Travel Niches: Alumni Groups
by John Hawks

They send glossy, full-color catalogs to thousands of potential customers several times a year to promote their tours, cruises, and vacation packages. When you reserve a spot on one of their trips, you can count on upscale hotels and top-flight service (or hard-to-get tickets for major sporting events, or educational sessions built into the trip featuring the nation's leading experts). And, you can bet that you'll never get off their mailing lists -- and you'll keep getting marketing mail from these slick travel operators!

We're not talking about major cruise lines or tour companies, or even mega-agencies. These extensive travel selling campaigns come from the alumni offices of America's leading colleges and universities!

These schools often sponsor or endorse travel programs -- cruises, group tours, and even independent travel arrangements -- for their alumni. Sometimes, faculty members and staffers from the school will escort these trips. Alumni travel programs are popular for two reasons: (a) They generate goodwill and establish a connection with graduates of the school (who may later turn into stronger supporters and donors), and (b) they generate revenue for the school. (While some colleges and universities plan their own trips using in-house staffers, other schools turn to outside travel agents and tour operators and split commissions.)

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