familiarisation trip define

What You Should Know About a FAM Trip

Annie Brigham, Digital Marketing Coordinator

What is a FAM trip?

Who attends a fam trip, who pays for a fam trip.

What are the benefits of a FAM trip for Travel Agents and Media Personnel?

What are the benefits of a FAM trip for the Hosts?

What are some things to keep in mind when planning a FAM trip?

A FAM trip stands for “familiarization trip” and is one incentive of being in the travel industry. FAM trips are exclusive educational trips for travel agents, media personnel, and resellers. These familiarization trips provided by travel businesses such as travel operators, tour operators, and accommodation suppliers allow them to experience their services and destinations first-hand. FAM trips are opportunities for travel businesses to familiarize agents and media personnel with their destination and immerse them in the local culture, introduce them to local operators, and highlight the benefits their company offers, essentially take them backstage. For instance, they can have the opportunity to meet a celebrity chef that they have been referring their clients to.

The usual people presented on these trips are Travel Agents, suppliers, and media partners such as Journalists, Editors, Influencers, & Tour Operators. These individuals are necessary for countless travel businesses’ success, and as suppliers and travel operators, you are looking to build a long-term working relationship with them. The aim is to keep track of key industry influencers and invite people relevant to your industry’s success. These invitations may rope in a travel agent you have worked with in the past, who you want to enhance your relationship with or introduce new offerings to, or a new prospect who has recently jumped on your radar who can potentially help you collect new business.

Though FAM trips are endlessly changing and evolving, and differentiate per business, tour operators, cruise lines, and hotels interested in showcasing their points of interest typically provide everything for these trips. FAM trips are more often than not fully sponsored invite-only events unless there is a partnership with a rental car company or airline that exists. Sponsorships are customary because the host provides the money or product in exchange for their visit.

What are the benefits of a FAM trip to Travel Agents and Media Personnel?

Familiarization trips present numerous benefits to the attendees. The head benefit of a FAM trip is that it allows travel agents and other travel industry providers to gain ideal first-hand experience. This involvement enables them to understand better the several benefits that different kinds of trip excursions offer to their clients. As a result, they can better supply the perfect services and vacations to their client based on their desires and needs and effectively inform their clients on what they can expect. In addition, media personnel, travel writers and editors, and photographers can gain first-hand experience that can help provide better content, details, and photographs for their future publications. These trips grant journalists opportunities to develop tailored stories that they may want to develop further. For example, the trip may introduce them to a chef who has a fascinating life story or recipe to share. A further benefit is that the FAM trip guests can expand their professional network by building connections with other travel agents, suppliers, and media personnel; most FAM trips embrace downtime to relax with other professionals. This schedule allows them time to get in touch with industry experts and exchange stories on what has worked for their business. By developing long-lasting relationships with travel operators and suppliers, they will also acquire better deals for themselves and their future clients.

What are the benefits of a FAM trip to the Hosts?

Arranging a “familiarization trip” is a valuable marketing tool. As a host of a FAM trip, one benefit is that you can generate new leads and business for your company. By permitting these professionals to gain first-hand experience with your products, they will better understand and share the benefits of your travel offerings with their clients. When it comes to benefits from hosting media personnel is that you are enhancing your media coverage; travel writers and photographers take part in these trips to photograph your offerings and compose content. If you can impress and inspire your guests during a FAM trip, then you should be able to generate first-rate reviews and recommendations for your travel business. For example, one of our clients , Arizona, invited an Editor in Chief on a FAM trip to their destination. The Editor in Chief made a customized trip with a luxury angle and published over 20 full pages of material about the destination and included them in the cover. The clients were very thankful for these results and said that the benefits of these results were worth more than five times that than the overall cost of the FAM trip.

