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THE ART OF PERSUASION

The most boring and soulless part of fam trips is the endlessly boring visits to hotel rooms and congress halls.


If you’ve ever attended a fam trip, you will probably agree that viewing hotel rooms and empty congress halls is the most boring part of the programme. The fact is that the first impression is what counts for real professionals when they enter the hotel lobby. However, it’s also true that the hoteliers are important members of the local congress communities, whom nobody wants to offend, and that is probably why, during fam trips, there is always too many visits to view hotel rooms.

Looking at the average fam trip, this is mainly intended to gather information and genuine impressions of the destination. Only a handful of participants come with very specific inquiries, which would require a more thorough review of the entire congress resources The key role of fam trips is therefore to promote enthusiasm and networking. In this sense, the fam trip is by its very nature quite different from an inspection trip, which is usually more focused on technical details.

Since we can’t yet escape viewing hotel rooms and halls, our advice is to gradually make this a more enjoyable experience. We have collected some tips on how to change the current practice and make it favourable to the destination and hotel.

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Incentives Alpe Adria FAM trip

Tell stories
What at least really impresses me are the stories that almost all hotels tell. They are often the centre of social life, maybe the hotel owners are interesting, they’ve had famous guests, historical events, all of these can be presented in an enjoyable way and you can aid the story by using various techniques of content marketing.

Show case studies
Very rarely, there is a presentation of examples of good practice that, in the most illustrative way, show what the hotel, convention centre, or a special venue are capable of. This part can be organised in the form of interactive presentations and participants will be very grateful to you for such information.

Congress halls in action
A tiny detail that is very disturbing concerns disorderly halls. It’s understandable that it’s not always possible to avoid such situations, due to being in the middle of preparations for an event. But if this is the case, then at least try show the way they look their best at the event. Seeing is believing.

Surprise in the rooms and halls
If you provide a surprise in the form of music, a culinary event, or the added value of your congress setting, the boring viewing will turn into a genuine experience. We especially recommend music as it is a universal language.

Impress with personality
Very rarely, tour guides are truly charismatic, or at least they are superbly prepared for their guests. After all, this is very similar to a performance for which it is necessary to prepare well and possibly even to write the script for the visit.

Interactive presentation of the inventory
A time-consuming exploration of the rooms can easily be transformed into an interactive presentation that will shorten the duration of the viewing and highlight the key advantages of the location. With a little effort, the result will be a top sales presentation, which you will be able to use at the next sales opportunity.

FAQ answers
You can combine the answers that the organisers of the events constantly ask in the 10 most frequent questions, which are certainly interesting for participants of your fam trip. It’s a kind of personal ID card for your site, which tells a lot about your added value and special features.

‘Feel’ it
The toughest part is the moment the participants ‘feel’ your hotel. So to talk and to socialise, choose a place that excites and addresses all the senses. Above all, we all appreciate sincerity, authenticity and genuine hospitality. This is the simplest formula for success.

Make it fun
Bring elements of entertainment into the hotel tour. You can prepare a game of bingo, a treasure hunt, a group quiz. The options are endless and work perfectly, regardless of concerns about the structure of the group.

Free time
Let the participants breathe and give them some free time. Their own exploration of the destination will surely be of benefit to you in terms of their positive comments.

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Conventa FAM trip

A fam trip is intended to promote enthusiasm, new ideas and inspiration. Keep this in mind when you organise your next fam trip. In our humble opinion, superior quality can be distinguished from average quality by design responding to all the senses, an intelligent schedule, playful execution, and a vivacious atmosphere, with added value in the form of a story that the participants will take home.

I remembered fam trips that were sincere, authentic, charming and simply top-notch, and which have therefore fundamentally changed my view of the destination.

Bratislava FAM trip

Definition of a fam trip:

A familiarisation trip (FAM Trip) is where event planners, consultants or potential clients are invited to visit a city by the Tourism Board, Convention and Visitor Bureau (CVB), or Destination Marketing Organization (DMO). The destination hosts will typically book all your travel, daily activities, and meals.

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A long-time meetings industry addict, Gorazd is the Founder and owner of marketing and event agency Toleranca Marketing. He has many years of experience in planning, preparing and carrying out large international meetings and exhibitions. As the founder of the "Power to the Meetings" methodology, he still firmly believes in the power of live events and human to human communication. He is also the author of numerous articles and editor-in-chief of the meetings industry magazine Kongres Magazine.