The Travel Marketing Podcast Propellic, Brennen Bliss

Description: Welcome to another episode of The Travel Marketing Podcast brought to you by Propellic. I am Brennen Bliss, your host, and today, I am joined by Mitch Bach, who has been in the tourism industry for over 20 years. As a previous tour operator, Mitch has built two organizations: Campfire and TripSchool, two of the most significant resources for tour operators worldwide. In today’s episode, Mich shares his vast knowledge in the travel arena while giving great advice to tour operators to increase their growth and profitability in a balanced manner, keeping in mind that their primary mission is to become even better experience creators.

Key Takeaways:
[1:08] What is Mitch’s most memorable travel experience?
[3:22] How to decide which tours you want to take on your next trip.
[4:06] A tour operator is an experience creator.
[6:01] Tour operators give better service when they have a background of experiences that can apply to enrich the customer’s experience.
[8:20] Brennen and Mitch talk about the real mission of a tour operator.
[8:43] Mitch talks about his companies: Campfire and TripSchool.
[10:15] It is important to maintain yourself inspired from the outside.
[11:01] The inside community of tour operators is unique.
[11:55] What makes tour operators different from the rest of the people involved in the travel industry?
[15:11] Mitch talks about the impact of globalization on the travel industry.
[16:33] Mitch speaks of the evolution of marketing for touristic activities in the last couple of years.
[18:46] We have seen a lot of independent operators pulling away from distribution sites and travel agencies, where are they now?
[20:25] Mitch shares the most effective and often underused marketing strategy.
[21:18] Having a diversified channel is always helpful.
[21:00] Mitch exemplifies a direct sales strategy.
[25:01] Mitch gives a great example of an OTA.
[28:24] Profitability and growth must advance together.
[29:09] What is more satisfactory for a passion-driven entrepreneur?
[29:50] What is working today for tour operators?
[35:07] What could be an email topic?
[36:43] Has Mitch noticed any trends in the travel field currently? 
[41:45] Visit Tourpreneur.
[43:26] Where is Mitch going on his next trip?

 Mentioned in this episode: 
The Travel Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Propellic

Learn more about  Mitch Bach
Tourpreneur

Tweetables and Quotes:
“As an operator, you have to remember, it is not just the commodity, just this entity that you're selling, but you're selling emotion, surprise, and discovery. The more you can bake that into everything, from your email communication to your website to the experience itself, the better you're going to be as an experience creator.”

“Responsible business ownership is about thinking in what's going on in the market today in the startup world, nobody's solely focused on growth anymore, they're focused on their magic 40, they intend to  hit a percent of profitability and growth that equals a certain number, not just  growth at all costs, which is, in a lot of cases, very painful and very damaging to an organization.”

“Emails are easy because there's a huge number of ways out there for you to capture an email address immediately, and once you have it, you own it.”

Description: Welcome to another episode of The Travel Marketing Podcast brought to you by Propellic. I am Brennen Bliss, your host, and today I am joined by Joe Martin. Joe has been helping tourism break free from its dependence on online travel agencies. 
Joe has just been featured on TEDx and Fox News, as well as several other Publications. Today we talk about companies shifting their budget from office to experience, the financial incentive to work with corporate versus independent Travelers, and some ways to get started.

Key Takeaways:
[1:46] Joe talks about UpLevel Tourism and why they dedicate their service mainly to corporate groups.
[3:45] Websites have changed into digital salespeople.
[4:35] What is different on the operational side for corporate groups?
[5:11] Joe explains why the tour operator is an experience coordinator.
[6:04] What is the financial incentive to a tour operator with a company versus an individual?
[8:30] How can you start to get corporate Travelers or Bookers looking at your site? 
[10:51] Brennen talks about a fantastic place to locate a messaging ad.
[13:05] Does Joe think that by starting down the business route by the corporate tours route, companies and operators that follow this process might actually change to fully corporate?
[15:00] What's the title of the person on the customer side who typically deals with people who are seeking out tour packages or corporate tours?
[16:49] How does trouble behavior look like in the first months of 2023?
[17:10] Joe is finding new opportunities in networking groups.
[17:51] The one thing everybody needs to know is: The Future is made of experiences.
[19:04] Joe talks about his next travel plans.

Mentioned in this episode: 
The Travel Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Propellic

Learn more about UpLevel Tourism.

Tweetables and Quotes:
“Business are shifting their budgets away from rents and into culture.”

“The best-performing websites are more like a digital salesperson.”

“The tour operator is an experience coordinator.”

Description: Welcome to another episode of The Travel Marketing Podcast brought to you by Propellic. I am Brennen Bliss, your host, and today, I am joined by Ryan O Grady, president of Fotaflo. Fotaflo is a photo and video marketing solution that simplifies and automates how tour, activity, and attraction businesses capture and distribute photo memories to their customers.  Ryan is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Travel Marketing 

Today, Ryan and I talk about photo marketing, especially about Fotaflo, how it came to life, its mission, and the benefits it provides to touristic businesses and their clients.  Ryan explains the advantages of using earned media and shares his passion for marketing. 

Key Takeaways:
[1:21] Ryan shares the story of how he met Brennen.
[2:18] Ryan talks about his vision for Fotaflo.
[4:19] What is the problem Fotaflo is fixing?
[6:07] What does the marketing need?
[8:06] Which role played experiential photos from a social standpoint in marketing for tourism activity during the pandemic?
[11:38] Ryan explains why  Earned media is effective.
[15:01] Ryan shares the original idea for Fotaflo.
[17:28] How does  Ryan decide what he will publish on his side?
[20:22] What does Ryan see in travel behavior?
[24:15] Ryan talks about the many ways to personalize the approach used to deal with customers.
[27:18] Ryan shares the most important aspect of Fotaflo.
[29:28] Where is Ryan traveling next?