After conversing with some of our employees regarding their client’s FAM trip success stories, we have put together some things we think you should consider when planning your FAM trip: You must research and plan the trip and itinerary during the FAM trip planning stage according to your media personnel and travel agent’s profiles. Look at their previous publications and create activities that they will find appealing, craft experiences with multiple “wow factors” that they can share in their publications. Keep in mind that it is up to the criteria of your guest when it comes to what will get published; not everything that they experience will be incorporated. Provide thorough itineraries and trip information as soon as possible in the planning process; this will allow your FAM trip guests to raise any concerns or questions ahead of time and will enable you to customize their stay exceedingly well. When crafting a detailed itinerary for your guests, you must also be mindful of their time on your trip; you must provide a good balance of activities and educational events with free time to relax and take a breather. Lastly, put together a plan for contingencies; keep in mind that not everything will go to plan. It would be safest to prepare for anything from a last-minute guest cancellation up to flight cancelations, emergencies, or lockdowns. But, again, it is better to over plan.

Special thanks to our Connect Worldwide FAM trip experts Eduardo Peraza and Pedro Berruecos for contributing to this article. Contact us today if you are looking for a destination marketing partner or are interested in learning more about attending, planning or hosting a FAM trip.

Share this post:

Diversity Dictionary: What is a fam trip?

Many hotels, tours and cruise lines offer discounted rates to travel agents so that they can experience what a traveller would get .  Travel and accommodation suppliers and tour operators embrace the opportunity to raise awareness of their services and provide the best portrait of their business . They should aim to answer any and every question a travel agent may have, so that this information makes its way to potential new customers !

Like what you just read?

Subscribe  to  our  weekly  blog  for  all  your  travel  management  and  procurement  news,  views  and  facts.

What Are Fam Trips And How To Get The Most Out Of Them

• International Tour Operators
• Group & Multi-Day travel
• Customer Experience

Familiarisation Trips, better known as Fam Trips, are educational trips organized exclusively for media partners or travel agents and resellers, by travel businesses such as tour operators and accommodation establishments.

Fam Trips are designed to equip participants with adequate product knowledge to either sell onto clients or publish for media coverage. Travel businesses host Fam Trips to showcase their business and product to the people who resell or cover them in media.

Either way, the fundamentals of Fam Trips remain the same, you want to create memorable, fun, and personable experiences for the people who undertake them. They are essentially marketing tools that highlight your travel offering and are one of several ways to generate leads and new business for your travel company.

Download FREE eBook

The Ultimate Guide To Scaling Your Tour Operator Business

A 150-page guide that covers everything from establishing a winning travel brand to delivering a market-leading service

Who Goes On Fam Trips?

Fam Trips are usually set up either as invitation-only sponsored learning trips or at discounted rates exclusively available for travel agents to book.

Travel agents and resellers go on Fam Trips to experience first hand a travel product or offering. This gives them insight into the finer details of the offering and lets them add a personal touch to their sales pitch.

Travelers are on the lookout for personalized travel experiences and something as simple as a travel agent knowing whether there is a packed breakfast available to take on a day hike excursion without needing to check details with the establishment saves time, conveys efficiency and will attract customers to your travel business .

Fam trips are not only for travel agents or resellers though, media partners also participate in them too. Travel writers or photographers join Fam Trips for media to write up articles and take beautiful images to post and share in their publications.

Tips On How To Run Successful Fam Trips

You want to apply the same basic principles to your Fam Trips regardless of whether you are hosting Media or Suppliers. In both cases, the trips should be experiential and relevant to your product.

Set Expectations

Email your suppliers and media partners their proposed itineraries a few weeks in advance so that they know what to expect from the Fam Trips and can raise any questions they may have to prepare for it.

When hosting Fam Trips for Media discuss your expectations for the press coverage before the trips begin so that you are all on the same page. Establish where the write-ups will be published, the length and frequency of the articles, expectations for social media posting etc.

Offer Authentic Experiences

While you do need to pull out the stops and offer the same experiences that full paying guests would get, you do not want to misrepresent your offering by including something not ordinarily part of your repertoire.

Clients will be disappointed if they read about a sundowner experience on the riverbank but discover on arrival at your lodge that it is not in fact on your activities list it.

Create Partnership Offerings

Contact surrounding travel businesses to see if they would be interested in creating partnership offerings to provide to the suppliers and media partners.

