews encourages company leaders,
including CEOs, to be visible on social media.
Many people say, I dont want to be on social
media because Im the CEO, or Im the boss,
he said. People like to see support from
the CEO, and they want to hear that persons
real voice. Everyone remembers the Wendys
commercials that had Dave, the owner.
Everybody loved Dave. They dont want to see a
fake Dave or a Dave intern.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Andrews asserted that 93 percent of a
shoppers buying decision is influenced by
social media. The way to start, he suggested,

is to find your voice on social media. Virgin

America, for example, is irreverent and funny;
theyre cheeky, he said. Find your voice and be
consistent. People trust companies that are on
social media more than they do those that arent.
Andrews was assuring to those hesitant to
enter the world of social media because they fear
negative consumer comments. Those negative
responses are part of daily business life, he
advised, and moreover, participating in social media
is a way of addressing those negative comments.
Another word to the wise? Be honest in the
event of a mistake. There are a lot of people on
social media doing it the wrong way. They screw
up, and then they try to delete their mistakes. As
you know, you cant do that. If you do make a
mistake, just be honest.
Andrews cautioned against using social media
posts to promote products and services overtly,
which he said would be regarded by the audience
as spamming and repel new followers. Rather
than posting constantly about upcoming sales, he
suggested putting the audience first by posting
messages such as How was your day? Or, We
are happy its Friday, and did you know we are
having a weekend sale?

AUDIENCE BUILDING AND ENGAGEMENT

My most important takeaway for you is to make a
company hashtag, he said. Hashtags first started
on Twitter. And if you dont know what a hashtag is,
its that little mark and then something after it. So
what you can do if your company is Travel Leisure,
you could do #TLvacations.
According to Andrews, while a hashtag does
not need to be a company name, whatever word
or words is selected should be used consistently.
Hashtags are used throughout Facebook and

SOCIAL MEDIA for business is like having a telephone for your business that rings
and rings and rings that you never answer if you dont use itYOU MUST THINK OF
IT AS ANOTHER EXTENSION OF YOUR BUSINESS.
J.D. Andrews, Award-Winning Photographer, Speaker and Social Media Expert
43

The Top Social Media Platforms for Travel Advisors, Beyond Facebook

Instagram and serve to aggregate everything

posted with the same hashtag. Before choosing a
hashtag, he advised searching online to make sure
it is not already in use.
It is a great way to categorize all your messages
and extends your brand awareness, he said. You,
in essence, become known for that hashtag, and it
aggregates all the content. He recommended that
travel advisors ask their customers to post vacation
photos to their agencys hashtag.
Other ideas for building an audience include
offering giveaways and creating social mediaonly deals. How can you build your social media
audience? he asked Offer a giveaway where
the first five people to answer a question with
your hashtag can win a prize. And all of a sudden,
tons of people are all over it. You could also offer
consumers on social media at a certain time a
discount if they retweet your hashtag.
Visual content increases engagement, Andrews
said, citing statistics showing Facebook posts with
images generate an estimated 53 percent more
Likes than text-based posts. Everybody has a
smartphone, and they have amazing cameras in
them, he said. So take a picture, post it and be
sure to tag it with your hashtag.

UTILIZING SOCIAL PLATFORMS

Beyond Facebook, Andrews ranked Instagram,
YouTube, Pinterest and Snapchat as the top social
media platforms for travel advisors.

44

With 300 million users, Instagram has more than

Twitter. He said users should adopt the same
name for Instagram that they use for Twitter. The
beauty of Instagram is when you get a picture, you
can send it to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Tumblr
in one click, he said. If youre thinking you dont

have any photos to put on Instagram, think

about customers or friends that might have
photos. As long as you give them credit and
ask their permission, you can use it. Thats free
content for you, and you put your hashtag on it.
Andrews said videos posted to YouTube
should not exceed one-and-a-half minutes.
Videos should tell a story, not just promote
deals and offers.
Pinterest, he noted, has an 85 percent
female audience and can be used to promote
the agencys website. The nice thing about
Pinterest is any photos I have on my website, I
put on Pinterest, he said. Thats a link going
back to my website and it costs nothing in
terms of money and very little in terms of time.
You can use it to repurpose your content and
ultimately build search engine optimization.
Andrews urged advisors to set up on
Snapchat now while the platform is still young.
If you dont know what it is, youre recording
small bits of video right at the moment and
sending it to people that follow you, he said.
In five years, two years, one year, it might
be the biggest thing in the whole world, and
you want to make sure youve got your name
out there, and that youve got the same name
consistently.

