What are the sales channel strategies of travel agencies?

The sales channel of travel agencies refers to the way that travel agencies deliver products to the final consumers. Any travel agency hopes to expand its sales channels as much as possible with sufficient production capacity. What are the sales channel strategies of travel agencies?

Travel agency sales channel strategy 1: extensive sales channel strategy

Widespread sales channel strategy refers to a strategy to attract customers by widely entrusting retailers or selling products through local travel agencies and related enterprises. Its advantage is to choose a wide range of channels to promote products, which is convenient for tourists to buy, at the same time, it is convenient for travel agencies to contact tourists and potential tourists, and it is also conducive to finding ideal middlemen in the process of extensive sales. The disadvantage is that sales are too scattered, management is difficult, and the corresponding cost is high.

Travel agency sales channel strategy 2: selective sales channel strategy

Selective sales channel strategy refers to the strategy of selecting only a few middlemen in a certain market. Often through extensive sales channel strategy, several companies that are conducive to product promotion are selected from the majority of middlemen as future product sales channels. The advantage is that the purpose is clear and the focus is concentrated, which can reduce the sales cost. The disadvantage is that once the middleman is improperly selected, it may affect the product sales in the relevant market.

Travel agency sales channel strategy 3: exclusive sales channel strategy

Franchise sales channel strategy refers to the sales strategy of selecting only one middleman in a certain period and region. At this time, middlemen, as the general agent of travel agencies, generally cannot sell the products of other competitors at the same time. The advantages are that it can improve the enthusiasm and marketing efficiency of middlemen, the contact between travel agencies and middlemen is single, the cost can be reduced, and the interests of producers and sellers are close, which is conducive to cooperation. The disadvantage is that if the middleman makes a mistake, he may lose part of the market in this area, and if the middleman chooses improperly, he may lose the market completely.

The function of travel agency's sales channel

Generally speaking, the sales channels of travel agencies have two main functions: on the one hand, they can expand the number of sales points far away from the producers and delivery places of tourism products; On the other hand, the purchase of tourism products can be realized before production. As a channel for the products of travel agencies to transfer from producers to consumers, sales channels have overcome the main obstacles of separating products from consumers such as time, place and ownership. Specifically, members in the sales channel have the following main functions.

(1) Establish economic ties between producers of tourism products (travel agencies) and tourism consumers through the sales channels of travel agencies, so that tourism products produced by travel agencies can continuously enter the consumption field of the tourism market through the sales channels. Thus, the value of tourism products produced by travel agencies can be realized, reproduction can be carried out smoothly, and tourism consumers can also meet their own consumption needs.

(2) Through the channel members in the sales channels of travel agencies, investigate and study the demand changes of tourism consumers in the market, make market forecasts, and timely feed back the changes of consumer demand to travel agencies with product production functions, so as to urge these travel agencies to adjust the tourism product structure according to market demand, continuously introduce new products and continuously supply best-selling products.

③ Adjust the conflict between travel agencies and tourism consumers in the categories and grades of tourism products through the sales channels of travel agencies. Due to the specialization of production, the types and grades of tourism products produced by travel agencies are very limited. However, consumers need tourism products with complete grades, varieties and specifications, and this requirement is more intense with the improvement of consumption level and purchase selectivity. Moreover, the particularity of different types of tourism consumers' needs has also been greatly enhanced. After purchasing tourism products, the middlemen in the sales channels of travel agencies divide tourism products into different grades, and allocate and classify the specifications and grades of tourism products. Some tourism products need to be regrouped, packaged and promoted to meet the needs of consumers in different regions and with different requirements.

Selection of product sales channels of travel agencies

1. Select direct sales channels and indirect sales channels.

Nowadays, the tourism market in China, whether it is the international market or the domestic market, has changed from the seller's market to the buyer's market, which leads to the profits of middlemen far exceeding those of travel agencies selling tourism products. In other words, the profit of travel agencies is higher than that of local agencies, and the profit generated by travel agency products sold through direct sales channels is much higher than that obtained through indirect sales. Sometimes the profit of direct sales can be 2-4 times that of indirect sales. In the international tourism market, although there are several large travel agencies such as China Travel Agency, China Youth Travel Agency and China International Travel Agency.

Local international travel agencies have set up direct sales agencies in a few countries or regions such as the United States, Germany, France, Japan and Hong Kong. However, due to too few outlets and unfamiliar national conditions, direct sales tour groups account for a small proportion of inbound tour groups. For international travel agencies that don't have the financial resources to set up overseas travel sales agencies, overseas direct sales can only be out of reach.

In the domestic tourism market, middlemen, as intermediaries, often unite to protect their vested interests and try their best to adopt exclusive group monopoly measures for local outbound tourists. Local tourism administrative organs often organize local protection policies. Intermediaries in some cities will take retaliatory measures to ban foreign travel agencies that do not have local travel agencies to directly organize off-site tours and cut off all business contacts. This forces many travel agencies not to easily carry out group direct sales in other places.

