Ready to break the Tourism Codes?

Every industry has an alphabet soup of acronyms and Tourism isn’t any different. Those of us that have been around a while throw out names of trade shows, types of visitors and industry-specific terms as a type of shorthand that only insiders can follow. But for those of you that are new to the tourism industry, all those 3 letter terms can be confusing. And few people are brave enough to stop a conversation and ask ” What does VFR mean?” So I created a short dictionary of all these terms. Share this post with someone else in the industry and they will be so thankful that they might buy your next drink at the bar!

Types of visitors

VFR- Visiting Friends and Relatives.

This type of visitor can be an individual, a family group or parents visiting college students. They can stay in your lodging, or stay with family. The value to these visitors is that they come any time of year, and can come multiple times. Their activities are usually suggested by the family members that live in your destination. So marketing efforts for VFR often focus on area residents.

FIT- Foreign Independent Traveler

This acronym is also known as shorthand for similar terms like Financially Independent traveler, but they all describe the same type of guest. Someone that plans her own itinerary and travels by car. She might work with a travel agency to get help booking flights, hotels and some VIP level attractions, but she is in control of her day. FIT travelers are booking more and more by themselves online with the rise of the internet. Companies that specialize in FIT visitors often have a niche they service – they concentrate on a destination such as the U.S,  or they provide high-level service and unique offerings.

Tradeshows

Trade shows are the lifeblood of our industry. Salespeople at attractions and DMOs are often on the road traveling to these shows. Each one targets a specific market but the goal is always the same: to build business relationships that translate into bookings.

ITB- Spring trade show in Berlin. Destinations from all over the world market to the European travel trade (businesses in the travel industry).

IPW– International Pow Wow. The show formerly known as Pow Wow. ( You can tell how long someone has been in the industry if they still refer to this show as Pow Wow!) A U.S. based show that changes location every year. Travel trade from all over the world come to this show to learn about US destinations and attractions.

WTM– World Travel Market. A November trade show in London. Destinations from all over the world market to the European travel trade (businesses in the travel industry).

IITA- International Inbound Travel Association. A membership based organization for international tour business.  They have a trade show and other events.

Connect Travel’s RTO Summit– This set of trade shows consists of RTOWest, RTO East, RTO South, and RTO Marketplace. These are smaller, more boutique-style shows with a day of educational sessions built in.

Travel South– This large regional organization represents the southern states and has international sales missions as well as an International Showcase each year.

GoWest Summit– A large trade show for the Western US states. Specifically for international tour operators and suppliers.

Discover NewEngland – Can you guess what geographical region this trade show promotes? Ayuh, as they say in Maine, the six New England States. The 2022 show was canceled, but the organization remains intact.

Group Tour Trade Shows

Types of jobs

DOS– Director of Sales. The person that is responsible for bringing in the guests and developing strategies and tactics to achieve the targeted numbers.

MOD– Manager on Duty. Often a hotel responsibility, but some attractions have this as well. The Manager on Duty role is an assigned but rotating position. This is the person in charge after regular business hours. MODs have responsibilities on nights, weekends, and holidays.

TPA-Tourism Promotion Agency. Similar to a DMO- see below

DMO– Destination Marketing Organization- similar to a TPA. Because why not confuse everyone?

CVB– Convention and Visitors Bureau. Typically this is the name of a DMO that also has convention facilities. But not always the case. More confusion, I know. But these three terms are interchangeable, so don’t panic if you use one instead of the other.

Have you heard other terms that confuse you? Let me know and we will explain them in an upcoming post.

Interested in Group Tours? Know someone that is new to this market?

Join me on Tuesday, July 26th at 2 pm est for “Group Tour Tactics for our New Reality” and learn how Tourism business can be better prepared as this market comes back. Register here and I will look forward to seeing you on the 26th!

Are you an organization whose partners could use some Group Tour training? Please forward this to them. Or reply to this email and I will create the sample text for you to send to all your partners. I’m happy to help you help them!