Approach restaurants who might be interested in hosting groups for some of their meals. Or contact a bicycle tour operator to ask if they would lead groups on a trail experience.

This will give the other businesses the opportunity to increase their visibility and get mentions in the media and it will help you to spread some of the costs involved in hosting Fam Trip groups.

Offer Alternative Itineraries

Where applicable, showcase a number of your most popular activities to the people on your Fam Trips. Not only will this highlight more aspects of your travel business, but it will also negate the possibility of accidentally excluding someone from partaking in particular activities.

Consider people’s varied interests and add one or two alternatives to your itineraries. The idea is for your suppliers and media partners to make the most of their Fam Trip experience so limiting your educational Fam Trip activity to a snorkeling trip might not work in your favor if you are hosting people who do not enjoy swimming for example.

Set A Manageable Schedule

Remember the people you host on your Fam Trips are working even if it may not always seem like it. With this in mind, remember to allocate a certain amount of downtime on your Fam Trips to allow your travel agents and media partners to check in with the office, organize the information they are putting together on your travel product, or have a quick catch up with the family at home.

Provide All Necessary Information

Your suppliers and media partners are going to need the details of all the accommodations they stay in, restaurants they dine at, and activity providers who guide them on their Fam Trips. As the organizer, you will have easy access to all of this information.

Compile a list of all the names, email addresses, contact numbers and social media handles of your partners onto a database and share it with the people on your trip. This way they will be able to accredit everyone accordingly.

You can include the brochure images and write-ups of your travel product in this informational package too. You might find that your suppliers need to update your product on their site and this will make sure that they have what they need.

Most of this information will likely be required in a digital format, so either email it or make it available to download from a limited access portal.

Make Follow Ups After The Trips

Do not leave it too long after your Fam Trips have finished to follow up with your travel agents and resellers to get their feedback.

See if they have any questions or suggestions for you and check that your media posts are published and all the information is optimized, correct, and up to date.

Keep the communication lines open and find out what worked and what didn’t and learn from each experience and Fam Trip.

Remember that your travel agents, suppliers, and media partners are key players in your business’ success and Fam Trips are a good way to nurture relationships with them. So consider the time and resources you spend hosting Fam Trips and nurturing relationships as an investment in marketing your business and promoting your travel offering.

In an industry where experience is everything, going the extra mile and working together to give clients the best possible service will translate into stellar reviews and glowing recommendations for all parties involved.

New resources, straight to your inbox

We’re committed to your privacy. WeTravel uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. You may unsubscribe at any time.

About the author

Related Posts

The absolute easiest way to organize a group trip, the ultimate guide for tour operators, tips for building a successful travel partner network for your tourism business.

• Revenue Management
• Hotel Consulting
• Operations Management
• Asset Management
• Pre-Opening
• Owner Representation
• Turnaround Management
• About Xotels

What is the meaning / definition of FAM Trip in the hospitality industry ?

The term FAM stands for Familiarisation. The Tours – commonly known as FAM Trips – are trips organised by travel providers (can be a Tour Operator, an Airline, a Hotel Chain , a Tourism Board or other DMOs representing a Destination, etc.) with the purpose of educating about their products &amp services and promoting them.

Usually it is dedicated to everyone who is involved in the selling and promoting process of this particular product/ property / destination. It typically hosts travel agents and expedients, travel media (writers, journalists, bloggers) and other important players &amp partners.

Creating awareness and at the same time networking and building relationships are the main aims of a FAM trip .

FAM´s are very important in the hospitality industry . Basically speaking if the travel agent knows and likes your property (and the location), he will book his clients into it. FAM´s are usually FOC ( free of charge ) or available at a discounted fee.

• Online Travel Agency ( OTA )
• Free of Charge ( FOC ))

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

About the author:.

Shopping Cart

3 tips to stand out with the most memorable fam trips.

• January 29, 2021

• Fam trips as sales opportunity

In the tourism industry, a Fam trip is one of the biggest sales opportunities. As a tour operator, you have the potential to put your destination and your business on the map. The main aim of a Fam trip is to network, build relationships and to personally promote your tourism products.

