Latest / GowayPro Travel Tales / Elevate Your Groups

Transcript

Elevate Your Groups · GowayPro Travel Tales

0:00
Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goethe and welcome to the Goethe Pro Travel Tale podcast.
0:10
Travel far and gravel often.
0:18
Hello everyone, welcome to the Goethe Pro Industry Insider webinar series.
0:24
Today we're coming back to one of our favorite subjects, which is groups, because groups is very, very popular with everyone out there.
0:31
It's also very popular here at GoWay.
0:33
If you didn't know, um we have one of, if not the largest groups department in North America.
0:40
um And our guest today is Heather Varga, not with an S, Varga, V-A-G-A, V-A-R-G-A, sorry.
0:48
And I'll explain why I point out not the S in a minute.
0:50
Heather, how many people do we have in our groups department?
0:53
Do you know of a hand or roughly?
0:54
I believe our team is roughly about thirty two, thirty three people.
0:58
And the widespread weaving the group's part will go away in general these days all over North America and probably internationally as well.
1:05
Do we have international?
1:07
a few members of an o of our team are in Manila.
1:10
Manila.
1:12
Patrick used to work or works for us.
1:14
He was in Japan at one stage on the FIT site.
1:16
Do you have any groups of people like truly remote in another country?
1:20
we don't currently at the moment.
1:23
Um but we do have uh a couple of groups of people in the US.
1:26
In the US, so yeah, so we're spread out.
1:29
In the old days, our head office for groups used to be in Vancouver.
1:33
It's not really that anymore because the lady who ran groups back in the day, Barbara Norton, since retired, and Shirley has taken over and she's based here in Toronto where
1:41
Heather is based, correct?
1:42
Correct.
1:43
here in Toronto and this is where we're doing our recording today.
1:46
Now the reason I bring up uh Heather's surname is I asked her before we came on air, is that Latin?
1:53
And she said, if you drop the S it becomes...
1:55
Hungarian.
1:57
And we chatted a bit further as well.
2:00
And Heather's heritage is also First Nations Canada.
2:04
I always get this pronunciation wrong, the matey, is that the right?
2:08
Now, my understanding, because I actually, or we, I being my family, we visited a friend of ours who's a farmer in Alberta, and he works very closely with the Métis tribes out
2:18
there from the farming and rural side of things.
2:21
And he was looking at getting, and he does, or does, cattle.
2:25
And he was looking at uh breeding.
2:28
Well, he doesn't do it, another farmer friend of his has one of the largest herds of white buffalo, albino buffalo in Canada, if not North America.
2:37
And they were working together with the Métis tribes to start farming the buffalo, the meat and stuff like that.
2:44
And I learnt, and correct me if I'm wrong, Métis is a mix of colonial and First Nations going back, or is it a completely different tribe?
2:56
No, it it it it is a slight
2:59
I should say not tribe.
3:00
think tribe's not the right word.
3:01
Yeah, so the group of people.
3:03
Yes.
3:03
So yeah, I mean we do have a mix.
3:08
And actually my uh some um most of I know we are spread out in Canada and we do have um some of our First Nations of course in that west coast area, but we go back sort of um to
3:22
the time where we 'cause we have the French influence on my side of the family.
3:25
So we were more up in like the Quebec region.
3:29
Okay, is Métis also a Canadian thing?
3:33
Like do you have Métis groups in the US or is it that Canadian designation for a better term?
3:40
I think some I know that um also again we do cross into the US side originally into my family history.
3:47
So we kind of are b a cross between the two on my family's side before sort of some of the lines came through.
3:54
I was about to say that was all pre what a border was.
3:58
Pre-colonial borders.
4:00
Now the reason I bring that up is one I'm interested in this type of personal history of people but two Heather's area of expertise within the Groups Department is the Americas
4:10
and Asia.
4:11
Now the Americas for us is exactly that anywhere from well Alaska, Canada.
4:16
uh the US and then all the way down to Patagonia, Chile and Argentina.
4:21
So Heather covers all that region.
4:22
I just found it interesting with your heritage as well.
4:25
So there's some truly deep rooted knowledge there and we will touch on this in a minute from a group's point of view of whether First Nations experiences can be part of a group
4:34
trip.
4:35
But you also deal with Asia.
4:37
uh can you give our listeners what Asia means to go away from a country point of view?
4:44
So as in which countries in Asia do we deal with?
4:46
Okay.
4:47
uh we cover a large uh selection of Asia, but we obviously have uh Thailand, uh Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, China, India, um Malaysia.
5:02
Well, these fall under the age of area for us.
5:06
Yes, so we have the Maldives as well.
5:11
Seychelles also does fall sort of in that category as well.
5:18
I did mention Nindia Sure did.
5:21
I was That's okay.
5:24
We I I'm trying to think maybe it might be easier to list a spot that we aren't covering.
5:30
Um but
5:32
Okay, so again, I just did this with our Asia Roadshow Asian forum.
5:36
So any guy you've mentioned some of these, know Indonesia, Malaysia, you mentioned Singapore, Hong Kong, which is China, Taiwan, which is China, Tibet, which is China.
