Destination Training More Hype Than Help, Critics Say
by Maria LenhartThis is the second in a series on how to succeed as a destination specialist in the 21st century.
Travel sellers seeking destination training have no lack of choices, but does existing training really address their needs?
Industry experts say today’s destination training too often focuses on facts and figures and the positives, when it should address what makes a destination unique and why clients would want to go there.
To assess the quality of destination training available today, Travel Market Report spoke with the following insiders and experts: destination training developer and consultant Steve Gillick, CTC, president of Talking Travel; consultant Nolan Burris, CTC, president of Future Proof Travel Solutions; Patty Noonan, CTC, director of sales for The Travel Institute; Martha Gaughen, vice president of Brownell Travel, and Michael Sailor, owner of Sapphire Travel & Safari.
They also shared insights on how agents can make the most of the training experience.
What do you think of the quality of destination training offered today by destinations and suppliers?
Sailor: Too often destination specialist courses provide little substance and are hardly more than a brochure or advertisement. They don’t address why the client should go there. Practically anyone can become certified as a destination specialist in under an hour with most online courses.
I recently took a destination specialist course for an African nation – Africa is my specialty. The information provided was far from what a consultant would need to plan even a basic trip, let alone pass himself or herself off as a specialist.
It was so fundamental that I could have answered most of the pertinent exam questions without reading the material. However, had I done that, I would have likely failed the exam because I might not have known the answer to ‘important’ questions such as what celebrities had traveled there.
Gillick: In online webinars, the presenter often has the credentials but not the speaking ability or a good way to present the knowledge. You want the enthusiasm for the destination to flow to the audience – so they can transfer this enthusiasm to their clientele.
How does destination training need to change so agents stay ahead of their clients?
Gillick: Too many presenters focus only on the details – how to get there, what to do. They don’t understand that you need to step back and address why people would want to go the destination in the first place. Agents need to know the nuances and psychographics– why does one destination better suit the needs of a client than another?
Too often presenters flippantly throw around ideas, hoping they will stick. They will give a list of niche markets without explaining what agents can do with them. For example, if a destination has great birding, the training should address how you can arrange birding experiences for your clients.
They should also explain how their destination compares with others in the region. I once asked a presenter how the resorts in his country compared with those in a neighboring country and what is unique about his destination. He didn’t know.
Burris: It needs to focus far less on facts and figures and stats and far more on experiences. The typical supplier presentation is so overloaded with square footage, gross tonnage, numbers of rooms, etc., that they leave little room for what can actually help a consultant sell a destination – the experiences, the ambience, the cuisine, the social scene, the lifestyle.
What are examples of destinations that are doing it right?
Sailor: South Africa has one of the best specialist programs – they put out a whole binder of information of eight or nine modules. You can’t do it in an hour – I devoted a couple of hours to it over several days. It’s in-depth, and it challenges you. The information is not superfluous. It doesn’t just tell you the population numbers – it answers the “why” questions.
Kenya also has a good specialist program. They have what they call a master’s program. To reach this second level, you must document that you have visited the country on an approved tour operator fam during the last three years. Kenya sends out leads only to specialists in its master’s program.
Gaughen: Australia does a particularly good job – they offer webinars and reading material and then send you to Australia with other agents. They divide the group up and take them to different parts of the country. Then they meet up and share their experiences.
How important is the fam trip in agent training?
Noonan: Fams are very important. This is where you pick up the intimate details of a destination, the insider knowledge. You know what is the best hotel; now you can drill down and see what is the best room, the best view, the best dining experience, etc.
Can you sell without the firsthand experience? Absolutely. But never as convincingly as if you have been there.
Gaughen: If you are specialist in a given destination, you should travel there once or twice a year – and try to do something different every time you go. And even though it’s fun, a fam is not a vacation. In fact, even when I really am on vacation, I’m still checking things out.
The frequency of the fam trips can vary depending on how many clients you send to the destination. If you get good feedback from clients, that’s almost as good almost as being there yourself. Getting feedback is important. If you start to hear negative things about a certain restaurant or hotel, you won’t send the next person there. It continues to make you better.
Our consultants make a report on every destination they visit, and it’s put in a database that every other agent can access. You can see that Katherine was just in Italy, so you can call and ask her about it.
Should fam trips be approached differently today?
Burris: Fam trips are important, but they need to change. They’re stage-managed and focus on the wrong things – seeing as much as possible and loading consultants up on facts and figures, most of which will be forgotten by the time they leave. The more they cram in, the less they will remember.
Still, they have their place. They’re a great way to get an overview and a taste of an area. But nothing beats taking a real, honest-to-goodness personal trip with no staged activities.
Gillick: Too many agents go on fams and don’t take notes or record anything, so everything is forgotten once they’re on the plane.
I was on a trip where an agent not only photographed the hotel room, but also the room number. A brilliant idea. Clients – and not just luxury clients – really want what’s right for them. You can’t fulfill this unless you know the specifics.
You have to know why you are on the fam trip in the first place – and take advantage of the opportunities it presents. For example, a wedding specialist who was on a fam in St. Lucia asked to talk to the resort’s wedding coordinator. She was able to set up a wedding for her group and made a personal contact to call on.
(Editor’s note: For more on how to get more out of fam trips, see Steve Gillick’s column, 8 Ways to Maximize Your Agency’s ROI on Fam Trips.)
What role does supplier training play in an agent’s becoming a destination specialist?
Gillick: Supplier training differs from destination training in that it is selling the product rather than the destination, so the destination is secondary. The agent should start with the destination training first and then learn about the products. Supplier training should answer why the product is unique and why the client should choose it.
