FamGuru is launching a new app designed to transform how travel professionals plan, organize and profit from their ‘familiarization trips’ (Fam trips). The app will debut at the 2023 Virtuoso Travel Week, which will take place in Las Vegas August 12-18, 2023.
Fam trips are essential to business growth in the travel industry. Advisors need to experience hotels, destinations and tour offerings firsthand to build sales effectively. According to a 2023 survey by the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), destination training is a top area of focus for advisors. Studies show that 74 percent of advisors participated in Fam trips in 2019; however, it is a time-consuming and complex process for travel suppliers, often involving multiple hotels and partners. For advisors, documenting and sharing everything they learn on these trips can be overwhelming.
FamGuru is the brainchild of its founder and CEO Carrie Wallace. As owner of Cerulean World Travel (affiliate of Andavo Travel, a Virtuoso member agency), she used her own Fam experience spanning five continents over 20 years in the business to come up with the app.
Wallace explains; “The existing Fam trip process is outdated and cumbersome for both suppliers and advisors. By leveraging technology, we intend to make FamGuru the industry standard for modern Fam trips. We’ve created a single software solution that simplifies Fam travel for suppliers and advisors. FamGuru stores and organizes all trip essentials, including reviews, photos, and trip reports to help users save time, plan better trips and improve sales results."
Virtuoso will trial FamGuru on its "Study Tour" program to Ireland in September.
How it works: Suppliers start by sending their invitation and sharing the itinerary to hosted advisors via the FamGuru app. Advisors create a profile, upload required documents and receive trip notifications. While traveling, advisors document the trip with photos, key learnings and reviews. This creates a permanent archive to share with clients and colleagues to help increase sales. Advisors can even download the app for self-directed Fams.
Other features of FamGuru include:
- Building and sharing of Fam itineraries
- Managing communication and documentation between suppliers and advisors before, during and after the trip
- Pre-loading of supplier sales collateral (e.g., destination info, e-brochures, etc.)
- Digital archiving of all trip information, photos, public reviews, and private insights
- Auto-generation of advisor trip reports
FamGuru for advisors is available free of charge from the App Store and Google Play. FamGuru for suppliers is available at web.famguru.app. FamGuru is currently offering suppliers a three-month free trial. For more information, visit www.famguru.app.
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