5:46
ah You mentioned Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, do we go to Bhutan?
5:51
I you know what's funny?
5:52
I was just gonna say we gotta include Bhutan, of course, because I think that's a fascinating destination that enough people don't consider.
6:01
sure both FIT and groups Nepal India you mentioned ah we do the stands as well does that fall under Asia yes it does because I spoke to Maury about this Maury being our VP of the
6:13
Asia department so the stands fall under us which Kazakhstan Uzbekistan Tajikistan there's one more there is also Pakistan which we don't do at the moment for obvious
6:25
not currently.
6:26
But I know that it's something that hopefully we will will be doing in the future.
6:30
I mean there are talks about
6:32
Yeah, traveled there years ago and it was, it's a beautiful, beautiful country.
6:35
But obviously at the moment there's some political tension in that area.
6:38
Okay then.
6:39
So again, we talked about your background, your heritage, what you looked after here ago as uh a group's destination specialist in America and Asia.
6:51
But one thing we wanted to touch on today ah is not only the type of group you can do, which we've discussed many times.
6:58
So if you want to get more depth about
7:01
what types of groups we can do, you can do, you can look at any of our past webinars and or podcasts.
7:06
Look at our Go Way Pro Travel Academy modules on groups travel as well.
7:09
We touch on a lot of types of groups there.
7:13
But one thing you wanted to bring up today in our conversation was your terminology of elevated group travel or group style, which I sort of threw back luxury, but it's not
7:24
exactly necessarily just luxury, is it?
7:27
I mean, I would say that it's a form of luxury, but it doesn't necessarily have to fall under the luxury category because sometimes it could just be some unique experiences um
7:37
that are taking something to the next level.
7:39
So for example, you know, we, you know, uh
7:44
We can do private villas for groups.
7:46
I know that sometimes that's a question that generally comes up, but with that, I mean we can cater the whole experience to upgrade it, to add private chef meals um coordinated to
7:59
tailored to your needs.
8:01
we could hire if you've you know, depending which country you're going to.
8:05
I know that some people
8:06
In certain countries they hesitate for security reasons.
8:09
Well, if that's a comfort that you'd like to hire security, we could have 24 hour security.
8:13
We can make sure that you have a t butler's 24 hours.
8:17
Like those are just like added touches that we can include in some of those experiences.
8:21
Sometimes it might be, you know, hiring though that uh private helicopter to fly somewhere and have a picnic in a remote area.
8:31
Um
8:32
Just little like unique experiences.
8:34
Yes, they can fall into the category of luxury, but also it can just be an everyday group looking to share a very unique or memorable experience and the whole trip doesn't have to
8:46
be surrounded by expensive experiences.
8:50
It could just be some unique elements.
8:52
So some of the examples you just brought up, ah have you done those yourself with pass bookings, helicopter rides, et cetera?
8:58
Is that something you've personally booked or you know of within Go Way that have done that type of thing?
9:03
Yes, definitely for the helicopters.
9:05
And as far as, you know, for example, one of the destinations that I cover is Columbia.
9:10
And um we have amazing ex we have access to actually some really beautiful villas there, private villas, who can give you sort of the experiences I talked about.
9:22
Um also um getting out uh private venues, um, having people, even if you have a villa, having experiences come to you in your villa as well.
9:33
hiring uh if you want to go shopping and you're looking for sp specific things, we have access to getting you a personal shopper for the day that's going to take you and get you
9:44
everything, you know.
9:45
Number two options of that personal travel.
9:48
One, that they're going to go with you and they're gonna help you tailor your shopping experience.
9:53
Or two, you're going to advise them what you're looking for, what you need, and they'll go do the shopping for you.
10:00
So these are some of the those like.
10:02
extra added value or elevated sort of experiences.
10:06
Yeah, with my experience in Latin America too, though, you can get it everywhere in the world um from an accommodation point of view.
10:12
Some of the options in Latin America, or Asia for that matter as well, villas, some of the hotels are even built, um what were once monasteries or universities.
10:24
So there are so many really good authentic accommodation options worldwide, particularly in the Americas and in Asia, the Hutong, the Ryokans in Japan, all that type of
10:36
things so yeah so a combination is a big part of any trip FIT or groups but if you can make it special FIT or groups uh that will elevate about your experience yeah
10:50
though the misconception generally comes in that because they are a group, we aren't gonna be able to get them some of those days, right?
10:58
Because they're like they see it as more of an individual booking
11:03
Well that was my next question, well not so much a question because I know how it works in your world of groups but the point I wanted to bring up is and I've written down a couple
11:11
of questions for you but I'm going to ask an answer in the one thing but you can expand on it for me.
11:16
It's like why group travel with Go Away and one of the points I think is that the comment on the focus on accommodation the the examples you bring up
11:25
It's very difficult for someone who's not connected or knows the way it works to go out and get some of these very special types of accommodation for groups of 10 or more, which
11:35
is what a group is at GoAid 10 or more.
11:37
And our groups of people know who to talk to and how to arrange it.
