WHAT EVERY TRAVEL AGENT NEEDS TO KNOW, BUT IS AFRAID TO ASK*
*about adventure travel
by Howie Lipson

Many years ago my father and I wanted to take an adventure trip to the Amazon for the purpose of fishing and exploring. This was long before the idea of "adventure travel" was mainstream, so a great deal of planning and phone calls and letters and general research was involved on my father’s part, to make the trip possible. It took my father many months to get all the pieces of the trip coordinated before we could embark on what was to be one of the most exciting and memorable trips I have ever taken. We fished for piranha in dug-out canoes, camped out on a houseboat on the Amazon, and flew in a small four-seater over the Andes Mountains. This was one of the many adventure trips I took with my father that instilled in me a life-long love for adventure travel.
In those days , it was a time-consuming, arduous task to bring all the parts of an adventure trip to a point where you could embark on a journey knowing that all was in place. My father’s travel agent was not familiar with what was available and would always "pick our brains" upon our return to familiarize himself with what we did to create such a sensational adventure vacation. Years later when I was booking one of the many adventure trips that I was to take with my own family, I began to realize the need for a directory where agents could find, at their fingertips, much of what adventure providers offered. I have since become a certified travel consultant with a specialty in special interest travel. While I was pursuing this interest I began to realize there was nothing on the market that addressed the specifics of family adventure travel.
The travel agent has a challenge--how to corner the family adventure market? Considering that the adventure travel industry has blossomed into an $8 billion business (annually), it would be wise to tap into this resource. One suggestion is for travel agents to familiarize themselves with all the different types of family adventure travel that is available. The Family Adventure Travel Directory does just that and is an essential resource for travel agents. The adventure providers listed in this Directory are some of the foremost leaders in their particular area of interest. They are a dedicated, committed, and knowledgeable group of people who feel strongly about adventure travel and often love to talk about their latest ideas for trips! Get to know them and develop a rapport with them. Very often these are the same people who will be taking your clients down the Nile River, hiking in the Andes Mountains, or back-country skiing in the Alps! Better yet, take one of these fabulous trips yourself. There is no better way to learn about family adventure than to go on familiarization trips yourself. Or, have someone you trust take a trip and keep a diary which can be used as a valuable resource. The travel agent and adventure provider can be a rewarding, mutually beneficial relationship, especially from a financial point of view, for the agent is connecting his client with an unforgettable vacation and the adventure provider is continually filling his trips.
Another suggestion for introducing the soft adventure travel experience to your current clients is to make an initial contact with them via a direct mailing, to introduce the soft adventure travel experience to them, and invite them to come into the office for more information. I would also suggest after one of your fam trips, that you send a press release to your local newspaper for publication to generate local interest in soft adventure travel. A spot on a local radio or T.V. station would also help in promoting your business, and solidify your position in the adventure travel industry in your community.
Following your client’s vacation, call them to ask them about their trip, and get the details about what they enjoyed and any disappointments they might have experienced. Share this input with adventure providers and record your follow-up calls for future reference and recommendations. If you have a good rapport with the adventure providers, you can act as a liaison between the customer and the provider in communicating positives and negatives about the trip.
In conclusion, treat family adventure travel as a new branch of your agency. Learn about it. Develop your contacts. Get the word out. Follow up on trips. Become part of the fastest growing area of the travel industry!

Howie Lipson is the publisher of The Family Adventure Travel Directory