Marketing to American Consumers

MARKETING TO THE
AMERICAN
CONSUMER
Peggy Peterka
Tourism Authority of Thailand
Los Angeles

Friday, 17 June 2011

LET’S LOOK AT THE NUMBERS…

Population 310 Million

# of Passports 114 Million
 That’s less than 37% of the total population

# Overseas pax 2009 30 Million
 Asia gets less than 20% (600,000 pax)
or 2% of the entire population


STILL LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS…
 Average Income of American Family 2005 $ 46,000 per year

 Average Household Income of those
Traveling Overseas $109,000 per year

Approximately 16% of the US population has a
household income of $109,000 or over.

Statistics from Intl Trade Administration, Office of Travel
and Tourism Industries , and Wikipedia


WHY DO AMERICANS TRAVEL

#1 reason:

Seeking authentic experiences
in new destinations


EMERGING TRAVEL TRENDS….

#1 trend:
Family and Multi-Generational Travel


FACTORS CONSIDERED….

#1 The Destination

Is it Safe?
Is there Value for $ Spent?
Will I learn something?
Will I enrich my life by going?


WHAT ARE THE TOP 10 MOST INFLUENTIAL

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

FOR TRAVEL DECISIONS?


1. Travel Consultants/Retail Agents 84.5%
2. Friends and Family 74.4%
3. Travel Publications 34.3%
4. Travel Websites 28.0%
5. Travel Programs on TV 15.0%
6. Direct Mail Travel Offers 10.1%
7. Email Travel Offers 10.6%
8. Lifestyle Publications 9.7%
9. Social Networking Sites 7.7%
10. Print Advertisements 3.4%


WHO IS TRAVELING?

Boomers (Age group 46-65)
This is a huge market--78 million, and
growing by 10,000 per day in 2011.

These people have the time,
money and thirst for TRAVEL.


Generation X and Y
(age group 25-55)

1. These people are mostly busy working and building
families and careers.
2. They have limited time (max. 2 weeks per year) and
limited money (got that mortgage, saving for college
for the children, etc.) to travel.
3. When they do travel, they want value for $ spent, they
want unique and authentic experiences.


MORE REASONS TO TRAVEL….
Life enrichment
Education
Visit Family and Friends + have a vacation
Special Interest: Golf, Medical, Honeymoon
Voluntourism – Give Back to Society


LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THOSE
REASONS TO TRAVEL…..
Visit Family and Friends
+ have a vacation

We call this, “Visit Thailand on Your Way”
The Asian population is huge in the US. Most of them want to go “home” to visit
friends and relatives. We suggest they also have a vacation in Thailand on their way to
their home country.


We reach this market by:

• Joint promotions with other Asian NTO’s
and Airlines
• Joint promotions with US Wholesalers who
specialize in the Asian ethnic markets with
advertising in Asian papers and tv
• Participation in trade fairs and cultural festivals with
special packages to other Asian destinations with
stopovers or add-ons to Thailand


Voluntourism – Give back to society
Ecological – Leave a smaller footprint

Did you know that 98% of people polled consider themselves to be
ecology-minded. They want to travel and see the world, but not
leave a big footprint that might harm the natural surroundings for
future visitors.

If your product is ecological or supports volunteering—
talk about it in your marketing messages. It is Important!


HONEYMOON & WEDDING
 The Honeymoon and Wedding market is huge, and
somewhat resistant to economical problems.
 This is a quality market. It is a once in a lifetime trip
and they want what they want regardless (to a certain
degree) of cost.

To get to this market, we plan to:
•Advertise in bridal websites such as The Knot, Travel Concierge
and Bridal Guide.com
•Online niche training for Weddings and honeymoons
•Participate in consumer bridal shows in L.A. and Seattle


GOLF
• Yes, there are plenty of wonderful golf courses in America,
BUT the amazing courses in Thailand, coupled with the
amazing Thai Hospitality on the golf courses, may just give
that potential traveler the extra push he needs to choose
Thailand!
• Or it may give that non-golfer the final enticement to their
traveling partner, who is an avid golfer to choose Thailand!
• Either way, they end up in Thailand and again, this is
a quality market.


This is a group that is particularly
reactive to suggestions from Golf Pros
or Friends and Family, so our Target to
get to this market is….