11:42
Now it might all be in the same villa per se, but they can get a group of villas.
11:46
So that becomes important as one of the reasons.
11:49
My question was why group travel with GoAid?
11:51
And this is one of the reasons that you can accommodate literally
11:55
big numbers in special accommodation or standard accommodation as well, yes?
12:00
Correct.
12:01
Yeah.
12:01
Actually just s why go away for groups?
12:06
And I think a key thing here is that we can really tailor make and customize anything.
12:12
I will give you an example of a group that came that I worked on last year.
12:17
Actually, it was a DJ that decided that they wanted to take their followers to a trip destination.
12:25
Yes.
12:26
Nice.
12:26
And so they were they do different types of parties and experiences, but
12:30
You know, they were very specific on their needs, including equipment.
12:35
They absolutely required specific equipment in order for them to DJ.
12:39
DJ equipment you make.
12:41
And I can tell you that it wasn't easy.
12:44
We got that equipment and we flew it in.
12:49
It was also Columbia.
12:50
Columbia.
12:52
Oh, they've like I've through a clump.
12:53
I know they've got that equipment down there.
12:55
But difficult to get.
12:57
so they were basing their experience in Cartagena and the equipment wasn't located in Cartagena.
13:04
So we actually had to fly it in from another city, but we located it.
13:08
We did search all over.
13:09
It was it was specific.
13:11
They were very specific.
13:14
okay.
13:15
We have that so that just shows you that we have the capabilities to really get you everything that you need.
13:20
I find that surprising because one of my memories of Colombia is, for those who don't know, he's been an overland driver so we drive through all of Latin America and in
13:28
Colombia in particular, and this is back in the day, I'm not sure if it's like this, now as you drive into a town there was always an army checkpoint.
13:37
You drive into, you just show your paperwork and drive through but as you enter the town there was music, like I mean pumping.
13:44
because again, a lot of the towns, the main roads and all the shops and stuff are on the edge and they'd be pumping the music and lights going off.
13:51
So they had the sound systems.
13:53
But again, as you just mentioned, you're referring to a particular model of a turntable or something like that.
13:58
So back to Heather's point.
14:00
the group's department is that experience and we can resource.
14:04
Now that's a story I hadn't heard before.
14:06
Speaking to Jennifer, one example she uses of unique groups is a group of undertakers going to, I think Argentina, again back to the Americas as well.
14:15
So one, not only can we do unique groups, undertakers, DJs, but to your point, the request requirements of the group, generally we can't match everything all the time, but
14:31
It just shows you that, you know, we do have access to, you know, obtain things that sometimes might not always be that easy to to obtain.
14:41
So we have the right contacts and connections in order to make your group everything you need it to be.
14:48
think it's important on that example particularly is that if you have someone come to you with a group and you think their request is weird and wonderful, it probably is, it might
14:57
be, but don't say no and go, oh, I don't know because there's a very good chance when you call Heather or one of the team here that they can definitely help you out with that.
15:09
So why would go away?
15:12
We just discussed that and I think you've heard through Heather's examples here pre this question.
15:19
Groups runs like a FIT department.
15:21
You come to Heather and say, have a group of X amount of people, they want to do this, and they're very specific about that.
15:29
We will customize it.
15:30
And as Heather's pointed out, we can get DJs, we can get their equipment, we can bring their followers so we can handle the air, we can handle large numbers.
15:38
Again, 10 or more is our groups.
15:40
How big was that group?
15:42
The DJ group.
15:43
Two hundred.
15:44
There you go, 200.
15:45
And we haven't done this in a while, but we did the police and firemen's games in Australia many years ago, and it was like 10,000.
15:53
So we can handle monster groups as well.
15:55
that's, 200 is above average.
16:00
What would be the average group that you deal with, group size?
16:03
I would say probably twenty to fifty is pretty pretty pretty normal um a group size.
16:11
And of course they do go up.
16:13
I mean I have currently right now at least I have an an eighty passenger.
16:18
Yes.
16:18
Where are they off to?
16:19
Japan.
16:20
anything in particular in Japan.
16:22
No, they're just um a sightseeing leisure group.
16:27
But they are quite a large group.
16:29
Yeah, for sure.
16:29
Um but they're not doing they're not like a specific type of niche.
16:33
So
16:33
Right, they're just a group who want to go to Japan.
16:36
So for those out there who may not have worked with groups before and they have someone call them up and say, have 80 people who want to go to Japan, do the golden root, which is
16:44
the standard.
16:45
And to Heather's point, they're not looking for anything particular.
16:48
They don't want to do anime as a focus.
16:51
They don't want to cook as a focus, whatever it may be.
16:54
How do you approach with your Asian partner?
16:59
accommodating again using that word accommodate because generally speaking the accommodation is the key to any itinerary group FIT availability what they want now if
17:09
you're dealing with 80 people in Japan what's the logistics of splitting that group up into hotels have you got them in the same hotel every city or do you have to split them up
17:20
I do have them in the same hotel in every city, however, of course, by um vehicle.
17:25
Uh we've had to split them up because we don't have that size.