WORKING WITH BLOGGERS

While some travel providers are hesitant to
work with bloggers because they are not
held to journalistic standards, Andrews noted
that bloggers often are former journalists:
So why would you want to use them? They
can help boost your social media audience.
Theyre personal, and they have engagement

If youre thinking you dont have any photos to put on Instagram, think about
customers or friends that might have photos. AS LONG AS YOU GIVE THEM CREDIT
and ask their permission, YOU CAN USE IT. Thats free content for you, AND YOU
PUT YOUR HASHTAG ON IT.
J.D. Andrews, Award-Winning Photographer, Speaker and Social Media Expert
45

it through your phone. Thats content. Youre

in that amazing place. I once took a picture of
a bathroom that had a TV in it. I thought, Im
watching TV while Im showering. This is great.
And people were like, oh thats cool. A lot of
people take it for granted because we do this for
a living. There are a lot of people who have never
seen a TV in a bathroom.
Steve Johnson of the Tourism Authority of
Thailand asked Andrews how to qualify bloggers
or influencers, saying: We get a lot of requests
from them to travel to Thailand. Of course, the
first thing they tell us is they have a following of
a certain amount of people, but at the end of the
day, we need to know or we need to have some
way of measuring the quality of their following or
their followers and what impact it could possibly
have for us.
Andrews recommended checking whether anyone
is retweeting the bloggers or favoriting their
tweets. If they have 300,000 followers but not one
person retweeted their last tweet, then those people
arent real, he said. Their followers are not real.
Go and look at their blog. Determine the quality of
their writing. If youre looking for images, go to their
Instagram. Are their images nice?
The bad thing is there is a lot of due diligence,
but if youre spending that money to fly them,
to have them eat, to go on tours, thats a lot of
money. And if you dont get the right people,
its just a waste of money. Do you want a big
visual tour? Then try to find people that have
real followers, even if it is only 1,000. Thats ok,
as long as theyre real followers. You can look at
Twitter and it will show you how long theyve been
on Twitter.
John McMahon followed up on the blogger
discussion, saying: I follow a lot of bloggers,
and they tweet that they landed at JFK and they
get 100 likes. Who cares? Andrews responded
that the quality of content is becoming more
important. You need to bump up the quality,
he said. And I think that has to do with pictures,
with tweets, with everything. I only want to share
interesting things with my followers now.
46

Alyse Cori of Travelwize asked whether it

is possible to create a hashtag that others
cant use for their own purposes. The answer,
Andrews said, is no. Social media is still the
Wild West, he said. We call it hash-jacking
sometimes. Sometimes, if you have a really
popular hashtag, like Lonely Planet uses
#lp, theres a lot of people who just put #lp
on everything just because they know thats
a very popular hashtag. You really cant do
much about it. If youve used that hashtag
for a long time, and thats your brand, then I
would say stick with it. Or, if its bugging you
and theyre still using it, then maybe try to find
another one. It depends on how far down the
rabbit hole you are.
Robin Marcus of Direct Travel asked Andrews
to explain the concept of SEO. Its search
engine optimization, he said. SEO is how
many links go back to a website. Because
primarily that makes it look like, oh that website
must know what theyre talking about because
look at all the people that link to it. So when
Im talking about linking for social media, that
makes your SEO go a little higher because you
have all these links going back to your website.
Michael Holtz of The Smart Flyer said his
company believes social media is the way of
the future, adding: If youre not using it or if
you dont start using it soon, you will get left
behind. Im amazed at how many hotels dont
know their own hashtags. Its like knowing your
phone number.
Andrews responded that such ignorance is
not uncommon. Youd be surprised, he said.
I call it the Hashtag yikes. It is scary that
there are still companies that dont get it or do
anything. He cited the example of a mall that
outsources social media support and pays for
postings weekdays only, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
So nobody goes to the mall on a weekend? he
said. Thats the hashtag yikes.
April Murena of Loews Hotels & Resorts noted
that a lot of brands make sure that the hashtag
is controlled by one person to keep it on brand.

47

snowed 20 feet of snow or something like that in

Buffalo. They basically said, OK, we give up. Go
to Aruba. And they and had the largest single day
ever of followings and retweets than they ever had.
Andrews replied that if you can be creative with
social media, When it goes viral, thats gold.

