The Rewards of Concert Tour Travel

Arranging travel for performing groups – professional musicians or amateurs – is a demanding specialty that’s not suited to every travel agent. But for those willing to deal with its rigors, the rewards are sizable.

“The entertainment travel niche is full of opportunity. But you need to know before going in that it’s very high-touch, and things can change on a dime,” said Ted Bradpiece, co-owner of Two Bears Travel in Shadow Hills, Calif., near Los Angeles.

“It can be very frustrating, but it’s also very rewarding.”

Exotic & luxurious
Two Bears Travel includes handling entertainment travel for celebrities among its specialties. The agency handles 15 Latin musical entertainers.

While 25% of the agency’s entertainment travel business involves arranging full performance tours for performers, their bands and road crew, 75% is personal travel for the principals plus their entourage, what Bradpiece calls the “A-team.”

Though the performance tours tend to be in North and South America, the celebrities’ personal travel leans toward exotic spots like Bali, Hong Kong and Thailand, as well as France and Italy, with growing interest in the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia, he said.

For performance tours, the agency books luxurious hotels for the principals, first class or superior hotels for band members and back-up singers, and less costly hotels for roadies.

The agency is paid by a service fee negotiated with clients, plus commission, usually 10% from hotels.
 
Landing in the music niche was sheer accident: Bradpiece once got a phone call at 1 a.m. from Rome, a referral from a friend. The caller told Bradpiece that a musical group hounded by paparazzi needed to leave town, pronto.

Setting up concert tours
Margaret Kemp, CTC, also has experience arranging travel for performance groups. Kemp, who is CEO of Poe Travel, a Virtuoso agency in Little Rock, Ark., recently arranged a multi-stop trip for a 42-member church choir that traveled to Europe to perform.

For that client, Kemp worked with Incantato Tours of Tega Cay, S. Carol.

Incantato Tours arranges concerts for high school and university choirs, bands and orchestras in top European venues, like the Sistine Chapel in Rome and St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. With its rich musical heritage, Germany is a big destination for the firm, sand CEO Sandra Weinacht, who was born there.

Net pricing
Incantato sometimes partners with big travel agencies, preferring to offer net pricing rather than commissions, Weinacht said.

“Our products can’t just be sold by any agent as they are custom-designed journeys and require relationships with directors in the U.S. as well as prime venues overseas,” said Weinacht.

Kemp commented on Weinacht’s knowledge and her “fantastic” contacts. “She can get choirs exposure to just about any place they desire, and at an affordable price.”

School choirs
Another performance tour operator that handles school choirs, adult and youth orchestras is Music Celebrations International (MCI) in Tempe, Ariz.

The firm, which is also a licensed travel agency, initiates and promotes concert tours in Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America, handling all travel arrangements.

Occasionally, MCI fulfills requests from overseas for American musical talent. For example, a 2001 request from the governments of Beijing and other Chinese cities and the China International Travel Service evolved into an annual event, where American orchestras, bands and choirs give concerts in China’s top concert halls.

Is being a musician a plus when selling concert tour travel? It sure is. John Wiscombe, president of MCI, is an accomplished pianist, cellist, trumpeter and organist, and musicians and travel agents staff his firm’s performance department.

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