Business matchmaking for tourism

Why is a business matchmaking event focused on tourism so interesting? Tourism is the whole set of journeys people make to other cities or countries. It also takes in what they do once they arrive and, as a result, what they spend. This important economic activity belongs to the services sector, and up to 2019 it was showing significant growth.

Tourism was one of the sectors of the economy hit hardest by the pandemic. Unfortunately there was a constant stream of news about closed hotels, canceled attractions and suspended travel packages.

As vaccination advanced, demand for domestic and international travel began growing again, even with the real losing ground against the euro and the dollar. And because of that demand, travelers are facing a certain rise in prices in the sector.

According to the survey by Mariana Aldrigui, president of the Tourism Council at Fecomercio-SP, we are facing "tourism inflation": over the last 12 months it accumulated 16.75%.

Tourism: plans for the future.

Anyone who planned a trip before the two doses of the vaccine cannot travel today for the amount they had budgeted. "The amount we had put aside to travel after our second dose of the vaccine is no longer enough for the trip we intended to take to Portugal", said Ricardo Seroni, from Indaiatuba, in the interior of São Paulo, to uol.

But what does business matchmaking have to do with any of this? That is what we are going to look at now.

Business matchmaking for tourism

With travel demand rising, the number of organizers running matchmaking events to promote tourist destinations grows as well.

The tourism foundation of Mato Grosso do Sul reported good results from its matchmaking event. It was held on 14 and 17 October 2021, bringing together domestic and international suppliers from the tourism sector and 300 travel agents from markets in the Northeast of Brazil: Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Sergipe, Ceará and Pernambuco.

The chief executive of Fundtur, Bruno Wendling, commented: "We presented Mato Grosso do Sul to operators from the Northeast, who sometimes have no contact or market relationship with destinations in other regions, particularly in the Central-West. It was a very big opportunity to promote our destinations and build relationships with important operators from that region, which sends a great many tourists around the country as well as receiving them. The outcome of the initiative was very positive".

The event also included training aimed at travel agents, with the goal of adding knowledge for selling products to different audiences: couples, young people, older travelers, families and LGBT visitors. It also opened up networking with new professionals.

Business matchmaking on the coast

Another example was EMPREENDA CARAGUATATUBA, which ran from 2 to 4 December. Over the three days, more than five thousand people were able to see what the 80 exhibitors had to offer.

The exhibitors put creativity to work to catch the public's attention, offering a variety of giveaways such as cups, pens and cinema tickets, along with food items like açaí, ice cream and cupcakes.

On the Friday, Sebrae ran a matchmaking event for more than 40 entrepreneurs. As the Sebrae representative put it: "We had visitors at the stand, the public taking part in the talks and, above all, business owners engaging with the matchmaking event. For us, that was already a success".

The event drew entrepreneurs from a wide range of segments: health services, vehicle sales, real estate, creative service providers such as graphic designers, entrepreneurs working in personal development and training, franchisors and others. The format used was the mixed matchmaking event.

An advertising campaign

Angra dos Reis and Ilha Grande are also standing out. They took part in the initiative "O Rio continua lindo. E Perto". The campaign covered four pillars: shopping centers, a trade meeting ("O Rio é de vocês"), a themed show and an advertising campaign, in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Distrito Federal and Goiás. The venues chosen for the initiative were large shopping centers, because of the volume of people passing through.

The state government also ran a matchmaking event focused on tourism, with the aim of intensifying the flow of tourism in Rio during the 2022 high season.

Caught up on some tourism news?

So far, we have looked at matchmaking organizers who came together to join forces in promoting new destinations, as well as forming new partnerships and creating business opportunities among companies in the tourism sector.

Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing

to attempt. William Shakespeare

If you work in tourism and want to innovate, become a matchmaking organizer. The more partners you have, the greater the profit and the financial stability for promoting the companies involved.

Form partnerships with hotels, travel franchises and other tourism businesses. Being creative when organizing these events matters, and it is a good opportunity for a successful entrepreneur, is it not? Here is what a tourism matchmaking event needs in order to work.

