Travel Niches / Travel Books
by John Hawks

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Where can you find senior groups? The list of prospects is almost endless: banks, senior centers, park districts, civic clubs, health clubs, senior living apartments and complexes, adult education groups, crafts clubs, church groups, library groups, garden clubs, alumni associations . . . One key piece of information you'll need right away is the name of each group's leader -- the "pied piper" who will be able to promote the trip to group members and help you build a long-term connection with the group for future trips.

How early should you approach senior groups to propose a trip? If air is involved, you should make your pitch at least a year before the departure date. A general rule of thumb is that, the more expensive and extensive the trip, the farther ahead you should begin the selling process.

In some cases, the group will want to receive a rebate or share of your commission income from the trip. That's a touchy question, and OSSN agents must set their own individual policies about sharing commissions. Just be aware that, these days, many savvy group leaders will want to share in your commissions (or even learn from you and then plan next year's trip themselves -- but that's another story).

Selling senior group travel can be a very lucrative niche for home-based travel agents willing to do the investigative work finding local groups and to ride out the year's lead time required to promote and support the first round of trips. Consider this example: If you can find 10 groups with 20 travelers each, and they pick trips with a basic price of $1,000 per person, and you earn 10 percent commission (after any sharing with the groups), that's a minimum of $20,000. If you find trips worth $2,000 each for the groups, that's $40,000 . . . and so on.

Check these Web sites for more basic information about selling senior group travel: The Group Travel Leader, Group Leaders of America, and Mayflower Tours' group selling tips.

Also, OSSN also offers an excellent guide to planning and selling group travel: How to Organize Group Travel for Fun and Profit by Carl Meadows (a fellow OSSN agent!). You can order your copy through OSSN by clicking here!

Travel Books

Devils on the Deep Blue Sea

The New York Times urged readers not to buy this book before they go on their next cruise, but OSSN agents might get a kick from paging through Devils on the Deep Blue Sea by Kristoffer A. Garin.

This new 350-page book (Viking, $24.95) gives an excellent insider's view of the cruise industry -- from its earliest days (when Carnival's inaugural cruise hit the rocks before it left the harbor) through the "Love Boat" phase to today's mega-resort ships with skating rinks and rock-climbing walls.

However, the book is not a nasty expose of the industry. While it mentions ship fires and ocean-bound pollution, it gives a fairly positive view of cruising as an exploding segment of the travel industry. Longtime agents will appreciate his interviews with Carnival's Micky Arison, Royal Caribbean's Richard Fain, and other leaders.

If you sell cruises as part of your home-based travel business, you should consider adding this book to your library (or checking it out at the nearest public library).

* John Hawks -- OSSN's news editor -- was the founding editor of "Bank Travel Management," the national trade magazine for bank loyalty program directors.