World Travel Site Adjusts to Post 9/11 World
Over the past year and a half, travel marketer Illume has seen a 20% growth in business, thanks in large part to a redesigned Web site (http://www.travelillume.com).
The Boston-based firm promotes group travel to significant historical destinations for religious, academic and other nonprofit groups. After 9/11, Americans seemed to become more xenophobic and less interested in learning about or experiencing other cultures, says Andrew Maydoney, vice president of research for Sametz Blackstone, Illume’s marketing consultants.
To help combat the swing against travel outside the U.S., the 10-person firm began developing things like personal Web sites for approximately 2,000 member groups. And, it began a five-part postcard campaign that started with invoicing and ended with solicitations for feedback on travel experiences, he says.
These postcards have led to some referrals from other groups of the same type, says Mimi Ashley, executive vice president of Illume which, she notes, does not actively solicit new members.
Illume promotes such destinations such as Rome, the Middle East and other places with historical and spiritual significance in Africa and Asia. The trips cost between $2,000 and $8, 000, depending on such factors as location and number of people, says Ashley.
The Web site offers such services as travel tips, online flight booking and requests for fare quotes for nonprofit organizations.
Illume stresses that it does not sell generic or pre-designed tour programs but attempts to offer experiences that are specifically tailored to the objectives of given groups.
As an example, she cited a trip Illume recently booked for a hospital group to Spain and Turkey. The doctors and administrators wanted to learn more about medical ethnics in different cultures and chose those two countries because they have been influenced by the religious traditions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Looking to the future, Illumne plans to keep working with its current roster of groups and does not plan to expand dramatically.
“We’re very idealistic,” she says. “We delight in the idea that at our best we are all citizens of the world.”
