There are elements that are essential for a FAM trip, including: -

• They are hosted and that the visitor (buyer) on the FAM trip does not pay entry. This may include lunch or refreshments. Often, they are following a time sensitive itinerary, so hosting ensures that they see or experience the products that they need.
• They need to be escorted. This is an opportunity to showcase a venue or product, therefore a knowledgeable member of staff should escort them throughout their visit to answer any questions and provide insight. This is a great opportunity for the travel trade contact at your business to meet buyers on site.
• The FAM trip supplier should reflect what the client will receive for their visit and not offer experiences which are not a true representation of what the visitor will experience. Showcase food or drink options, if relevant and ensure that the duration is reflective of a typical visit.

• A FAM trip is an essential part of marketing direct to the trade and will act as a mirror to showcase your product. It is down to you as the supplier to ensure that the FAM visitor can see themselves, but also their clients and customers, clearly in your venue.
• A FAM trip is an opportunity to showcase your product directly and in person, rather than through the use of remote marketing such as videos and printed marketing materials.
• Some FAM visits will have particular requests, depending on the market and the clients that they are representing, not every client that books through the travel trade wants to do the same thing and it is important that the FAM visit meets the needs of the buyer.

The costs are entrance and food and drink on site. The purpose of a FAM trip is to increase business and therefore any spend should be viewed as an investment into this growth. Staff across teams, including finance should be made aware of the importance of these trips in securing future bookings.

• A press or influencer FAM must be tied directly to articles of value and deliver the best visibility it can. These should be compared to out-of-home advertising or other forms of consumer press.
• A GTO FAM visit is usually going to result in one trip a year and should only occur where there is a clear understanding of who the GTO is, what group they represent and when they are planning a trip to bring their customers to you.
• A Tour Operator FAM visit can result in your inclusion on an itinerary which could bring regular business. These are the most fruitful in terms of investment and should carry the greatest weight.

The key to a successful FAM is preparation and ensuring that you are aware of who is coming and the type of buyers, how many people and which markets/sectors they represent.

Showcase your venue from the perspective of their clients and not solely the buyers. The buyers are going to want to know what they can gain from including your venue in their itineraries, how much their clients will enjoy the experience, how long they will be on site, what additional experiences could be upsold (out of hours, private experiences including tours etc). There is also an opportunity to pre-sell retail items such as guidebooks to make the visitor feel more special on site. Ensure all staff involved are aware of the FAM visit and introduce them as appropriate.

Ideally you will need to provide trade friendly material that reflects what the buyers need to know, for example how much it will cost (including a group rate as appropriate), time on site, best time to visit and any logistics (parking, accessibility etc), upsells (private tours, out of hours experiences etc) and a couple of USPs that will stick in the mind of the buyer afterwards. Also include contact details for the person they will be dealing with for contracting and enquiries. Ideally include everything on one sheet of paper and avoid business cards as these can be easily lost.

You should ask for contact details of all the people attending and have this in advance of their arrival and follow up within a week of the visit with a courtesy email and request for a follow up call as appropriate.

Results for a tour operator booking can be almost immediate or may be some months. It is important to maintain contact for any updates.

For GTOs it will usually be 6 months before they bring a group, and it will likely be one group a year, although it could be several groups.

Press trips will usually provide you with copy when it becomes available and will then only be quantifiable if there is a booking code that you provide for the journalist to include in their copy (something you will need to make clear otherwise it may well be edited out of the print.)