Definition of a Fam trip

Fam is short for Familiarisation. A Fam trip is a complimentary or reduced-rate travel program for travel agents, tour operators and travel media. It’s designed to familiarise themselves with a specific destination or business. All this to experience the tourism product first-hand and to stimulate sale of travel.

Make a positive impression

Many destinations and tourism experiences are fantastic, but if the Fam trip experience is weak, the entire destination and experience will appear weak in the eyes of your guests. Always keep in mind that your Fam trip guests are well travelled, have high expectations and are requesting good hospitality. It will not be their first Fam trip. The Fam trip is your time to be memorable, so make sure to make a positive impression!

In this article

• Tip 1: Connection
• Tip 2: Curiosity
• Tip 3: Stand out

Virtual Fam trips

Top 3 tips for an epic fam trip.

To find out what makes the perfect Fam trip, we have conducted a survey with key industry leaders. We have found the top three things that are game changers in your fam trip experience.

1. Connection

The number one answer our surveyed leaders saw as a changemaker in a Fam trip is the “Who?”. Meaning who is conducting the Fam trip and can this person deliver and create real connections? Can they read verbal and non-verbal cues? Can they invoke excitement curiosity adding value to the overall experience?

“I felt the Fam trip was about me” – someone shared. Displaying your destination and tourism products is first priority, but should it be? This may sound strange, but your top priority should be building a connection with your Fam-guests. Only then you will be able to fully connect them to your destination and tourism products. Only then are you able to show its uniqueness and its potential!

2. Curiosity

When developing your Fam trip, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do we have in our destination that can spark curiosity?
• What can I teach my Fam-guests about our destination and tourism products?

Personal experience

Personally, I have travelled to many destinations. Many places stand out, but some places piqued my curiosity! When I was in Guatemala visiting a Mayan site, I looked down to the ground and saw an object wondering what it was. I thought: What’s that? What’s inside?

The guide quickly noticed my curiosity and picked up the nut, and asked: “Claudine, do you know what’s inside?” I replied, “some sort of nut?” He then shared that it was an almond. “Let’s see what’s inside.”, he said. He took a rock and hit the nut 3 times. He then said: “take a look”. He gave me the nut and asked me to open it up carefully. And there it was, an almond. My almond which I got to see, touch, smell, and taste. It was a full moment of discovery, and this story stays with me!

My curiosity was sparked, and I learned something new and delicious. What’s an everyday moment for you is a unique experience for a visitor. Always stay connected, looking for any opportunity to add value. Invoking moments of curiosity and surprise. You want your Fam-guests to be excited and share their experience passionately with their clients, your potential customers!

3. Stand out

What will you do differently to stand out and be remembered? My best example of a destination standing out is Grenada, an island in the Caribbean Sea. Having travelled extensively, I will never forget the way Grenadian culture and people stood out. I was invited to a local home to join in a traditional local meal called an “oil down”. A meal prepared with care with ingredients from their own garden. It was hands down the most epic dish around.

The experience was not just going to a home and eating a traditional meal. It was a discovery. An insight to their family, culture and lifestyle. For that time, I became part of the family and the island. Every single part of this experience drew me closer to the local culture. Creating a strong bond not only to the family and the experience, but to the destination. Grenada stood out!

In times of Covid-19 , physical Fam trips have been cancelled until further notice. As alternative, the Virtual Fam trip gained more interest. Virtual Fam trips allow invitees to learn more about the destination from their own homes via video. It’s a great temporary alternative for an actual Fam trip. It allows tour operators and destinations to stay in touch with their re-sellers while receiving feedback on their tourism products.

Top 3 tips for Virtual Fam trips

1. Bring the experience alive. You are behind a screen so the body language, the smile and the experience needs to be a bit more animated!

2. Communicate in an inclusive manner. Say things like “We are going to the museum” instead of ‘I will show you the museum”. Key words can make someone feel part of the journey, as if they are there with you!

