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GO News>
GO News
May 27, 2004
Business Outlook
The results of the Yesawich, Pepperdine Brown &
Russell/Yankelovich Partners 2004 National Travel Monitor
reveal that demand for leisure travel services is likely to
grow in the months ahead as the economy continues to
improve and Americans finalize their vacation plans for the
forthcoming summer season. This is all good news for your
travel programs.
33% of leisure travelers expect to take more trips this
year compared to last, while 38% expect to take the same,
and 29% expect to take fewer. Among the 29% of leisure
travelers expecting to take fewer trips, "current economic
conditions make it difficult for me to travel" was the most
frequently cited reason why. Fear of flying was cited by
only 5%, and the "hassle factor" of travel was cited by
only 6%. Confirming the financial strain felt by many U.S.
households, only 18% of leisure travelers stated they
"would be willing to trade an increase in pay for an
increase in vacation time," down from 29% last year.
Vacations continue to get shorter, with 59% of all
vacations taken by Americans lasting four nights or less up
fully 5% over last year. Interest in international travel
declined for the most popular destinations including
Western Europe (-6%), the Caribbean (-3%), Canada (-4%) and
the Far East (-3%). Interest in visiting domestic
destinations increased significantly for Hawaii (+5%) and
Nevada (+3%). Florida, California, New York and Colorado
also ranked among the top five domestic destinations for
American travelers among the twenty-two destinations
tracked in the survey. While travel agency usage remained
steady, utilization of the Internet continued to grow, with
63% of active leisure travelers now consulting the medium
to plan vacations (up from 57% last year), and 45% actually
using the medium to book reservations (up from 38% last
year). So the Internet is facilitating do-it yourselfers
more than it is those who use travel professionals. The
Internet now ranks as the information source used by the
majority of Americans when planning a vacation (51%). The
National Leisure Travel Monitor is an annual survey of the
travel habits, preferences and intentions of 1,350 active
leisure travelers, conducted by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown
& Russell in conjunction with Yankelovich Partners.
GO Business AdvantEdge
In our office we have payroll done by a payroll service.
We had been using ADP, but had a few problems with
mistakes, which isn’t a very good thing when you’re talking
payroll. So we switched to Paychex nearly two years ago.
When we did, we negotiated a lower rate than they initially
offered. Last week I spoke with the Paychex rep and told
her we were in Business AdvantEdge and our national account
number is 5708. She lowered our monthly invoice by 15%.,
saving our company $8 a month on a $50 typical invoice.
This is $100 each year we’re going to save! As Mike
Marchev said in last month’s teleconference, “Nickels equal
dollars and dollars equal hundreds of dollars.” If you
save a few dollars on everything you do, at the end of the
year you will have saved thousands. By using GO’s business
services program, you can.
Teleconference on Friday May 28 at 1PM Eastern time
Don’t forget to register for tomorrow’s teleconference,
“How to Gain Exposure and Credibility with Effective Public
Relations.” You will learn how to target your media and
your message to get free coverage of your travel program.
Learn how to make public relations and advertising work
together to tell your message and increase your visibility.
Learn one technique that dramatically increases your
chances of having your story picked up. Joining Leisure
Group Travel columnist Mike Marchev will be a noted public
relations expert. There is no charge, but you must
register. If you are unable to attend, the CD will be
available for sale in the GO Books and CDs section for $12.
Joan Gibson
GO member Joan Gibson from American Trust & Savings was
named Bank Travel Club Director of the Year by
North-Western Financial Review, a regional banking
magazine. Congratulations!
Travel Insurance
Somebody registered for 7 different policies on May 14, for
a trip to travel June 7-11, but didn’t put their name in
the “agent” box, so we don’t know who’s going to get the
commission of $210. If it was your group, please let us
know.
Cruise Survey
We in the process of developing a group cruise program for
GO members. We believe this will allow you to get low
group rates, earn commissions, get added amenities for your
travelers and offer these benefits without having to
produce a large group on your own. We need to know more
about your cruise programs. Please link here and complete
a brief survey to help us:
www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB2JUNL6457
Membership
We have added several new members again to GO over the past
two weeks. They are Linda Mattingly, Alliance Bank,
Sulphur Springs, TX; Bev Roberts, AYS Tours, Indianapolis;
Mary Edwards, Dearborn Adult Center, Lawrenceburg, IN; Jim
Coppins, Happy Trails Travel, Attica, MI; Vincenzo
Cappello, Holiday Travel, Lewiston, NY; Pat Mitchell, Pat’s
Vacation Tours, Pella, IA; Connie Haywood, River Bend
Travel, Hastings, MI; Judy Stevenson, Verdad Travel,
Concord, OH. Welcome!
Today’s Thought:
“To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you never
achieve. And once you get to your highest level, then you
have to be unselfish. Stay reachable. Stay in touch.”
Michael Jordan
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