DWHSA to Launch Free Sales Tool for All Agents

The Destination Wedding & Honeymoon Specialists Association (DWHSA) is launching a digital consumer publication designed to drive romance travel business to travel agents’ doors.

Slated to debut in October – and available free to all agents – the “2015 Romance Travel Wish Book” will feature articles and imagery highlighting destination news, trends and packages for the romance-minded traveler.

The twist is that agents will be able to send a personalized version of the digital publication to their clients.  

Each agent’s custom content will include promotional copy, contact info and website links about the distributing agent, as well as calls to action directing consumer recipients to the agent.

Consumer-facing, agent-friendly
The main goal of the Wish Book is to get travel agency clients thinking ahead to romance travel in 2015 during the important fall booking season.

Agents in the U.S. and Canada can register to participate in the Wish Book at no charge. And they don’t have to be members of DWHSA to take part, either.

Each agent who registers will receive a link to their own version of the book.

“It’s a digital publication, similar to a flip book. The big difference is that it’s built using html5. It’s designed to resize itself according to the screen you’re viewing it on, be it an iPad, phone or laptop,” explained DWHSA administrator John Hawks.

Agents only
The Wish Book will not contain any supplier calls to action, according to DWHSA.

The association continually emphasizes to suppliers the value of working with agents, Hawks said.

“Suppliers are starting to understand the difference that working with an agent can make. Look at Expedia. They have just started a weddings section. But online, everything revolves around price.

“Agents consistently deliver a higher profit-producing client,” Hawks told Travel Market Report.

Goal: 1 million consumers
The association is casting a wide net for the project and hopes to register 1,000 U.S. and Canadian agents for the Wish Book.

DWHSA estimates that as many as 1 million consumers could see the Wish Book.

“We did a survey and found that agents have an average of 1,400 contacts in their database. So it’s not out of the ballpark to have 1 million travelers see the publication,” said Hawks.

Reaching today’s travelers
Those travelers are increasingly used to researching destinations and deals online. That’s why the Wish Book will be as consumer-friendly and appealing as possible.

“We’re including the latest from tour operators, resorts and cruise lines. We will have news from the destinations you’d expect, such as the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii and Las Vegas. And we’re still reaching out to other suppliers,” said Hawks.

DWHSA is working with its technology partner, TheHoneymoon.com, to produce the new digital publication, which will be based on the existing Honeymoons Magazine offered to agents who use the registry services of TheHoneymoon.com.

Tip: Think beyond brides
Though the Wish Book is designed to inform and inspire future wedding and honeymoon plans, agents should send the Wish Book to their entire database, said Hawks.  

“Don’t just pick the brides. You’d be amazed how extensive the concept of romance travel can be these days,” said Hawks.

He cited babymoons, engagement trips and vow renewals as increasingly popular romance travel options. (See: Romance and the Mature Client: A Market Agents Shouldn’t Overlook.)

“Everything is cyclical in the travel business,” Hawks said. “Right now baby boomers want the vow renewals. Who knows what the next trend is.

“If all goes well with the Wish Book, we may expand into more specialized versions focusing on LGBT travel or other niche segments.

Off to a strong start
Founded in early 2013, the Destination Wedding & Honeymoon Specialists Association offers online training, twice-weekly webinars and dedicated social media channels for its 600 members.
 
“Romance travel isn’t going away. We’re very happy with how things have gone thus far,” said Hawks.