Getting the Most Out of a FAM Trip 

What is a familiarization—or FAM—trip all about?

There is no substitute for personal visits as a way of learning about a destination. Governments, as well as suppliers—such as cruise lines and tour operators—often sponsor FAM trips. These trips are offered to bona fide travel professionals and others in the travel industry at a reduced rate to familiarize them with the travel destination or product.

And there is no better time to schedule your FAM trips than right now because your clients are traveling again and expect YOU to know the best destinations, cruise ships, attractions, and accommodations to recommend. To jumpstart your trip planning, don’t miss the engaging, informative, and entertaining session A Master Class on Making FAM Trips Work, presented TOMORROW at 1:00 pm (EST) by Anne M. Smith, CTIE. This session will be extremely popular, so register immediately!

In some cases, FAMs are offered as an incentive by suppliers or the agency’s owner or manager as a reward for performance. More often, however, travel advisors take FAMs so they can inspect hotels and restaurants, sample attractions, experience local culture, and learn about the sponsoring companies. This allows travel advisors to be able to sell those products more effectively. FAMs usually are short, concentrated learning trips in a business format.

But what should you know about a FAM trip? Sometimes, the best tips come from you, and we like to share those when we see them. In a recent Facebook blog, “Travel Agent Hacks,” the blog’s creator, Lene Heltberg Minyard, asked agents what factors they consider in deciding whether to go on a FAM and what makes FAMs so valuable.

There were many helpful responses, but Margie Jordan, CTA, Vice President of Agency Education at CCRA Travel Commerce Network, provided insightful questions for travel advisors to ask before embarking on a FAM. Here are excerpts from her post:

• Is it a destination that is represented by your agency, something you actively market and sell or have in your existing business plan to add as a new destination?
• Are the properties you’ll see ones that match the quality of hotels/resorts you sell? If you go, have you mapped out key questions, goals, things you need to know or see? 
• What’s your plan to market the knowledge you gain from the FAM? Blog posts, articles, videos, newsletters, photos? 
• How will you turn what you learned into marketing that converts? 
• Do you have any clients interested in going who can follow your journey? 
• Does the cost of the FAM fit within your marketing budget for education and training? 
• If all of this is a go, the FAM is of huge value to you and your business. Set up a series of automated social posts so you can actually work and learn without the pressure of sharing up-to-the-minute updates on your trip. Perfect to schedule are posts like, “Today, we’re on our way to Florence.” Include a few things to know about Florence with a great photo. At the end of every day, I make a recording of all the things I saw, learned or experienced. It’s a great way to remember the small details. Send that recording to a transcriptionist, and you have the beginning of some great content. FAMs should be strategic and can work really well in your marketing if you plan well. Research where you’re going, the tourist spots you’ll see, the history of the region, hotels close to those spots that you may not see during your FAM, etc.

These are excellent questions for advisors to consider when prepping for upcoming FAMs. We also recommend observing proper etiquette while on FAM trips. This means you should:

• Plan to immerse yourself in the local culture to really experience a destination.
• Be kind to everyone with whom you come in contact because you represent yourself, your agency, and your country.
• Don’t overindulge because this surely will detract from your learning and harm your reputation.
• Always exhibit professional behavior because this is a business trip, not a vacation.

Last, but not least, we urge you to sign up for tomorrow’s exciting A Master Class on Making FAM Trips Work webinar. If you don’t, you’ll be missing something SPECTACULAR!