DEMA SHOW Planning Your DEMA Show Travel Appointments – by David Prichard and Lily Mak, Enchanted Sea Images, Inc., Dallas, TX
If you are attending the DEMA Show in Orlando, FL this Novem- ber (11-14), then one of the impor- tant tasks you need to accomplish there is to plan and book upcoming and future dive trips for your clients. The DEMA Show is a very
plicated, there will be around 5,000 other attendees who also want face time with these travel exhibitors, and some meetings can last from a half-hour to a full hour of time. Will you accomplish your dive travel goals for the show with that plan? Plan Ahead and Make Appointments to Save Time To maximize your time at the DEMA Show, have your dive travel destination targets identified ahead of time and contact them now to set up appointments during the show. These are the destinations you are booking for next year and the following based upon what your clients have been requesting for the past year or two (discussions and past trip experiences). Narrow down your immediate concerns to look at “specific trees – not the whole forest.” “We encourage making an appointment in advance as it means your agent of choice or specialty is dedicated to you at a time that fits in with your personal schedule at the show,” said Cheryl Patterson of Deep Blue Adventures. “Once an agent has an appointment, they are focused strictly on the person in front of them for that set amount of time (typically an hour), and interruptions are only al-
busy event during its four-day run with lots of exhibitors showcasing their latest products and special deals, numer- ous informative seminars offered every hour, and many more interesting happenings that can take up your time. So, what is your plan at the show to set up dive trips for your clients over the next few years? You could just walk up each aisle of West Concourse A exhibit hall and see what interests you, but checking out about 500 exhibitor booths can be time-consuming when around 100 of those are resort/liveaboard destinations, dive travel agencies, air- lines, or travel-related companies that would be of interest. Over four days, that’s about 25 travel-related booths per day to check out (not counting the seminars and gear-re- lated exhibitors you wanted to visit). To make it more com-
JOIN US DAILY IN THE DEMA LOBBY @ 9:30AM OR #1705
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