There is hard evidence that when people talk about their travel experiences, others listen intently. If your customers hear glowing reports about what you have to offer from friends, colleagues, or family members, they are very likely to want to do business with you as well.

Most hospitality marketers recognize the importance of advocacy —word of mouth referrals-in fueling demand for their travel and tourism products. Referrals are the highest-ranked source of information consumers use to select travel services, according to a 1998 report by the Travel Industry Association of America. Even academic studies have confirmed the important role of word of mouth.

However, the same studies also conclude that marketers must invest more heavily in magazines, television, newspapers and travel agencies; that they're not doing enough in those areas to maximize promotion of their operations and thus gain significantly more business.

Say that again? A high percentage of sales come from word of mouth, yet according to these studies, travel marketers are not doing enough mass marketing? If referrals from satisfied customers represent the most successful avenue to attracting new clients, does it make sense for the marketers to send almost all their budgets in another direction, toward on mass marketing channels?

This view is misguided when it encourages marketers to hurl hundreds upon thousands of dollars at conventional communications channels despite common knowledge and clear evidence that certain less conventional alternatives, i.e., word of mouth techniques, have been shown to be far more cost-effective and promise greater returns. true that word of mouth can't do it all by itself, this avenue is typically vastly overlooked for its power to do what it can. In today's marketing environment, in fact, travel firms attempting to reach target consumers through traditional brandbuilding approaches, such as advertising and customer-loyalty programs, face higher hurdles than ever before. Advertising, increasingly cluttered, typically produces low levels of trust, and in many categories fails to provide true product differentiation. And with the array of media choices increasing continually—think cable, the Internet, elevator ads—advertising messages now reach smaller and smaller audiences. Though many customer-loyalty programs have proven highly effective for the frequent business traveler, the same cannot be said for most other segments of the travel industry. Few families, for example, return to the same resort over and over again or take the same cruise more than once.

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HSMAI is the leading organization of sales and marketing professionals representing all segments of the hospitality industry. With a strong focus on education, HSMAI has become the industry leader in identifying and communicating trends in the hospitality industry while operating as a leading voice for both hospitality and sales and marketing management disciplines. Members can access a wide variety of educational tools and enhance their skills and expertise to increase business and enrich their careers. Founded in 1927, HSMAI is an individual membership organization comprised of over 5,000 members representing 65 chapters in 35 countries worldwide.

Hilari Graff
(516) 594-4100
HSMAI

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