How can you incorporate local festivals and events into leisure travel products?

Local knowledge is paramount to ensuring you can give clients the best experience when attending local festivals or celebrations. Clients should be given a clear understanding of any cultural sensitivities, or requirements so as not to unwittingly offend. Sometimes the most well-known festivals are overdone, and choosing the smaller alternatives can give clients a more genuine experience - for example attending carnival in Salvador de Bahia instead of the more well known Rio de Janeiro.

Esto puede incluir festivales culturales, celebraciones religiosas, eventos deportivos, ferias gastronómicas, conciertos y más. Esto puede implicar la planificación de actividades alrededor de las fechas y ubicaciones de los eventos. Al incorporar festivales y eventos locales en los productos de viajes de ocio, se puede ofrecer a los viajeros una experiencia más auténtica y enriquecedora, mientras se apoya y se promueve la cultura y la comunidad local.

Local festivals and events are a great way to enhance your leisure travel product as it gives and opportunity to travellers to experience local culture & cuisine. By researching and advance planning - the traveller or the travel agent can create specific itineraries that coincide with the travel plans. Making reservations in advance is highly recommended as hotel and transportation inventory rates go up during festivals and events. Involving local players to showcase/highlight their festival, diversity, events etc bring in a harmonious collaboration that works for the benefit of local community as well and make the travellers sensitive to local customs and culture.

> Tailor your festival picks to your ideal traveler. Foodies might enjoy culinary fairs, while music lovers crave concerts. > Consider interests, activity levels, and preferred involvement (active participation vs. observation). > Integrate the festival seamlessly into the itinerary. Include workshops, local guides, and interaction with cultural aspects to create a deeper connection. > Collaborate with local stakeholders, respect traditions, and minimize environmental impact. > Ensure your presence benefits the community and celebrates their heritage responsibly.

Develop targeted marketing campaigns that highlight the destination's festival calendar and position it as a vibrant and dynamic place to visit year-round. Use social media, email newsletters, and travel websites to promote upcoming events and attract travelers. Use festivals and events as an opportunity to showcase the destination's unique cultural heritage and traditions. Encourage travelers to immerse themselves in the local culture by participating in traditional activities, trying local cuisine, and interacting with locals.

It is important to research the festival or event after you have identified your target market. The local festival and event should align with what your audience are interested in. The culture of your target audience, their unique features and even popularity. For instance, during Valentine after you've identified that the audience are young people you can come up with an event that is love themed. It should celebrate love, music, art etc.

In my experience, it is very necessary to find the necessary details about the festivals or carnivals. in that way you can find it easy to educate clients the customs and traditions of the event. You can also recommend for clients that have interest in exploring a culture that is totally different from theirs giving them a heads up on the proper way of dressing, greeting, dancing etc. You should endeavor to check if there any risk factors involved in attending events or concerts.

It is of great essence to collaborate with local festivals and events to improve the customers travel experience and also to upgrade the travel products made available to customers. They can also give the best advices on how to promote their events or concert.

One thing I find useful at the point of informing team with the background of the event, is a "Did you know?" Short Section. It will not take too much time to read, will not stress out with wasting time reading through paragraphs and will be more fun. For the book worms you can include links of pages and websites that offer more elaborated info on the topic.