17:28
So we do have two vehicles, two guides, and they have been advised that if they expand, it would go to a third vehicle.
17:38
On that note of the hotels and the vehicles, how far ahead is this group booked?
17:47
Get everyone in the same hotel.
17:49
They booked about 'cause they are departing in June, so of twenty twenty seven.
17:58
Twenty I'd say they they probably booked about five months ago.
18:04
So 18 months out, yes, ballpark.
18:07
In normal circumstances without considering a World Cup happening or Olympics or some big local event, is 18 months ahead a good time to book for a 10 size group or an 80 size
18:20
group?
18:20
Should you think that the more people you have, the further ahead you should book?
18:26
I think that it definitely depends on destination.
18:29
Like somewhere like Japan, if you're calling us probably within twelve months for 80 people, we are unlikely to find all the space in one hotel and we may have to consider a
18:41
split.
18:41
Split, right.
18:42
Um because the destination is in demand and people are booking, so the space does become limited.
18:48
In another destination, potentially it could be possible, but
18:53
I would say that when you're coming in for a large group and not only just for space but for pricing, it's better to come in early.
19:01
Okay.
19:02
So 18 months minimum would be a good suggestion for people with a group, regardless of number.
19:09
I think though if you're I mean, if you want like is if you're coming in with a group ready that if you're coming in with a group ready and you have your numbers, like if you
19:20
know, okay, we've got twenty people, they're a hundred percent going, then you can come in at twelve months and roll with that.
19:26
But if you are looking for um putting something unique together and selling it to your client database
19:36
I would say minimum 18 months because what you want to do is you want time to advertise and market that group and find your audience.
19:43
And then you need to like you want people to have time to pay because at times some of these trips can, you know, start to cost, especially depending on the experience.
19:56
And we and you it gives people time to make installments or put money down towards the trip or plan for it.
20:06
And this we find gives a better success rate to having f your groups filled and putting the numbers together.
20:14
Um also, you know, when you do plan ahead and say at 18 months and you come to us at uh about the 12 month mark and you're like, okay, I'm struggling a little bit.
20:26
I haven't really filled my space and you know, I'm I I I'm not sure where to go from here.
20:33
We still have enough time to jump in there and support you and come up with ideas or maybe make a slight change that we feel we might need to change in order to increase those
20:44
numbers.
20:45
Um, in the groups department, we're definitely there to support you.
20:49
And so n this, if you started at 12 months, you know, and then you in a few months you came to us, it starts to get too close for us to be able to jump in and find a solution to
21:01
fix.
21:02
But when we start at eighteen months, it gives us lots of time to make sure you're successful.
21:07
Yeah, so this is a couple of key things about groups is they can be easier as a booking because you create one itinerary and you sell it to 10, 20, 30, 50, 80 people.
21:18
So that's easier verse every booking being a different setup request, et cetera.
21:22
So that's one positive.
21:23
But the flip side is hurting those 10, 20, 30 or 80 people into that particular itinerary agreeing to it, accepting the price, which brings us to my question.
21:34
This you mentioned.
21:35
If someone comes to you with a group ready to go, you know the numbers, the itinerary is pretty much a stock standard thing without any crazy refinements 12 months out.
21:45
And then you mention if you just have a group that you're trying to create.
21:49
So we turn that as a spec group.
21:51
That's a speculative group.
21:53
It's either something you as a travel agent has come to go with, it's your idea and you want to shop it, or someone outside has come to you as the agent and said, I've got this
22:00
concept, I want to shop around.
22:02
So let's just for the sake of it.
22:04
I'm a photographer.
22:05
I wanna do a photography group.
22:07
The intent for me as the term we use, Pied Piper, is I want a free trip out of it.
22:11
I'll bring.
22:13
to you, the travel agent, 20, 30 people, right?
22:16
Then you work together, you and I, the agent and myself, you speak to Heather and you now come up with an itinerary and then you go out and shop it.
22:23
And as Heather mentioned, we will support you in marketing and all that type of thing.
22:27
You can learn all this through the academy.
22:29
Your account manager will also support you as well in that.
22:33
But that, to your point, takes longer because you're now trying to find the people, okay?
22:38
So my question after all that sort of preamble is, on average, how many
22:43
spec groups do you get verse agents coming to you with a group ready to go?
22:48
Is there an average?
22:50
I wanna say probably seventy five percent to eighty percent of our business is spec.
22:54
spec.
22:55
Yes.
22:56
Now is the spec coming from the agent or is it coming from one of their clients?
23:00
Or you're unsure of that.
23:02
I would say that uh a good chunk of them are coming from the agents and some are coming from clients, you know, maybe yoga instructors, gym instructors, um, like you said,
23:13
someone in a photography business, maybe in DJs.
23:18
I also have had influencer um trips as well that I've done.
23:22
Um, last year I had a luxury influencer uh South Korea trip.
23:29
So her following
23:31
Was that K-pop, K-beauty?
23:34
this one it was just like a luxury trip.
23:37
They did um they did Michelin star restaurants and they did elevated like upgraded spa experiences and beauty experiences and they did a bunch of different like sightseeing.
