Fox Kalomaski

The Tunisian National Tourist Office has appointed Fox Kalomaski to handle its marketing plans for a further three years.

The appointment followed a competitive pitch and the Tunisian National Tourist Office is to add The Netherlands and Scandinavia to the UK and Ireland within the agency’s brief.

The re-appointment and programme extension to new countries follows increased airline capacity to Tunisia by British Airways, Jet2 and a number of tour operator airlines since Fox Kalomaski’s initial campaigns.

The agency has created the latest advertising campaign for the tourist board that launches next month. The campaign takes in national press, outdoor, digital and email and features the positioning line ‘The Jewel of The Mediterranean’.

Media buying is through Total Media and implementation outside the UK and Ireland is by Gyro:hsr.

The new campaign will continue to communicate the emotional drivers of beaches, adventure, luxury and history to an ABC1 target audience of young couples, the grey market and families.

Gary Jacobs, Fox Kalomaski CEO, says, “In the last three years, we built awareness and positioned Tunisia for a more up-market audience.  We have lifted Tunisia out of its previous sun-sea-sand commoditised positioning into the perception of a desirable multi-faceted destination.”

Difficult trading over the past year has not dampened the spirit of the travel industry, as many agents are upbeat.

Fox Kalomaski in conjunction with Travel Weekly unveil the results of the Working in the Travel Industry 2010 report

Despite the recession and hardships facing the trade, agents remain relatively upbeat about working in the travel industry, according to a Travel Weekly survey. While, job satisfaction remains high and the love of working in travel is still strong, agents remain concerned about the future of high-street agencies, pay and job security. The Working in the Travel Industry 2010 report, carried out in association with destination marketing firm Fox Kalomaski, surveyed 168 agents during December last year. It offers an insight into industry attitudes on a range of issues and how their perceptions have changed since Travel Weekly conducted the survey in 2006 and 2004.

High street concerns

There is still a considerable level of concern about the future of the high street. Only 28% of agents, up from 24% in 2006, admitted they were more confident about the future of the high street than they were two years ago. The remaining 72% disagreed with this statement, up from 68% in 2006.  Almost 90% of respondents agreed the number of traditional high street shops would decline over the next five to 10 years. One agent said: “Contrary to what people think, it is a hard job that yields insufficient income and perks are thin on the ground. Its future on the high street is not secure.”

Pay and Jobs

The low pay in the sector remains a frustration. A huge 73% claimed their pay did not adequately reflect their skills – a similar number to the previous reports in 2004 and 2006. One agent said: “I love my job but feel it’s poorly paid. Educationals are a thing of the past.” This has led many to think about taking a better job outside the industry. Some 67% claimed they would consider taking their retail experience to another sector.

Despite concerns over pay and the future of the high street, 84% said they had no intention to leave the high street and join a home working company. Only 16% indicated they intended to do this –down from 25% in 2006. Just over half of agents (53%) joined the travel industry by chance, and the majority at 35% got their present job through referral or recommendation.

Perks of the Job

In a low-paid industry additional perks are important to employees. Some 61% of agents agreed the industry is known for its travel perks, but many commented
that in the current climate, these are declining. One agent said: “Working in travel had a lot of perks and advantages, but now there is none.” As with the previous two
studies in 2004 and 2006, agents are still split on commissions – 41% believe fee-based income is better than commission. This is a slight change to 2006 when 55% thought fee-based income would be better for agents in the long term.

The Future of Travel

Agents seem confused about the future of the travel trade. Many (61%) said they considered the travel trade as a profession that had a secure long-term future – up from 52% in 2006. However, 70% claimed they didn’t know of new people joining the industry because they see it as a long-term growth sector. And they were concerned about their long term job security, with 54% claiming they were “anxious”. One agent said: “I feel very lucky to have a job in the current climate.”

However, 76% said the industry was good at marketing itself and its products. Agents were increasingly concerned that heavy discounting was tarnishing the image of the industry. One agent said: “I hate the way the industry has devalued itself and its reputation by becoming a bargain basement.” And 40% said they still considered social media and online networking as a threat to business. Fox Kalomaski chief executive Gary Jacobs said: “While 76% of respondents claim that the business is good at marketing itself, nearly 40% said that social media and online networking were a threat, whereas these concepts actually constitute a new marketing opportunity to boost their business that many travel shops appear to be missing out on. “And this contradiction may explain why high-street agents are predicted in the survey to decline rapidly.” Unsurprisingly, disapproval of direct-sell tour operators is still as high as previous years, with 78% believing that operators will regret this policy.