The choice of direct sales channels and indirect sales channels should be based on indirect sales channels. Direct marketing channels can only be selected under the premise of ensuring compliance with local tourism administrative regulations and not causing primary retaliation and punishment. Of course, in view of the considerable profits of direct sales, if possible, direct sales channels should not be abandoned, but should be carefully opened as much as possible.

2. Choice of middlemen

Because of the different types of middlemen, the middlemen of travel agencies are different in target market, business scale, marketing strength, solvency and reputation, willingness to cooperate, etc. Travel agencies should first conduct a detailed investigation and analysis of middlemen to achieve "know fairly well". When the standby meeting is mature, make it clear that you are willing to cooperate with the middleman. Travel agencies should choose middlemen from the following aspects:

(1) Geographical location

The choice of middlemen should first look at the geographical location. Even in the same country, due to the differences in wealth, tourism thinking habits, openness, distance from tourist destinations and other factors, the source market of outbound tourism will vary greatly. The choice of middlemen should be made in the main tourist destinations of major tourist countries. For example, 50% of Americans travel abroad in six states: California, new york, New Jersey, Florida, Texas and Illinois. Therefore, the American middlemen we choose must also be targeted at these six States, and the geographical location should be in these areas.

(2) Willingness to cooperate

The cooperative relationship between travel agencies and middlemen should be mutually beneficial. Because while travel agencies choose middlemen, middlemen are also choosing travel agencies. This is a process of mutual choice. Therefore, when choosing middlemen, travel agencies must have the sincerity of cooperation, especially acting as agents for many middlemen similar to travel suppliers. Otherwise, it will be a problem whether we can actively promote the products.

(3) Group ability

Affected by scale, manpower, publicity funds, experience, relationships and other factors. Different travel agencies may have great differences in group organizing ability. Some travel agencies can send several tour groups to the same destination on holidays, send a series of tour groups, or even send a special train to chartered flight alone or jointly with other travel agencies. But some travel agencies have zero annual business volume. Therefore, when choosing middlemen, we must investigate and understand each other's group ability and queue up for comparison.

Because travel agencies engaged in retail booking business generally do not have debt repayment problems, this evaluation is mainly aimed at operators. Intermediaries should have good reputation and strong solvency. Exquisite reputation is the guarantee that the interests of travel agencies are not infringed, while the solvency of middlemen is the economic guarantee for cooperation between the two sides. Information about the reputation and solvency of middlemen can generally be obtained from relevant banking institutions through special investigations.

(5) the number of middlemen

Too many middlemen will waste sales expenses, at the same time, the increase of transaction times will also increase the cost of products, and among middlemen, the enthusiasm of promotion will also be affected by "more than enough"; Too few middlemen may form monopoly sales. In terms of scale, middlemen are large in scale and organized in groups, which is easy to form monopoly sales, often making our enterprises subject to middlemen. However, their small scale and weak strength are not conducive to the promotion of our products, so we should consider their quantity and scale reasonably.

(6) Dependence

The business scope of middlemen is different, and the dependence on travel agencies in China is also very different. Some foreign middlemen specialize in China's tourism business and have considerable dependence on China's travel agencies, such as British promotion travel agencies, Japan-China travel agencies and Japan-China Peace Travel Company. , operating the whole China tourism business. However, some middlemen deal in the tourism products of many countries and travel agencies at the same time, and their dependence on a particular travel agency is low. Our travel agency should also consider this dependence, because it is directly related to the efforts of middlemen.

In a word, choosing middlemen is the primary task for travel agencies to develop sales channels. It needs not only a strategic vision, but also a pragmatic spirit. Knowing ourselves and knowing ourselves, we can get an ideal travel middleman and establish an efficient sales channel.

3. The choice of intermediary individuals

Although the sales intermediaries of travel agencies are the absolute main force, we should pay enough attention to the intermediary individuals who have the ability to organize groups directly or indirectly, establish contact files and strengthen the daily public relations of key targets. There are two kinds of tourism intermediary individuals, one is the "wild horse" (that is, undocumented) intermediary; The other is the relatives and friends of the group managers of travel agencies in different places, or the decision makers of large companies and units or people who have great influence on them.

Travel agencies should first put national interests first. Therefore, although some "wild horses" are still very energetic, travel agencies should never trade with them. For the second kind of intermediary individuals, travel agencies should strengthen public relations, because sometimes they can sell our tourism products to travel agencies in different places, to large companies and units, and even occasionally sell us to receive a meeting, which will bring considerable profits. However, the role of the individual who climbs the word should be strictly limited to the intermediary role of matchmaking. The sales target and contract signing must be a travel agency in different places or a company or unit that buys our products, otherwise it is a "wild horse" transaction.