23:51
So they uh and then they stayed in high end properties as well.
23:56
Um but so this was uh and I'm currently working on actually
24:02
It's not quite finalized yet, but I am working on another sort of influencer trip at the moment as well.
24:07
Um, and they are putting together sort of a retreat style in Thailand.
24:14
In Thailand.
24:17
So of the groups that you deal with, be it spec or otherwise, how, so this is a two prong question, how many repeat agents do you have coming back to you?
24:26
I.e.
24:27
the agent has repeat groups booking, which is one of the big benefits of groups.
24:31
Once you get going with groups, it is very, very financially.
24:37
lucrative to you as the agent.
24:39
But how many and do you know of the agents that come back to you have the same person at their end coming back to them?
24:45
So like I'm the Pied Piper, I've come up with a photography group.
24:50
I've got my little following together and every year I'm moving.
24:52
Now I say this because I used to deal with a group like this.
24:55
It was the same core of travelers.
24:57
It was a retired group of bankers.
24:59
Every year they do a group trip together.
25:02
So every year they were coming back and back and back.
25:04
How many of those do you have of repeat agents and or repeat end user clients?
25:10
I have a large number of repeat agents.
25:13
Um, but as far as repeat group clients, we definitely have a good handful of them.
25:17
Me personally, I have a couple, but also, you know, if it doesn't cover my region, then you know, one of my colleagues might take over.
25:28
So for example, my South Korea influencer, they have come they have come back, but they are covering another region on their next trip, so they're working with one of my other
25:36
colleagues.
25:36
So if
25:38
Of course, um, I mean, we have a great product at GoAway.
25:41
So if people are on their trip and they're having an amazing time, a hundred percent they're gonna come back to us and they're gonna ask for us to do it again somewhere else.
25:50
Yeah.
25:50
And this is used to happen too, this is little tip as well, if you as the agent, the organizer of the group or something you've come up with, know, a spec group which you've
25:59
now made happen, a little tip I would suggest is when that group's traveling on the assumption it's all going well, which hopefully would go away, it will go well, when
26:08
you've got that group ready to book and it's going, so when's your Japan group going?
26:12
In 27 you said.
26:13
Twenty seven.
26:14
So use this one as an example.
26:16
I would now start planning with Heather another one for that group, right?
26:21
So let's, I can be the same, the regions you work in, be it another Asia destination or somewhere in the Americas, but come up with another itinerary that you can then pitch at
26:31
the last couple of days of the group trip they're on in Japan, just say, hey guys and girls.
26:37
How about this one for Peru next year?
26:39
Okay, it's all set to go.
26:41
Here's the pricing, bang, bang, bang, bang.
26:42
You hit them while they're hot, while they're in a travel mood.
26:45
Everything's going wonderfully well for them.
26:47
And this is how we used to with this banking group.
26:49
They did it by choice.
26:50
They wanted this.
26:51
So we would actually present two different itineraries at the end of the trip.
26:55
You can go one in South Africa, one in Europe.
26:58
And as a group, they would choose and then you were basically booking the next group as soon as that group trip finished and you were nodding your head.
27:05
because this is exactly what one of my um agents does.
27:09
So she she has her sort of business.
27:15
She has a specific name for them and every I we do two, currently two trips a year for the clients.
27:24
It's a all women's group.
27:27
There's another one, yep.
27:28
And um so what happens is like every year we plan these two trips and then just before the trip is about like about a month, a month and a half before the trip's about to depart,
27:38
she comes to me, she gets ready, she's like we start brainstorming what next trip is gonna be so that she could present it and launch it at that.
27:46
She always does a welcome dinner.
27:48
So um every time the at the welcome dinner when the group arrives, she gives little gift bags and she presents what the next trip.
27:57
trip is gonna be and she launches it so that by the time everyone's on a high from the trip coming home, they're ready to deposit down on the next one.
28:06
Yeah, exactly.
28:07
Strike while the iron's hot.
28:08
There's a good little tip there from a marketing point of view.
28:10
I like that.
28:10
She presents little gift bags as well.
28:12
again, if it's you out there as the agent who are pushing these groups, you've got to also like, you you work with Heather and her expertise on building the itinerary.
28:21
You give her what you want.
28:22
DJ equipment, photography gear, uh wellness result, whatever it may be and Heather will create that for you.
28:29
But you've also got to become the marketer and market yourself and then the trip itself.
28:32
So a couple of good points there like look at maybe pushing the next trip when the first one's running.
28:37
Little gift bags, uh little thank you notes on their return, all that type of stuff.
28:42
And again, we can help you out on those marketing.
28:45
uh
28:46
points.
28:47
Some technical questions, or not really technical, more logistical.
28:51
You mentioned when you were answering a question before about payments, if a trip is either expensive, or even if it's not expensive, but the end user client out there can't
29:01
pay it all in one hit, we can take payments in installments.
29:04
Is that correct?
29:04
That is correct.
29:05
We can do installed payments.
29:07
Um so they can pay along as they go up until the final payment date.
