Selling Oberammergau: An Interview With Trafalgar’s Gavin Tollman And Insight Vacations’ Ulla Hefel Böhler
by Cheryl Rosen /
Once every 10 years, more than 1,500 residents of the German town of Oberammergau re-enact the Passion of Christ in a world-famous performance known as the Passion Play. Oberammergau has been performing the play every decade since 1634, honoring an oath its villagers took in return for God sparing them from the bubonic plague that was ravaging the town.
The five-hour show goes on five days a week from May through October, in an open-air theater that seats almost 5,000 people.
TMR sat down last week with Trafalgar CEO Gavin Tollman and Ulla Hefel Böhler, CEO of Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold, to talk about Oberammergau and the opportunity it offers travel agents selling Europe.
Here’s an edited version of our conversation:
TMR: What do you think travel advisors should know about Oberammergau and the opportunity it offers to sell guided tours?
Gavin Tollman: First and foremost, I’d encourage agents to read up on Oberammergau – the history and cultural significance attached to this tradition is immense. The legacy of this play is true testament to the meaning of the word commitment – a pledge that’s been adhered to since 1634 and continues to occur in its true essence and still invokes the value of community spirit. This small town in Bavaria comes together in recognition of its deliverance from the Great Plague. It’s a humbling experience to feel a part of as you mix with the locals who are so passionate about the legacy of their town and preserving it for future generations.
Ulla Hefel Böhler: Oberammergau is a subject very close to my heart, as I was personally involved in researching and planning our product offering for 2020, and being a native speaker of German came in handy quite a few times! Travel advisors need to know that it sells early – so anyone wanting a piece of the pie needs to get active right now. The TTC brands launched their Oberammergau offerings in early May; Insight Vacations features five different escorted journeys with Oberammergau.
TMR: It clearly is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so there is a very limited window of opportunity to experience it, and so naturally tickets are highly sought after and go quickly! And don’t we all love selling unique and special experiences that are highly sought after and hard to come by?
GT: There’s a solid opportunity here for agents to be involved with the groups business – a revenue stream that can easily aid their sales. The demand has been quite incredible: with three years still to go, Trafalgar is already at 50% Definite Departures for Oberammergau. Agents should absolutely encourage their customers to book soonest, else they could be waiting another decade!
As far as the guided vacation proposition is concerned, we offer a solution that enables travelers to eliminate the complexities involved in planning and taking a break, while also immersing themselves in local life. We’ve been running trips to Oberammergau for 50 years and have enviable access to the people and places in and around the town. We leave no stone unturned in our quest to negotiate every minor detail for those visiting this community for such an auspicious event. The play is performed in the German language and so our Travel Directors are on hand to ensure that our guests fully understand the sentiment and every scene and act of the proceedings on stage.
TMR: How do some of your smartest and best agents sell these tours? Who is the best audience – what kind of customer should they start with when selling this and how should they approach it?
GT: I’d say the greatest asset any agent could have when selling these trips is an open mind. The obvious and most direct market would be to people of faith. However, I feel it’s a dual-faceted opportunity here, so I would encourage agents not to get too singularly focused on the religious theme. It’s also aligned to those who view this as an opportunity to broaden their knowledge of culturally-rich events and areas of historical significance. It has a wide-ranging appeal across both demographics and psychographics, for those with a desire to understand more about cultural pursuits. Steeped in almost 400 years of tradition, the Passion Play is an inclusive event, irrespective of religious persuasion. All are most definitely welcome!
UHB: As an agent-friendly company, over 90% of our business is generated in partnership with the trade. Our most successful agents have already started talking about Oberammergau over the past couple of years and have collected leads of individuals and group leaders that they are busy converting now. Anyone active in the faith-based travel market will be highly successful here as well. But I agree that Oberammergau does not only appeal to religious travelers, but would certainly appeal to anyone who enjoys large-scale, dramatic theatrical performances and unique experiences that are not readily available. And it goes without saying that the Passion Play also lends itself to groups – either on brochure departures or custom groups – as well as to individuals.
Photo: Oberammergau
TMR: Can you say how many customers you took in 2010, or how the market is growing?
UHB: We took several thousand guests last time and are confident that 2020 will be no different. The religious market remains strong and has huge potential. And as I said, unique and special experiences are immensely important to today’s traveler. The fact that the Oberammergau organizing committee reached out to us a couple of years ago to get our feedback and input on a variety of aspects relating to the Passion Play clearly highlights that we are a market leader and have a fantastic relationship and track record with the committee.
GT: There’s a healthy appetite out there for Oberammergau – healthier than ever. Testament to that growth market is the fact that we’ve specially crafted our inaugural Religious Trips brochure in time for the 2018 season (and beyond). Australia and South Africa as well as the United States are doing exceptionally well in selling this concept at present.
TMR: Is there anything different about your products this time from 2010? What did you learn 10 years ago that you are implementing now?
GT: It’s more a question of knowing and understanding what works; we are immensely grateful to have gained such valuable expertise for this momentous event. We know what works – we’ve had almost five decades to perfect that – so we don’t see the need for any changes, it’s more a case of smoothing any edges for a truly seamless vacation and securing the right accommodation and experiences for guests. We have many different brands within The Travel Corporation (including Insight Vacations and CostSaver) and we tend not to benchmark against each other, but what travelers can be assured of with Trafalgar is credible and incredible interactions with the local community and personalities. We delve beneath the surface and connect you to the people and places that matter most.
UHB: Guest feedback from 2010 and sales figures have definitely played a key part in our decision-making process. We’ve also added Italy to the mix this time. Italy has become such an important region for Insight – our guests just love it – and we felt that experiences like the Vatican museums and Assisi would connect extremely well with the Passion Play. So our Oberammergau program consists of five different trips: a European Discovery for those wanting to experience a multitude of European countries along with the Passion Play; two regional experiences in alpine, central and eastern Europe; and two Italian regional experiences ending in Venice, with an Oberammergau extension featuring one night in Innsbruck and two nights in Oberammergau.
TMR: Do you have any general comments on the religious travel market to add?
GT: Pilgrimages have been taking place for thousands of years, so this is not a new concept or travel trend. We continue to seek feedback from agents and guests and off the back of this recent feedback, we uncovered an appetite for a religious brochure. We’re thrilled to bring this to market for the first time and when agents get hold of their copy, I hope they will recognize the valuable sales opportunity it presents. Furthermore, I hope they will easily recognize the value of this type of travel – its inclusive nature and opportunity to be surrounded by like-minded people who share similar interests. For us, it’s without doubt a burgeoning market and one we will look to further develop.
TMR: What are you offering in the way of support for travel advisors?
GT: Given the creation of the Religious brochure, the nine Trafalgar and CostSaver trips featuring Oberammergau and the recently expanded U.S. sales team in New York to help facilitate training and ease of doing business with us, we hope that our valued agent partners feel equipped with all the right tools to ensure long-lasting sales success. We certainly thank our industry partners for their support and welcome their continual feedback.