 Mentioned in this episode: 
The Travel Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Propellic

Learn more about Ryan O Grady
Visit Fotaflo
Email Ryan at ryan@fotaflo.com 

Tweetables and Quotes:
“Overtime people continue to share memories from the past, and this way keep reaching new live audiences, which results in referrals to the business involved.“— Ryan O’Grady 

“We are sharing memories to get qualified leads.”— Ryan O’Grady 

“We want you to remember your experiences, and that is for free.” — Ryan O’Grady 

Description: Welcome to another episode of The Travel Marketing Podcast brought to you by Propellic. I am Brennen Bliss, your host, and today, I am joined by Jeff Woelker, founder of The Underground Donut Tour - an ingenious tour concept with 13 locations across the US. He's also the CEO of Ixperimint.
In today's episode, Jeff and I discuss topics such as what to do with unbooked tour times, the mindset around paid versus organic traffic, and when you should give up on an underperforming channel. Jeff also shares his extensive knowledge and experience in marketing applied to tourism, he gives great advice about what to do and what to avoid when promoting your business online.

Key Takeaways:
[1:21] What has been the most memorable travel experience for Jeff? 
[2:08] Jeff talks about The Underground Donut Tour’s international locations.
[2:33] What is The Underground Donut Tour and what makes it unique?
[4:55] Jeff is also the Founder and CEO of Ixperimint.
[6:54] What was the pandemic like for the Underground Donut Tour?
[8:34] The three competencies: GWC: Get it, Want it, and the Capacity to do it.
[9:51] In regard to marketing, Jeff talks about what can be done that is paid versus what is not paid.
[13:45] Jeff talks about his philosophy of paid.
[16:03] What channels are working well for Jeff right now and which aren’t?
[18:15] Jeff talks about the partnership with Airbnb.
[19:27] Jeff and Brennen talk about booking tours on Expedia
[20:40] Jeff talks about a complete marketing failure he had launched.
[22:26] When did Jeff realize Facebook was not working for his company and decide to cut it off?
[24:20] What is Jeff noticing currently in travel behavior?
[29:27] What is going to be Jeff’s next trip?

 Mentioned in this episode: 
The Travel Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Propellic

Learn more about Jeff Woelker
Underground Donut Tour
Ixperimint.

Tweetables and Quotes:
“If you are not paying commissions for the bookings then you have to take your business  elsewhere.”— Brennen Bliss

“You have to figure out where you can win consistently.” — Jeff Woelker

“What is a “truly organic” sale today?” — Jeff Woelker

“A brilliant optimization strategy is that regardless of what channels it falls under when you have a gap in time you fill it with something that is going to generate PR for the company.” — Brennen Blis

“People are more cautious now than they were pre-COVID” — Jeff Woelker

Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Travel Marketing Podcast brought to you by Propellic. I am, Brennen Bliss, your host, and in each episode I will share the news and insights on what is and what isn’t working in today’s competitive travel and tourism marketing landscape, from emerging brands to the most established professionals, to make your marketing plan travel further. 
Today, I am joined by Jared Kamrowski, founder and CEO of Thrifty Traveler. Jared comes from a background of working in banking and had to travel over 100 days per year. In 2017 he left his corporate job and now has a team of ten people who write content about how to travel in a cheap and effective manner. 

Key Takeaways:
[2:02] Jared shares his most memorable travel experience.
[3:32] Jared talks about the origins of his company: Thrifty Traveler.
[4:23] Jared’s background in banking was a very enriching experience on many levels.
[5:28] Jared shares how they approached traveling in the early stages of the pandemic. 
[7:06] Did things turn out better or worse than Jared thought they would be during the pandemic?
[8:15] What did Jared learn from making difficult decisions during the pandemic?
[9:50] Jared started to suggest to the public where could they travel during the pandemic, a time when nobody was really traveling.
[11:37] Jared talks about the Delta variant, the new wave of the pandemic, and how it affected travelers.
[14:27] Jared shares about the strategy they implemented in the new phase that began in May 2022 when the concern about traveling decreased significantly.
[16:41] What did Jared learn about diversification?
[17:30] What channel doesn’t work for Thrifty Traveler?
[18:32] Jared talks about his content team and how he decides what to publish.
[19:38] Brennen explains how content grouping works.
[20:11] What are the types of KPIs and performance metrics to follow with respect to content? 
[21:55] Jared shares about the times he launched campaigns that were ex[pected to work very well but failed.
[26:57] Jared speaks of what is happening to travel now as a result of the current economic situation. 
[28:32] Are there any specific trends across traveling tourism that Jared has been noticing lately?
[31:24] Jared talks about Thrifty Traveler Premium and how it helps people travel more easily.
[33:38] Where is Jared going next?

Mentioned in this episode: 
The Travel Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Propellic

Learn more about Thrifty Traveler

Tweetables and Quotes:
“When there are many things that are out of your control, you have to lean into what works.”— Jared Kamrowski

“Providing value for customers simply works” — Jared Kamrowski

“Persistence should be a key component of your strategy.” — Jared Kamrowski

“It is a big mistake to launch a product without testing it, if you think you know what your customers want without testing, you are a fool.” — Jared Kamrowski

The Travel Marketing Podcast is about sitting down with successful marketing professionals in the travel, transportation, and tourism industry to learn what has worked for them, what they’ve learned along the way, and what new trends they’re noticing.