29:11
Now can the clients pay us directly or do they have to go by their agency or is that a choice?
29:16
Okay, so with groups, we do have a payment link that is available um for the group to make their payments on.
29:22
And the agent can share that with the clients, and the clients can use that link to make a payment towards the uh group trip.
29:30
And what would happen if a client does make a payment um themselves within 24 hours business day, uh, the agent will have an update advising who has made a payment and the
29:42
amount that they've made the payment for so that they will be in the loop as well that somebody
29:46
has put money down towards the trip.
29:48
Yeah, that's my question because we've had agents ask this and their question is, how do I know who's paid what?
29:53
But you've just answered that, they get notification of it as well.
29:57
What's our deposit rules at the moment as we sit here?
30:00
Not a promotional one.
30:01
What's our normal deposit one?
30:02
Then we'll talk about any promotional deposits.
30:04
Our uh group deposit policy is a thousand dollar deposit to get the group going and started.
30:11
And uh final payment would be at uh 90 days, of course, depending on you know any special requirements or needs or there may be additional deposits that could come into play, but
30:24
that would be the standard.
30:26
Okay, so it's a thousand regards to group size.
30:28
So if you get 10 or more, like let's say you have 11, it's a thousand bucks.
30:32
If you walk through the door with 80, it's a thousand dollars.
30:35
If your 80 drops to 60, it's still a thousand dollars.
30:37
That doesn't change.
30:39
And that equates to basically it's a hundred dollars per person based on a minimum of 10.
30:43
So it's pretty good.
30:44
Is the deposit movable if the group doesn't come through for the date that they were looking at?
30:51
So as long as you cancel outside of a hundred and twenty days from departure, that uh deposit would be allowed to be used towards another group booking as long as it's booked
31:04
within 12 months from the period of the cancellation.
31:07
And then after that, unfortunately, if you do cancel again, it will be a non-refundable situation.
31:11
um Heather also mentioned too, from a deposit point of view, um the thousand is for Go-Away.
31:19
If you are booking, let's say something, an Amazon cruise, uh Nile cruise, the cruise lines, or if you're going to see the mountain gorillas, mountain gorilla permits are...
31:29
payment is due upon confirmation.
31:32
as Heather mentioned, there may be extra deposits on top of the go away deposit, but when you are building your itinerary, your destination specialist will tell you, be aware that
31:40
this, this and this and this.
31:42
So you're aware and your clients will also be aware.
31:45
Now, is there any promotional deposit incentive at the moment?
31:49
We do.
31:49
We have an incentive until the end of July currently that uh any new bookings booked before the end of the month would be a deposit of $750 for the group and a bonus $250 on
32:05
your Go Away Pro card, half paid at the time that you confirm the booking and half paid once the groom departs.
32:13
Yeah, and just so you know deposit and those rewards it's US or Canadian so it's equivalent 750 US or 750 Canadian We're not doing exchange rating things with that Okay,
32:26
is there anything else you'd like to touch on or highlight from the elevated?
32:31
Side of group travel any other examples Like I think you've covered it pretty well just through your general answers of how we can customize
32:41
to what the group's requirements are, um be it a standard trip to Japan or elevated from getting equipment in for a group of DJs or the DJ in Columbia.
32:52
As you've heard, know, as Goway does throughout from FIT through groups, it's all very, very customized.
32:58
Let's talk about air, actually.
33:00
um Let's talk about your group to Japan, 80 people.
33:04
Did the agent ask you, i.e.
33:05
Goway, to handle the air for that?
33:07
Okay, so we are going to be looking into group air, but not necessarily for all eighty, because some passengers do want to use their own points and have their own their own uh
33:20
preferences of airlines that they're gonna book.
33:23
So in this case, we are looking at probably doing group air for about half of the passengers.
33:29
So we will be probab we will be um because I think I will be able to source the air in about another two weeks.
33:36
So once I'm able to source the air, our goal is to go for about forty uh seats and uh we're estimating that that's approximately how many people will take the group air
33:48
together.
33:49
Right.
33:50
So again, we can do group air as Heather will be doing for her group because Gowie has its own ah air department.
33:55
We're an air consolidator as well.
33:57
So just a group air only booking we can handle as well, correct?
34:01
That is correct.
34:01
just came to you with just, have a hundred people going to a conference, but I need the air.
34:05
can deal with that as well.
34:06
Yes.
34:07
Okay then.
34:07
ah This is not necessarily about air.
34:10
When an agent comes to you, you've worked out the itinerary, you give him or her the price at the other end.
34:15
Are you giving a net or gross price to the agent?
34:18
Okay, so our our standard is net, of course.
34:22
Um, but in some cases there are gross rates that are provided um to some of our partners that we have agreements with.
34:30
Um if you are getting a net, because this is always a question, am I allowed to mark it up?
34:35
Of course you are.
34:36
Um any of anything over and above the net value would be your commission paid out.
34:41
Yeah, and again, a word of advice is, and again, that's how most people do their groups.
34:46
You give them the net and they handle their own.
34:49
profit margins the other end.
34:50
Correct.
