The Situation
Volcanoes Safaris wanted to increase the number of North America visitors for their tours and lodges in Uganda and Rwanda.
Volcanoes Safaris wanted to increase the number of North America visitors for their tours and lodges in Uganda and Rwanda.
They were in a unique situation, after years of civil war, both countries now had stable governments, though challenging reputations for tourism. In order to grow the business, we needed to position the company as the leader and pioneer in tourism to North America. To help achieve this, we would enlist the aid of the Volcanoes owner, who was an excellent speaker and a huge advocate for sustainable tourism.
With a very limited budget, we focused on educating the travel trade on Uganda and Rwanda and positioned Volcanoes Safaris as the #1Gorilla Company. We arranged educational sales calls and speaking engagements for the Volcanoes owner, and fam trips for the trade. We also arranged membership in Virtuoso, which gave us a lot of positive press. And the owner maximized membership in the Adventure Travel Trade Association. We trained the in-country staff on the expectations of the American traveler, and to not be overly price conscious as long as there is added value.
We grew North American sales from 15% of their sales to 65% (their largest market) during our nine years with them.
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