Destination: America’s National Parks
by John Hawks

article continued from

First, think about the market segments that will be most interested in national parks visits. The U.S. parks are perfect destinations for almost any type of preformed group -- from students to seniors. Because very few national parks offer any type of public transportation inside their borders, they’re almost ready made for motorcoaches and shuttles carrying preformed groups for sightseeing visits. In terms of individual travel, your best markets will be families (especially “baby boomers” bringing their kids on today’s version of the old family summer vacation!) and outdoor enthusiasts (from hikers and canoers to cyclists, campers, and skiiers).

To maximize your profit potential with national parks, you should consider picking a handful of preferred tour operators that offer parks packages and, then, tailoring your sales efforts around their best itineraries. For example, if Tour Company A excels in offering upscale escorted motorcoach tours to the major U.S. parks (e.g., Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon), then you can identify baby boomer and seniors groups in your area that would make strong prospects for a preformed group pitch (e.g., bank travel clubs, retirement communities).

This approach makes much more sense than simply picking your favorite parks and trying to assemble preformed packages on your own. You can focus your time and effort on closing sales, not finding the best motor lodge within a stone’s throw of the park’s entrance gates.

Several OSSN supplier members have built excellent reputations offering national parks tours. For example, Collette Vacations operates the 12-day “National Parks” trip (from $2,749 ppdo, air included) with stops at five different parks: the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone. Meanwhile, Mayflower Tours offers its eight-day “Montana & Glacier National Park” itinerary centered around one of America’s largest national parks (with more than a million pristine acres and the famous “Going-to-the-Sun” Road!).

OSSN offers this excellent online directory of tour options. Also, the National Tour Association has this online member directory that you can use to find reputable tour companies with national parks programs.

As you review national parks itineraries, pay close attention to the ratio of park visits to unstructured time on the schedules. The most popular tours tend to balance intensive park sightseeing with “down time” for passengers to wander and enjoy the park on their own. Also, consider choosing itineraries built around stays in lodges and other in-park accommodations, since your clients will remember their stays inside the parks longer than they will recall another night at the hotel down the highway from the park.

To locate more information about specific parks, check the National Park Service’s official Web site as well as the About.com “U.S. Parks” site.

(Photo credits: National Park Service; Collette Vacations)