JD Andrews is an award-winning photographer,

speaker and social media expert. He has explored 93
countries across all seven continents and captured travel
experiences for a variety of channels, working with cruise
lines, airlines, destination marketing organizations and
tourist boards. He has been honored with many local
and international awards for his video work including
four Emmy Awards. He entered the social media world
in 2007, and within a few years became one of the
most influential travel people on Twitter, winning a
Travel Shorty Award in 2011. He has been featured on
National Geographic Traveler, BBC Travel, The New
York Times, Huffington Post, AOL Travel, Instagram,
Mashable and Gadling.

48

LUXURY GENERAL MANAGER INTERACTIVE PANEL

he final panel of this years ULTRA Summit

was an open session with a group of top-level
luxury hotel managers who talked about how
travelers have changed over the years, how they work to
attract millennials and the challenges of serving younger,
more casual guests alongside traditional luxury clients.
John McMahon, Questex Travel Group executive
vice president, and Ruthanne Terrero, Questex
Travel Group vice president content and editorial
director, moderated the session with Hermann
Elger, general manager of The St. Regis New
York, Jim McPartlin, managing director of the
Loews Regency Hotel in New York, and Thomas
Steinhauer, regional vice president and general
manager of the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at
Walt Disney World Resort.
Terrero opened up the discussion by asking the
managers to tell a little bit about themselves, noting
that I always find that general managers have such
an interesting career path.
Elger said he came to the St. Regis in New York
a year ago after serving four years at the Montage
Beverly Hills in California and 18 years before that
at Ritz-Carlton hotels all over the world, in many
locations.
McPartlin said he started his career at Disney. I
was Tigger for one day, he said. I actually hit a
kid, but he deserved it. His first general manager
job was for a Holiday Inn. He also worked for
Kimpton and Starwood before moving to Loews.
Steinhauer said he never expected a career in
hotels. I was a tour director for Europe Tours and
I thought wow, this is a great life, he said. You
wake up in Budapest, the next thing is youre in
Athens, then youre up in London and you get to
see the world and youre only 23. And then, of

course, I realized after awhile this is an enormous

gypsy life and youre always on the go. But I kept
checking in and out of these hotels and said thats
pretty cool too.
Steinhauer started his hotel career as
night auditor and overnight cashier at the
InterContinental Vienna. From there he went to
a number of independent properties around the
world. Eventually he joined Four Seasons and
never looked back. He started in Boston, then
moved to Maui, New York and back to Maui before
opening the new Four Seasons in Orlando.
Terrero asked the hoteliers to talk about how luxury
travelers have changed coming out of the recession.
Just before the recession, Steinhauer said he would
encounter young couples who he first assumed were
on a honeymoon financed by their parents, only to
discover that they were in entry-level jobs, traveling
and buying second homes on loans.
Now you dial the clock forward six months later,
and I never saw any of these people anymore, he
said. During the dark days of the recession, It
was that whole different scene. The freewheeling
spending definitely changed.
From a resort perspective, Steinhauer said
todays luxury travelers are more focused on
experience, value and family. He said family and
multigenerational travel now is huge, a dramatic
shift from 15 years ago when Four Seasons
opened its Maui resort and designated the main
pool adults-only. Nobody traveled with kids, no
problem, he said. Today families travel with the
kids, nannies and more.
Experiences and spas also are key, the GMs
agreed. Gone are the days when a hotel or resort
offered only an exercise room. Today, Steinhauer

Traditional LUXURY IS ATTRACTING A NEW GENERATION of younger travelers,

those in their 40s who have outgrown the hip hotels like the W and are now married, some with
kids. They still want to be relevant, but they dont want to walk into a thumping club, either.
WHAT THEY DO WANT, IS SPAS AND FINE DINING.
Jim McPartlin, Managing Director, Loews Regency Hotel, in New York
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said, Try to open up a resort without a spa or city