• Participation at Conferences and Shows for Golfers
such as IAGTO and PGA meetings
• Encourage third party accounts in golf media
• Work with US Tour Operators to add some golfing
to their packages
• Co-op with agents that specialize in Golf travel


Medical Tourism

Health and Wellness has always been a
good market for Thailand….but the
exorbitant cost of healthcare in the US is
now making Thailand a good choice for
more serious medical treatments too.

A great deal of press has been given to Thailand’s
top-quality medical facilities and practitioners.


To penetrate this quality market, TAT-LA will

• Have a booth at the World Medical Tourism
Conference
• Joint advertisements with Medical Facilitators in
health magazines, newspapers and on-line
• Make presentations with Thai Doctors in the US
to educate consumers on the caliber and cost of
medical treatment available in Thailand


SPECIAL INTEREST:
GOLF, MEDICAL, HONEYMOON
These are all important niche markets, that require
very specific marketing.

If you want to promote to any of these specific
markets, let me know. I will be happy to let you
know what we are doing and advise if there are
areas where you might join us.


SO, WHAT ARE YOU SELLING?


Are you selling necessary creature comforts?
Such as Housing, Transportation, Healthcare?

NO


YOU ARE SELLING MEMORIES!

Unique and authentic experiences that will
supply us with wonderful memories for the
rest of our lives.


WHAT DOES THAILAND OFFER?

Value for $$$ spent

This is incredibly important…Yes it is expensive to GET to
Thailand BUT once they are here, the
value for $$$ spent is the best travel bargain
available today!

For instance, you can have a 10 day trip to Thailand from
the US for about the same overall price as a comparable
trip to Hawaii!


Unimaginable natural beauty


Inspiring Temples and Gardens


 Accommodations beyond our wildest fantasy.


My personal favorite -- ELEPHANTS


BUT,
THE MOST IMPORTANT
THING YOU HAVE TO OFFER
IS…

YOU, your amazing Thai Hospitality!
This is what seals in that memory that we will carry with us and
joyfully share with friends for the rest of our lives!


IS PRICE IMPORTANT?
Yes, of course, travelers--now more than ever--want
good value for the $ spent.
But, they are willing to pay a reasonable amount to
get the EXPERIENCE they want.
Promote your product on the EXPERIENCE it will
provide.
Promote your product on the AUTHENTICITY of it.


ANY MARKETING EFFORTS HELP,
But, you want to get to the people that will be interested in
your product.

You want to spend your marketing $$ in a manner that
provides the best ROI.

With a limited marketing budget, the shotgun approach
may not be the best. You have to target your messages.


TAT-LA OPPORTUNITIES…
We have our specialist program called
“Golden Agents” with over 4000 members.


Send us information about your
product, or any specials you have for
our Golden Agents to sell to their
clients.

Also send us any special discounts you
may offer to our Golden Agents if they

Visit the website at
www.travelagentacademy.com


MONTHLY
E-NEWSLETTER
 Send us any news/specials about
your product. We will try to
get it in the next e-newsletter,
space permitting.

 Remember, to be effective, we
need lots of lead time to
promote any specials or
discounts you may offer.


SALES PLANNER
We print a special Sales Planner
each year in the fall. You can
promote your product in that
Sales Planner which goes to
travel agents, media and
consumers. Of course, for this
there is a cost, But even a small
ad gets exposure for you to
people that are definitely
interested in travel.


DESTINATION
GUIDE
This will be published in
October of this year. You can
put in a small ad here and be
certain you are reaching those
interested in traveling, especially
to Thailand.


GLOBAL TRAVELER
SUPPLEMENT

 This was printed earlier this year.
 Let me know if you would like to
put in an ad for your product if we
print another version in 2012.


TRADE OR CONSUMER SHOWS

If you would like to join us for any of the
trade or consumer shows where we exhibit,
just send me an email and I will tell you what
is coming up. We’d love to have you join us!


TRADE/CONSUMER SHOWS WITH TAT-LA

ASTA Retail Travel Show – Las Vegas, September
Luxury Travel Expo – Las Vegas, December
LA Adventure Show – Los Angeles, January 2012
LA Times Show – Los Angeles, January 2012


QUESTIONS????


THANK YOU

I am in the Los Angeles Office. Email me at

peggy@tat-la.com
if you have any questions or want to give us any information that we can pass
along on your behalf.


Marketing to American Consumers

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