Every year
in January, I spend a couple of days in Vienna. Not for my own pleasure, but to
work at the fair “Ferienmesse Wien”. I present our holiday destination Attergau
as good as I can, distributing pamphlets hoping that I inspire the fair visitor
for a stay in the Attergau. Thousands
of people are visiting the travel exhibition every year and it is part of our
marketing strategy, hypothetical spoken...
Looking back makes me gonna
reconsider: is a fair really the right place to attract new guests for my very
lovely destination? Truth is that the travel exhibition is next to Dr. Oetker
muffins, wine stations and cooking shows not the main attraction any more. Most
of the people are looking out for free give aways and competitions.
Do not get
me wrong: Visitors are interested in our destination and keep asking for
further information, but they already used to spend a holiday in our
destination, have friends there or they grew up in this place and want to
gossip. It is a fact that less than 1% is making their holiday decision due to
a fair visit. So going to a fair is the right medium to keep in touch
with your returning guests, but get rid of the illusion of new guests coming to
your resort. At least in Vienna.
Petra Gangl