Proud of Travel

Despite all the concerns, an impressive 93% are proud to work in travel – up from 85% in 2006 and 86% in 2004 – proving the current economic climate is doing little to dampen agents’ love of the sector. Just less than 36% said travel was their most passionate interest outside work, followed by family life at 35%. One respondent said: “It is my passion for travelling that makes me happy working in the industry.” While another added: “It is still one of the most exciting and challenging industries
with some great people in it.” Job satisfaction remains high with 70% claiming it is their main motivation for working in travel, coming above cheap travel, status, job flexibility and even money. As another respondent said, the greatest reward is: “Being told by clients that the holiday we booked for them was fantastic.”

Author, Staff Reporter, Travel Weekly

Travel Weekly has teamed up with travel marketing specialists Fox Kalomaski to find out how readers feel about working in the travel industry.

The survey will give readers the chance to have their say about the future of the industry. The research is a repeat of the comprehensive online survey, conducted in 2006, to which hundreds of readers responded.

We want to know how our readers feel today about working in the travel trade, particularly in the current volatile operating climate. Have your views on the industry changed in the last three years? What motivates you at work and what depresses you? Are you proud of the work you do - and what do you do after work?

To take part in this key research project, all you need to do is visit the Travel Weekly and Fox Kalomaski Survey

There is an incentive too,  six bottles of vintage Champagne will go to the lucky winner of our prize draw. To enter simple fill in your email address and name when completing the survey.

The survey findings will be published as a major feature in the 15 January issue of Travel Weekly.

Author, Linda Fox, Travolution

The Bahamas Tourist Board has teamed up with marketing specialists Fox Kalomaski to raise awareness of what its individual islands offer through a six-month online campaign.

The campaign began last month with a competition aimed at up and coming filmmakers, which attracted 138 entries. The next stage of the process is for a judging panel to pick a shortlist of 14 to go to the Bahamas at the end of January and produce a three-minute film on one of the 14 islands.

The filmmakers will also be expected to blog and tweet about their experiences whilst filming in late January. Gary Jacobs, chief executive of Fox Kalomaski, said using filmmakers was more cost effective than trying to produce film and would also help drive traffic to the tourist board’s website.

“We looked at the cost of a 30 second video and it was about £250,000 so to get some great content and lovely film was out of the question but, this way we are helping the film industry which is on its knees.”

A 14islandsfilmchallenge website has been created to support the campaign where the films will be uploaded from mid-March.

Film enthusiasts can also follow the progress of the campaign by signing up to the ‘armchair critics’ facility on the website.

At the same time pay-per-click advertising and social media promotions will be launched across YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.  An e-mail marketing campaign to the Bahamas database is also planned.

The winner of the competition, to be announced in March, will receive £14,000. 

Author: Mark Sweney, The Guardian

After Queensland's tourism promotion, the Bahamas are running their own version of the competition - 14 times bigger

Fourteen film-makers will win the chance to make a documentary, one for each of the Bahamas' 14 islands

Following in the footsteps of Queenland's "Best job in the world" campaign to find a caretaker for an Australian paradise island, the Bahamas are looking for 14 film-makers to visit the islands to create short films as part of a tourism promotion.

The Bahamas Tourist Office campaign, called the 14 Islands Film Challenge, is a six-month competition to find aspiring and professional film-makers in the UK to send out to the Bahamas.

The campaign aims to up the ante on the Australian effort, which Tourism Queensland claims generated about £50m worth of media coverage, by sending 14 film-makers to 14 islands in the Bahamas for – yes – 14 days to create films about island life.

The first stage of the campaign, developed by agency Fox Kalomaski and Brik Digital, requires applicants to submit a 500-word essay about an inspirational person in their local UK community. Judges will choose 40 of the pieces to be turned into short films. The makers of the best 14 of these will be selected to head off to the Bahamas to make films about the islands.

"This is the first time the Bahamas Tourist Office has embraced a fully integrated digital campaign," said the BTO director general, Tommy Thompson.

Each of the 40 films will be shown at an event at Bafta in London next March where the 14 winners who will head to the Bahamas will be announced.

An overall prize of £14,000 will be awarded for the best films, with the possibility that the footage will be used to promote the Bahamas.