Faith Travel Niche Takes Patience

The bishop was reluctant, but Select International Tours, a specialist in faith-based travel, was persistent. After about two years, the two finally came together for mutual benefit.

“We had contacted him about his leading a pilgrimage group, but he was apprehensive and had lots of questions,” said Edita Krunic, CTC, Select International’s founder and president.

“He finally did take his group to France and returned so enthusiastic he decided to take at least one group abroad every year.”

Rewarding niche
Krunic is a former travel agent who has specialized in faith travel for more than 25 years. While her experience with the bishop shows how long it can take to turn reluctant prospects into tour leaders for faith-based travel groups, it also illustrates the potential rewards.

The rewards include commissionable sales and repeat customers, but specialists say they go beyond these, as they see how faith-related travel has changed the lives of clients.

And interest in faith travel is healthy and growing, according to the NTA, which recently launched the Faith Travel Association.

It takes time
Travel professionals who want to develop a faith travel business must be willing to invest time and expend a lot of good old-fashioned sales effort, Krunic and others experienced in this niche said.

“This is not a market you can capture with one mailing or one phone call. We had a consistent marketing strategy,” said Krunic.

Match their mission
Roger McCurry, owner of Koinonia Travels & Tours, and a former pastor, agreed that agents intent on building a faith travel business must have the patience to develop relationships with pastors and other congregational leaders.

It’s also important to consider the prospect’s perspective, priorities and goals when proposing a group pilgrimage. Client education is required too.

“A church or other faith group must see the benefit of travel and how it fits into their mission,” said McCurry.

Serve, don’t sell
“You must be willing to help religious organizations develop travel ministries and help them understand the benefits and the impact travel can have as a ministry.” Those benefits can include expanding the influence a religious organization has in the community, McCurry said.

“People who try to sell to them, as opposed to serving them, will not be successful,” he added. “You can’t just go in for a big sale or one-time profit.”

Veteran faith travel planner Vickie Everhart of Krouse Travel urged interested travel agents to learn more about the nature of faith travel for groups.

Get involved
“Attend Bible studies or experience a couple of mission trips to learn what’s different about them and how things work,” advised Everhart. “This will help you when you talk with a church.”

Getting close to prospects clients is key. “To plan faith travel well, you really need to know your client and be involved with them,” Everhart said.

For agents who are just starting out, operators like Globus and Collette provide “off-the-shelf” faith tours that can help inexperienced agents find their way in this niche, she advised.