ASTA to Promote Agents on PBS, With Silversea’s Backing
by Marilee Crocker /Editor's note: This story has been updated.
ASTA has landed a sponsor for TV programming about travel agents that will air on PBS stations later this year. Silversea Cruises signed on to the project on Friday, ASTA said.
The segments, which will air in four- and six-minute versions, will focus on the value of travel agents and what they can do for consumers as well as on the ASTA brand.
They will be broadcast between programs, just before the top of the hour, on PBS stations across the nation, according to ASTA.
ASTA’s consumer push
The initiative, a first for ASTA and Silversea, reflects ASTA’s renewed focus on supporting travel agents by promoting their value to the traveling public.
“This is our next step up in consumer awareness,” ASTA president and CEO Zane Kerby said last week.
The PBS segments are “a big deal because they’re all about the value of travel agents and [are] done in a very high-end manner,” said ASTA’s new vice president of business development, Susan Verdolini-Sheats.
The segments will be produced in the style of public interest programming rather than that of TV commercials, she noted.
Ellen Bettridge, Silversea’s president of the Americas, called the partnership with ASTA “a great opportunity for us to get our brand out there in conjunction with travel agents [and] to show our full commitment to the travel agency community.”
A good match
While Silversea does not usually advertise on TV, the PBS audience matches the line’s target demographic, Bettridge said.
“PBS is a trusted media outlet that attracts viewers who are inquisitive and affluent,” she said. “These are the same qualities that typify the market segments that Silversea and travel agents target.
“When you think about PBS and the types of entertainment it has – culinary, experiences, travel – and all the segments it covers, that’s a lot of what our brand is as well,” Bettridge added.
Filmed at ASTA convention
The PBS segments, including agents’ on-camera comments, will be filmed in part at this year’s ASTA Global Convention Sept. 16-19 in Miami.
Silversea will use its one-minute portion of the PBS segments to showcase its product and talk about its support of travel agents, Bettridge said.
The ASTA portions will focus on reasons consumers should use travel agents and what agents can do for travelers, as well as on ASTA’s code of ethics and the meaning of the ASTA brand.
Anticipates wide use
The segments will be available to PBS stations nationally for years to come, according to Verdolini-Sheats. She said she expected wide distribution, because travel content is the No. 1 request of PBS stations.
Bettridge commented that “ASTA and the travel agency community as a whole will get tremendous positive exposure.”
ASTA is also free to use the segments in other venues.