Why tourism pays off so well at a matchmaking event

Tourism is a long chain. A single itinerary involves transport, accommodation, catering, guides, ground handling, insurance, crafts, the outbound agency and the inbound agency. Every link buys from the others.

When you put that chain in a room with controlled time, the buying happens inside the event itself. That is quite different from an event where everyone sells to the end consumer and nobody buys from anybody.

Who has to be in the room

A tourism matchmaking event that works usually has these profiles:

• Local ground operators, who build the itinerary at the destination.
• Outbound agencies, who sell the destination in another market.
• Hotels and guesthouses, who need occupancy in the low season.
• Restaurants and local producers, who go into the food itinerary.
• Transport, from bus charters to transfers.
• Attractions and experiences, including rural and adventure tourism.
• Crafts and regional producers, who complete the shopping experience.
• Public bodies and trade organizations, which usually come in as an institutional anchor.

Without the outbound agencies, the room becomes a meeting of people from the same destination talking among themselves. Without the ground operators, the outbound agencies have nothing to buy. Both sides have to be present, and in balanced proportion.

The design of the event

One format that works well is the anchor format: the outbound agencies stay fixed at the table and the local suppliers circulate. Each agency sees many products without leaving its seat, and each supplier presents the destination to the people who will sell it. See anchor companies.

The most important decision is the speaking time. In tourism, the product needs describing: itinerary, capacity, price. If the time available is shorter than you wanted, cut rounds, not the speaking time.

The number of rounds comes afterwards, as a consequence of how many agencies and suppliers confirm and how many seats each table has. It is not a number you pick for the invitation, and the reasoning is in how many rounds fit in your event.

The risk is announcing the format before checking it. A supplier who traveled to the event and sits with the same agency twice feels the trip was wasted. In the demo, the software shows what your room can hold, with your own numbers.

How to prepare, if you sell a destination

• Bring prices, not just a brochure. The question the agency asks is "how much does it cost and what is the commission". With no answer, the conversation ends.
• Have a rate sheet and booking deadlines defined. A vague commercial condition means the operator cannot build the package.
• Talk about capacity. How many people per group, how many groups per week, when the low season is. That is what matters to whoever is going to sell it.
• Bring an image, not a description. One good photograph on the table is worth more than a list of adjectives.
• Prepare the ask. "I am looking for operators who work with school groups" generates a referral. "I am looking for partnerships" generates nothing.

Mistakes that appear at tourism matchmaking events

• A room of suppliers from the same destination only. With no buyer from outside, the event becomes a gathering of neighbors.
• Speaking time that is too short. A tourism product needs describing, and rushing turns the conversation into handing over a brochure.
• Ignoring seasonality. Holding the event in the middle of high season is the most efficient way to empty it, because everyone is operating.
• Not asking the agencies for their demand. If they say in advance what they are looking for, the suppliers arrive with a proposal ready.
• Not measuring the result. Without a record, the next edition has no argument for attracting operators from outside.

Trends that change the conversation at the table

Experience tourism. The buyer is looking for an experience, not a tour. Whoever describes what the person is going to do, feel and learn sells better than whoever describes what they are going to see.

Sustainability and origin. Foreign and domestic operators increasingly ask for information about impact, the community involved and the origin of the products. Having that information organized is a concrete advantage at the table.

That does not replace the basics: price, capacity and lead time remain what closes business.

What the operation has to deliver

A tourism matchmaking event usually has participants from outside the city, which raises the cost of a mistake. Two things cannot fail.

The schedule has to be reliable. In Rodada de Sucesso, nobody sits with the same person twice, and colleagues from the same company do not end up at the same table.

The day has to be run. The timer, the audio cues and the big screen lead the speaking time, the break and the change. When someone is absent, the system reorganizes only what is necessary, and the rounds already held do not change.

At the end, the reports carry attendance, conversations planned against held and how many people each participant met, alongside the material in PDF and Excel.

After the event

Tourism works with a long cycle. A contact made at the event can become a contract for the following season. That is why the follow-up has to be organized: the list sent within 48 hours, a proposal within a week, a return within 30 days.

Continue with how to adapt matchmaking for different sectors and tips for strengthening relationships after the event.

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