Ski Italy 2004: Italian Alps Ski Vacations

In today's world of technology, travel agency and vacation tour operators are often plagued by the marketing wars won by Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and others leading "discount" travel suppliers. Survival in this marketplace takes a unique blend of content and approach with an immediate value for shoppers to recognize. For years, ABC Travel has successfully run the Ski Italy vacation tour - offering ski groups, individuals, and families an opportunity to ski the beautiful Italian Alps at an affordable price.

Challenge

As a small town travel agency, ABC Travel had a great vision for the Ski Italy vacation tour. While the Ski Italy trip was an excellent value, ABC faced difficulty marketing the trip to targeted consumers. An improved web site for Ski Italy was needed to in order to display the secure nature of traveling internationally to consumers who were still concerned for their safety. As a result, First Listings joined ABC Travel for the online marketing of the Ski Italy web site in early 2002.

Results

In a world then troubled by the terrorist attacks of September 11th, consumer spending for recreational travel was extremely low. In a matter of three months time however, First Listings was able to redesign and optimize the Ski Italy web site. In less than 6 months time, the Ski Italy web site accumulated more than 22,000 visitor sessions on its way to producing record sales.

While spending on recreational travel continued to decline for nearly two years following the September 11th attacks in 2001, ABC Travel and Ski Italy have enjoyed repeated growth and increasing sales through their web site with the assistance of First Listings. Today, the partnership between First Listings and the Ski Italy vacation operators strengthens as First Listings assists in the development of marketing campaigns in leading publications throughout New England.