34:51
Yeah, just just be careful that you don't price yourself out of it.
34:54
And again, please ask our destination specialists and say, look, if I add 400 per person or 600, is that fair?
35:00
Because you will know as in Heather and the team will know whether the final sell price is if you're pricing yourself out of potential bookings as well, because they know the market
35:11
as well.
35:12
Okay, time.
35:14
Anything else you want me to ask?
35:17
I think no, I mean the only the only other thing that I think is like and this always like one thing that always comes up and that I get calls is like most of the time when they're
35:25
calling for the group, like if you get a somebody in the queue or something, you get a call and then they're like, I see this tour on your website, but I don't like that or I'm
35:33
like, Well that's fine, we can start from scratch and fully customize I feel like sometimes people don't actually realize how much customization
35:41
I'll ask the question.
35:42
Okay, here we go.
35:43
Get back into it.
35:44
So another thing I wanted to point out is that this is, okay, two things.
35:51
GoAway.com is our website and it has what we call travel ideas, which is exactly, that's an idea, it's a concept.
35:58
Now, if you look at it from an FIT or group's perspective and you think, like it how it is, then you can buy it off the shelf.
36:04
But really, the way we work is here's a concept, here's an idea for you and then you come to your FIT or group specialist and say, I like this outline but I wanna add, subtract,
36:15
push up the accommodation here, drop it down here, add the Inca trail in there, then go luxury.
36:21
So again, are company that customises 98 % of the time.
36:26
We have a few set departures of our own making and we at times will sell as is off the website.
36:32
um On GoAway.com, do we have sample group itineraries?
36:37
We do.
36:38
Yes.
36:38
And we've uh the team us team members have actually assisted with some of those recommended group uh tours that we would put together for somebody.
36:46
Okay, so yeah, so they're either an example you've created or it's a pasto tennery that you've actually sold and run.
36:54
But I think what I need to point out and I'll let Heather expand on this is that from a group's point of view, I think you would have picked it up for our conversation today from
37:03
a lot of Heather's examples, but can you highlight or emphasize the fact that we customize particularly at the group's level?
37:10
Yes.
37:10
So I I know that sometimes uh people come to us and they see a specific itinerary, but then they say, but can we just switch this out?
37:18
The reality is with groups is that when you call us, I mean we can build from scratch.
37:22
We can start from scratch.
37:23
And we uh the this the internet samples are really just that samples.
37:29
They're examples for you to see what we can do.
37:32
And if you love it, you can book it.
37:33
Um where we I want I always love to tell people um when I'm talking to them is
37:40
You know, especially if you're doing a spec group, you wanna what's gonna make you stand out in the market, what's gonna make you unique?
37:47
Yeah, our standard itineraries online are amazing, but if they're available for everybody, then how are you gonna market yourself to be something different?
37:56
So I always love when somebody's coming to build and that we say, like, let's let's dig in deep.
38:03
Tell me about your clients, like what's their ages, what kind of experiences they have.
38:08
And from there we start the conversation and we look for all those amazing things that aren't necessarily ready available for you to see.
38:17
Like in Peru, I mean, we have family like experiences with local people and families in their village or in their home.
38:26
I've had uh a group going to India who was going during Diwali and
38:33
They we incorporated that they got to spend it with a family in their home and see how the festival, you know, have the real ex authentic experience.
38:45
And um, I've had a group in Thailand come to me and be like, I want to literally have a dinner with a family.
38:53
And we spoke to our local partners and we
38:57
came with a family that they could spend the day with and they can cook a meal with in their home and sit down and have dinner with them.
39:04
And these type of experiences aren't something that you're always going to find readily available and advertised in standard groups.
39:11
And so I always encourage people, um, come to us, talk to us, let us make it special.
39:18
And we can do that.
39:20
So back to my question I posed earlier, why I group travel with Go and I think this is key to it that, well let me ask you this, of all the groups you've sold, has any itinerary
39:30
been the same?
39:33
Mm, I would say for the most part, no.
39:35
There's probably been a couple that have been similar but they are not the same.
39:39
so that's why I travel with Go Way.
39:41
That's why I travel with Go Way because I'd say 98 % of the tenories that we create put together and have clients come back from.
39:49
rave about us, rave about you, is it's unique because it's built to exactly what they want.
39:55
Now could be similar, but it'll never ever be the same.
39:58
uh I actually want to finish our little conversation again back to a logistics question and how it may or hopefully will impact our travel agents, partners out there.
40:08
We have just taken on board, I think you're working with, I'm not sure if you personally yet, a new groups system.
40:15
For years and years and years groups uh have been trying to get assistance
40:19
that works for them because the group's department and their itineraries are so unique, finding a system that worked for them was difficult.
40:25
I think we've landed it.
40:27
It's been tested.
40:28
We're recording this in July, I think, for last month and a bit.
40:31
It's in the testing phase.
40:33
Is there anything that you want to tell our agents that'll sort of make the working life easier and better for you and our agent partners?
40:42
so we are only in the first phase and um as these the future phases come out it is going to make a world of a difference for bookings.
