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October Special

Vee haff our traveler information request form gechangen

After recently taking a look at the traveler information request form we send to tour operators, we realized that it might as well have been written in the same language as the above headline. So, we’ve simplified the layout and language to make sure that tour operators understand that the form is a hot sales lead from a self-selected, motivated traveler.  We’ve also added a list of tips on how to respond to these requests and how they fit into a conscious Web advertising strategy. To see a copy of the new form, go to: Services Page for a sample report.

The best way to use your Web Page Ad? Int’l Kitchens shows how

Tour operators who already have a Web Page Ad on our web site or are thinking of buying one should take a look at The International Kitchen's (IK) to see how an advertiser can take full advantage of the ad. (Go to Themes, select Culinary, then select Europe. IK will come up as the second entry listed.) Under “Show Trips by This Host,” visitors can view an astonishing 49 trips. IK can show as many trips as it wants, and controls updates from its end. The “Show Culinary Travel Agents” links to nine specialty TAs, and the “Story” link goes directly to “A Visit to Italy,” an archived story IK submitted for our last newsletter. Finally, visitors can click on “Web Page Ad Full View” to connect to IK’s full-page ad, which features links to its home web page and a contact form. We think IK’s approach shows how a company can take full-tilt advantage of the Web Page Ad concept without paying any more than the basic fee.

Our – and your – travel market grew 80% in five years

According to research company Interep, 16% of all adult Americans – 31.6 million people – now live in households where the annual income is $100,000 or more. Even better news is that the number of such households increased almost 80% over 1997, when affluent adults comprised only 9% of the grown-up population. Much of that growth can be attributed to Baby Boomers reaching the peak of their earning power and the gratifying percentage increase in the numbers of African Americans (154%), Hispanics (126%) and women (197%) reaching the $100,000 threshold in the years 1991-2000. The continuing growth and spread of affluence in the U.S., despite current economic struggles, is good news for the cultural-educational sector of the travel industry.

Our astounding 25%-plus click-through rate – Yowzuh!

We’ll be the first to agree that “click-throughs,” and “user sessions” and “page views” can be confusing terms when trying to gauge the effectiveness of online ads. So here’s a plain-English explanation of what percentage of people who visit our web site consciously view the ads:

• 85% of all of all the people who view more than one page on our web site click on the thumbnail ads they find when they reach the theme and destination pages they’re looking for. This means they click on them, watch them expand into Web Page Ads, then look at them and read them.
   
• 30% of those people then follow the Web Page Ad’s link and click onto the advertiser’s home page.
   
• This means that 25.5% of all serious visitors to our site who see a Web Page Ad will reach that advertiser’s home page. When they arrive, they arrive primed, interested and ready.

Enough said.

20% of Americans say Internet is the “most essential” info medium

One out of five Americans – 20% – surveyed in September by Arbitron, Inc. and Edison Media Research say that the Internet is the “most essential” medium in their lives. This compares to the 39% who cited television, 26% who cited radio and 11% who cited newspapers as their favorite media. However, among college educated respondents, the Internet jumps to 30%, only 2% below TV, and well ahead of radio (21%) and newspapers (13%), as the most preferred medium. Adding to the good news that educated people are relying more and more on the Internet is the increase in time people are spending on the Web: The average duration of Internet users’ visits increased from 41 minutes in July 2001 to 58 minutes in July 2002. Credit increased broadband and better online content, as well as a now firmly developed habit among Internet users, for the increase.

Watch for rise in instant messaging to affect agents and tour hosts.

This is left-field stuff for now, but keep an eye on it: The Pew Research Center reports that Instant Messaging (IM) has caught on with college students in a big way. (IM is software that allows people online to chat back and forth in real-time – think of it as a private chat room.) Twenty-six percent of students, vs. 12% of older adult Internet users, use IM daily. Because it’s one step faster than e-mail, and has such a sense of immediacy, IM is bound to bust out into the general population pretty soon. Look for it to become pervasive in office communications and people’s day-to-day online routines. Also look for it to become an essential part of e-commerce: Consumers are going to want to “talk” directly to company reps before they buy. Travel agents and tour operators, are you listening?

Again Cultural Travels is ahead of the curve! Our new Web Page product has this service already underdevelopment.