Courtesy Hershey Foundation
Harrrisburg, Pa. — Regional marketing has been successful in many parts of the country and a group of tourism-minded counties in Pennsylvania have designed and implemented such a program to make it easier for groups to visit their area.
Dutch Country Roads, which is made up of the travel industry surrounding Lancaster, Hershey, Harrisburg and Gettysburg, recently held a group travel summit for the purpose of fine tuning the area’s marketing skills to the group travel industry.
Group Leaders of America assisted the effort when Charlie Presley led a two-hour workshop on the emerging niche markets of travel groups.
Presley explained that today’s mature market has the time and money to travel, and that they want to travel with people they know.
Presley also led a discussion that debunked the misconception of old age as it relates to travel. He explained that the average 65-year-old traveler has an 18-year life expectancy.
“What I want the 23-year-old group sales person to realize is that the senior citizen she speaks with today can be a customer until the year 2028,” said Presley.
A group of 50 travel industry members including hotels, restaurants, attractions and destination marketing organizations attended the day-long meeting and engaged in lively discussion and idea exchange.
“Group Leaders of America supports and encourages such regional marketing forums and does so by providing keynote speakers and workshop topics,” said Presley.
If you are interested in organizing a group travel workshop, contact Tammy Knox at 800-628-0993 or tknox@glamer.com.
Groups interested in information about Hershey, Lancaster, Harrisburg or Gettysburg as a tour destination can visit www.dutchcountryroads.com.