hotel without a spa, and youre in trouble.
Todays guests make great efforts to achieve
memorable experiences, he said. Take the
elephant camp for instance in Thailand: Who would
fly all the way over there and then change planes
five times in order to go and ride an elephant? Its
not about riding the elephant. Its about learning
how to teach an elephant to accept people on their
backs or work in agriculture. Thats a whole other
level of experience.
McPartlin said traditional luxury is attracting a
new generation of younger travelers, those in their
40s who have outgrown the hip hotels like the W
and are now married, some with kids. They still
want to be relevant, but they dont want to walk
into a thumping club, either, he said. What they do
want, he said, is spas and fine dining.
Elger said todays guests arrive very highly
educated on what they want to experience. Theyve
done a ton of research prior to arriving, he said.
They know where they want to go. They know what
they want to do. Theyve really done their research,
and its up to us to make sure that we execute
flawlessly so they can, go ahead and enjoy.
The younger clients dress more casually and are
very, very much driven by their mobile devices,
so theyre less apt to ask for assistance, Elger
said. Theyre less apt to sit back and wait for
you to carry them through the experience. But
when something goes wrong, and they do need
assistance, it needs to be immediate.
Elger said The St. Regis is spending a lot of time
re-educating its long-time employees to the fact
that this 20-some-year-old or 30-some-year-old
guest who may be much more casually dressed is

actually the future of our clientele, and its not only

the more traditional business suit, more mature
guest who is going to be spending a lot of money
with you.
The hotel recently hosted a weeklong business
course conducted by Columbia Business Schools
MBA program on getting to know the new
millennial clientele. An entire class came in, 24
students, and secret-shopped the hotel, Elger
said. It was really remarkable the feedback they
gave and the way that they were treated differently
from the more traditional guests. That was really
an eye-opening experience for us. That told us
we need to sit down with our team and really help
them to understand the clientele is shifting.
Terrero then turned to the audience for their
perspective.
Michael Holtz of The Smart Flyer said he can
relate to the millennial dilemma because he was
given the what are you doing here look when he
went into a Bergdorf Goodman store in jeans and
a T-shirt when he was in his 20s. You cant do
that anymore, he said. Youve got to be able to
deal with all sorts of people, whatever they want,
whenever they want it. Thats our job, too. Weve
got to listen, weve got to figure out what makes
them tick because every client doesnt think the
same place is the greatest place in the world.
Elger said the feedback from the millennials
participating in the Columbia Business School
program help underscore the areas that the
luxury sector needs to address. The response
time to their request was different, he said. The
seriousness with which they were taken in a
place like the King Cole Bar was different. And, in
defense of the staff, they are very used to servicing

The St. Regis is spending a lot of time re-educating its long-time employees to the fact that
this 20-some-year-old or 30-SOME-YEAR-OLD GUEST WHO MAY BE MUCH MORE
CASUALLY DRESSED IS ACTUALLY THE FUTURE OF OUR CLIENTELE.
Hermann Elger, General Manager of The St. Regis New York
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a specific type of clientele whos used to spending

$30 for a cocktail and has been coming for many,
many years.
But it was a wakeup call for us in that we need
to realize that there is going to be a different type
of clientele coming there and if we want them to
come, we need be very receptive to their needs and
very responsive. Not to take anything away from
our established clientele, which will always have an
amazing stay, but we need to just wake up and say
hey, theres a different customer coming and wants
to experience this in a slightly different way.
Helene Singer of Singer Travel said she thinks
it is interesting that people spend so much time
worrying about the younger generation rather
than what their behavior should be in a hotel
like yours.
I find it very off-putting to be having breakfast
at The St Regis, in a beautiful dining room, or any
of the hotels, and somebody walks in, in shorts,
all sweaty from the gym, she said. The younger
generation doesnt seem to understand that they
could take a shower or put on a long-sleeve shirt
before they walk in to have breakfast at The St
Regis. Its a tough problem.
McPartlin said its a tricky issue for hotels. Were
home of the power breakfast every day, he said.
Its like the best and the brightest in New York and
we have a packed house with a lot of non-hotel
guests. But our folks are trained that if someone
is just fresh from a workout and has a feeling they
need to eat, they are directed to part of the bar
thats quieter. But youre not always successful,
and that is an issue right now.
Steinhauer reminded everyone this is not a new
problem for hotels. I remember this conversation

way back when I was at the Ritz-Carlton in the 80s

and women tried to come in with pants and the
rule was you cant come in here with pants, he
said. So, take this towards the extreme now: they
walk in with sweaty clothes. So if you go in and you
look at the evolution, the tension was always there
somehow generationally.
Steinhauer said his hotel has one very steadfast
rule: You be yourself, thats okay unless its at
the expense of the other guests experience. That
where we draw the line, he said. Because what
I find is so difficult in this business and especially
when it comes to training, you can set up 50 rules
for everything. Try to learn them, try to execute
them and try to get everybody into it. And then
give them the right verbiage in order to maneuver
around and all of a sudden you have a bunch of
robots that are trying very hard to do it but you
can see that theyre not secure in the way they
handle things.
Speaking of rules, Steinhauer said the new
generation of luxury travelers actually hates rule.
Angela Musso of Valerie Wilson Travel asked why
luxury hotels cant establish dress codes, like many
restaurants. Elger said a dress code represents
a rigid approach that is difficult to enforce.
Steinhauer replied that some problems can be
addressed with a minimal dress code versus a
formal dress code.
For instance, he said, the Four Seasons Resort
Maui at Wailea requires guests to wear shirts
when dining at the restaurant near the pool. But
it doesnt matter if its a T-shirt or a dress shirt.
But please wear a shirt, he said.
Steinhauer, McPartlin and Elger agreed that
just because someone is dressed casually, that

