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Demonstrate Selling Skills in Travel and Tourism Contexts - Activity

Introduction

Sport tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the travel and tourism industry. In 2003, sport tourism accounted for an estimated $51 billion of revenue, or one tenth of global travel and tourism industry earnings.

Countries increasingly compete to host sporting events, realising the boost to the economy that this can provide: higher visitor numbers, better local infrastructure, more facilities and higher international profile - these are all benefits that cities can obtain from hosting major international sporting events.

But it's not only the venues that benefit; individual sports fans are also increasingly involved in the business of sport tourism. Whereas before they couldn't afford the cost, today their incomes are higher and the costs of travelling to attend major sporting events are relatively lower.

Sports tourists spend more per day than almost any other tourist. They often come from the most affluent demographic groups. They are keen to spend more of their leisure time visiting new destinations, travelling more frequently and showing dedication to their sport.

There are always hundreds of ways to draw attention to your event. This giant, illuminated football is being displayed in towns across Germany to promote the 2006 Fifa World Cup! Copyright: Ana Schaeffer, stock.xchng.

The past decade has seen more and more overseas visitors willing and able to attend such events as the Olympics, international cricket matches and tours, major football tournaments and high profile games, prestigious horse races and the golf majors.

This is just a short list of the kind of events which the sports tourism industry tries to promote to the global market. Add to this the growing interest from individuals to participate in these and other sports, and the scale of the business becomes clear.

This activity encourages you to develop and practice selling skills in the area of sports tourism. The task should focus your mind on the following question: Why should a customer book through your agency, as opposed to one of the many competitor operators in the market?

Tasks

Football fans at the World Cup. © Andreas Just, Stock.Xchng

Select one of the events listed below.

Events

• Fifa World Cup 2006 Germany
• Ashes Cricket 2006-07 Australia
• FA Cup Final 2006 Wembley or Cardiff
• Spanish F1 GP May 2006 Barcelona
• Cheltenham Festival (horse racing) March 14-17 2006
• Vancouver 2010 Olympic and paralympic Winter Games

Working in pairs in the role of sales advisers in a specialist online or high street travel agency, write a script for one of the following customer contact situations:

• A telephone call
• A face-to-face meeting

One of you should act the role of the adviser and the other the customer. The aim is to show how to encourage the customer to book travel, accommodation, event tickets and complementary services through your agency.

In order to do this, you will have to do the following:

1. Research into the event:
   • Where will it be held?
   • When does it take place?
   • Is it a one-off or a continuing event?
   • How much will it cost to attend?
   • Are tickets still available?
   • What are the main features of the location?
   • How can you get there?
   • If a continuing event, how easy is travel between venues?
2. Remember that important customer service selling skills include:
   • Being approachable
   • Being courteous
   • Being friendly
   • Having extensive product knowledge and an understanding of the alternatives
   • Enthusiasm for events
   • Knowledge of complementary products, for example entry to an event PLUS accommodation, travel PLUS insurance, or possibly a flight PLUS onward transport.

Source: Executive summary of the report 'The Business of Sport Tourism' produced by the SportBusiness Group 2004.