40:53
But right now, I think that the highlighted feature of the new system is of course our itineraries.
41:00
You you know, you're gonna get a digital link.
41:03
The clients are gonna be able to have some imagery descrip you know descriptions, you're gonna be able to send that
41:11
I know our old format was mainly geared towards you.
41:15
We didn't really have a client copy for our agents.
41:18
Um, we could modify it or we would give them a document that they could modify.
41:23
In this case now, you don't have to worry about that anymore because you have your copy and you have the client's copy that you get to share.
41:30
Um, right now, since it's our the launch for this month is still just mainly about the
41:40
quoting and itinerary proposal features.
41:44
Um, this is the only part you're gonna see now, but down the road in the future, clients are gonna be able to, you know, go in there and enter their information as per their
41:55
passports, or they're gonna be able to see their balances due.
41:59
And you know, you're gonna get more system automated information that's gonna come more instantly, and so it's just going to be a whole better process.
42:10
Yeah, so one of GoWay's mottoes, which our owner Bruce Hodgstill preaches is we can always do things better.
42:16
And we have understood that the group's logistical backend, like the actual service you'll get from our destination specialist is exceptional.
42:24
The itinerary is awesome.
42:26
And the end service delivered has been exceptional.
42:30
We're not perfect, mistakes are made, but generally speaking, you'll have a great experience.
42:34
But our backend logistics, we know has been a little bit of a bumpy road, but
42:39
We've invested lots of time and lots of money in it.
42:41
Shelly's been working very hard with the team and the team had involvement in making it structured, which works for them and in turn for yourself.
42:49
So you will see a much smoother back end situation coming um as this system rolls out.
42:56
So we're all very, excited, particularly the team.
42:58
We are definitely excited and um I can't I'm I'm still I'm still waiting for all of it to come.
43:05
I'm ready.
43:05
Yeah, I'm Okay, time.
43:08
I'm going to, in my head, I'm going to edit that and put that further earlier in the conversation.
43:12
Okay, so we're going to go out now.
43:13
Okay.
43:16
So we talk about uniqueness.
43:17
Okay.
43:18
So I think you've seen today or heard today, depending on what you're doing, listening or watching us, um that our Groups department um is very well established.
43:27
One, the company's 55 years old and I think Groups started at like five years after the company.
43:31
So it's probably one of the oldest uh Groups.
43:36
as well as one of the largest.
43:37
um Through Heather's words, you should have picked up that, know, customize, customize, customize is what it's about.
43:44
It's what the team love to do because it makes your life interesting as well.
43:47
It does.
43:48
That every booking is different.
43:49
um There is good financial benefits with working with groups.
43:54
um
43:55
You get one itinerary sold to multiple people, flip side is you have to herd those people into the itinerary.
44:00
But again, if you come through with a group ready to go, or you get that spec group up and running, then you've got that momentum going for future groups.
44:07
Repeat business is key.
44:09
Like you mentioned earlier in our conversation that you have a lot of repeat agents.
44:14
Let me ask you this, how many phone calls do you get with a new agent?
44:17
Or is your business, is your book of business 90 % your repeat agents?
44:22
Um, I would say I'm still growing my repeat uh repeat business of course.
44:28
Um new agents, I'm still always still working with new people.
44:33
And I love working with um with new agents as well because we have a lot to grow and learn together.
44:42
So I still enjoy also meeting with
44:44
I'm sure.
44:45
So if you're an experienced with groups, look to go away with our experienced groups department, reach out to Heather directly.
44:52
If you have America's Eraser or any of our other team for any other parts of the world.
44:56
If you're new to groups, reach out again to Heather or the team.
45:00
They're more than happy to work with you as a new person.
45:03
One to the industry, if you've never sold travel in general or sold FIT, but now you're looking at groups.
45:10
The team will help you out and we have so much support in the background.
45:13
Again, the Travel Academy has, I think, seven modules on finding group, pipering the group, logistics behind it, the marketing of it.
45:22
It's all there.
45:22
So if you're new, check out the Academy, run through the modules and give Heather a call and then she will help you in the real world of it.
45:29
It's such a wide open world for travel in general, but for groups, it's everything.
45:34
Like it's all the destinations, Goi does all seven continents, so we can handle any country.
45:38
but then it gets into that really cool, fine stuff.
45:41
DJs, undertakers, photographers, influencers, which is becoming a big one, wellness groups, sports groups, women's groups.
45:51
Think of any group of people, any hobby, then that's potential group waiting to happen that you can tap into.
45:59
Heather, before we go any further, you want to say to our travel partners out there.
46:03
Just that, you know, we're called destination specialists for a reason.
46:06
So no matter your experience with groups uh or even at a region, uh you come to us because we are fully knowledgeable and capable of taking care and providing you with all the
46:18
information you need.
46:19
There you go.
46:20
So on the note, I'd like to thank Heather for her time today.
46:22
And as always, thank you out there for giving us an hour or so of your time.
46:26
We know how busy you are and hopefully now how busy you will be with your next group bookings.
46:31
Until next time.
46:32
you