The MORE INFORMATION that you can give us, the MORE WE CAN EXECUTE.
The most CRITICAL PIECE OF INFORMATION advisors should
provide is ARRIVAL TIME.
Hermann Elger, General Manager of The St. Regis New York
51

doesnt mean they dont expect the same level of

service given to guests who dress formally.
Its just the opposite, I think, Steinhauer said.
This is a personal preference. So you really cant
profile and judge according to that. But again,
if this person starts to behave in a way where it
becomes, you know, feet on a table or has their
kids running around and banging on everybodys
table You step in. Thats what you have to do.
McMahon suggested that travel agents advise
their clients how to be behave.
Beth Rubin of Select Italy and Select Croatia
warned that profiling can backfire and gave a
personal example. She said that her husband
hates noise, so they always request a room away
from the road and away from the ice machine. On
a recent trip to Louisville, her husband and the
hipster behind the desk started talking about
music and bourbon.
He decided just based on his looks that he was
so cool that he should put us in the room next to
(comedian) Dave Chappelle, who was having a big
party, because we were so cool that we should
be next to the coolest celebrity who was in town,
she said. We got profiled the wrong way. And we
were the old people who were calling security.
The discussion then turned to what hoteliers
can do differently to offer experiences and
amenities that will keep travelers from turning to
room-sharing services like Airbnb. Steinhauer
said the future is about personalization. This
is a must nowadays in the luxury business, he
said. I think if you stay at a luxury property, the
expectation is that if (the guests) communicate
likes and dislikes to you, you actually listen to
me and you follow through.
He recommended that advisors learn what
makes their clients tick so they can provide a
surprise element.
Elger agreed, saying: The more information that
you can give us, the more we can execute. He
noted that the most critical piece of information
advisors should provide is arrival time. That is
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pivotal, especially in New York City where hotels

are running in the 90 percent occupancy range
and guests request late checkouts. If we dont
have that arrival time, were basically leaving it to
chance, he said.
He also urged travel advisors to book the hotels
airport shuttle for their clients as a means of
ensuring the guest rooms are ready upon arrival.
I know when that guest gets on the hotel
transportation at the airport, he said. I know
when that guest is 10 minutes away and I have a
GPS tracking on that car as well. So if you book
the hotel transportation, you can now call me
and say you have no excuse for not having that
room ready.
Elger shared a story about a client who loves the
holiday season in New York City and frequently
stays at The St. Regis New York. One year she
scheduled her visit late in the season, just a few
days after the hotel planned to take down its
decorations. But because her travel agent alerted
the staff, they left the decorations up a few extra
days for her.
Seems like a small thing, but it made such a
difference to their stay, and thats information that
I could have never in a million years have if (the
agent) hadnt shared it with me, he said.

Hermann Elger, general manager of The St. Regis New York, is a

second-generation hotelier who joined the iconic hotels staff in May
2014 after moving from California, where he was general manager
of the Montage, Beverly Hills for four years. He began his career
working as a doorman for The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver and
spent the last 25 years working in hotels around the world.
Jim McPartlin is managing director of the Loews Regency Hotel,
the brands flagship property in New York City. With nearly 30
years of hospitality experience, McPartlin came to Loews from
Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which he served as general manager
of W New York Times Square. Earlier, he was general manager
of the W Hollywood Hotel and Residences in Los Angeles and
held senior-level positions with Andre Balzac Properties, The Ian
Schrager Company and Kimpton Hotels.

Thomas Steinhauer is regional vice president and general manager

of Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort.
Steinhauer came to Orlando from Four Seasons Resort Maui at
Wailed, which he served twice as general manager for a total of
a dozen years, most recently pairing the lead role with that of
regional vice president overseeing a handful of U.S. properties and
Four Seasons Spas throughout the Americas.

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