3. Study your audience. Know what they like, dislike and what their interests are. Doing your homework will help you connect better!

Remember the top three game changers

Decide what kind of Fam trip you want to host and don’t forget the three game changers. Keep looking for opportunities to put your destination on the map and get ready. Before your next Fam trip, remember to focus on personal connections, creating curiosity and to stand out!

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Wow, these are great ideas! This could really ensure an amazing travel experience. How do I get connected with these types of providers?

Wow! Thanks for the message! Where are you located Amy? Reach out, I’m on LinkedIn: Claudine Pohl

Keep Shining, Claudine

Claudine Pohl

Roadmap to sustainable travel success (free Ebook)

Discover 6 proven paths to best-selling sustainable travel experiences.

Download free roadmap

Read our latest library additions

Understanding Gen Z travel needs and demands

How to integrate sustainability across your website

8 good tourism trends for 2024

White Paper: Familiarization Trips

Table of Contents

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• What are familiarisation trips?
• What are the benefits of Fam Trips?
• The future of Fam Trips
• How can FamTrips can create a successful destination?

1. Executive Summary

Familiarisation Trips, also known as Fam Trips, could be seen as an added value to Destinations & Marinas since it has many benefits. Here you can think of benefits such as first-hand experience, both valuable sales- & marketing tools, and your participants can expand their professional network. In addition, Fam Trips are not only popular these days but will become even more popular in the future. In order to get familiar with the impact of Fam Trips, you should first become aware of what the future and success of Fam Trips look like. After this, you can apply this to your own organisation and take advantage of all these benefits.

2. Introduction

Familiarisation Trips (Fam Trips) are an undervalued marketing tool that any destination can use. Nevertheless, Familiarisation Trips have become increasingly popular when it comes to destination marketing over the years. This white paper was written with the intention of answering the following research questions: “How can Fam Trips create additional value and a competitive advantage to your destination?”, and “Why should you have Familiarisation Trips as part of your marketing and sales proposition?”. In order to do so, an explanation of what Familiarisation Trips are will be done, followed by an explanation of the benefits. Next, the future of Fam Trips will be discussed, and finally, an overview of how Fam Trips can create a successful destination will be done. 

3. What are Familiarization Trips?

Familiarisation Trips are a marketing tool that highlights what your destination has to offer and can also be used to generate new leads. By definition, Fam Trips are exclusively organised educational trips that equip participants with sufficient knowledge of the destination to either sell clients or publish for media coverage. The purpose is to allow participants to experience the destination first hand (Alban, 2018). The participants of Fam Trips vary and are based on the organisation hosting the Fam Trips.

4. Benefits of Familiarization Trips

Fam Trips can have many benefits to your organisation, which will lead to new business opportunities. In the following section, we will elaborate further on these benefits and how they can help you to grow as an organisation in the yachting industry.

1. First-hand experience 

As it has been said in the previous section, Fam Trips will give a better view of the products and services your destination has to offer. Participants are going on Fam Trips to experience this first hand (Alban, 2018). According to Annie Brigham who is working as a digital marketing coordinator at Connect Worldwide, this involvement enables participants to better understand the several benefits that different kinds of trips and excursions offer to their guests (Brigham, 2021). As a result, they can better supply the perfect products and services to their guests based on their desires and needs and effectively inform their clients on what they can expect. Next to that, it will help participants to provide high-quality content, details, and photographs for their future publications. For example, the trip may introduce them to a chef who has a fascinating life story or recipe to share (Brigham, 2021). 

2. Valuable sales tool 

A further benefit of organising Fam Trips is that it can help your organisation to generate sales. According to the Good Tourism Institute, you have the potential to put your destination and your business on the map. The main aim of a Fam Trip is to network, build relationships and personally promote your products and services (Pohl, 2021).

3. Valuable marketing tool 

According to Annie Brigham, it will give a better understanding by permitting these professionals to gain first-hand experience with your product (Brigham, 2021). When it comes to benefits from hosting media personnel is that you are enhancing your media coverage; travel writers and photographers take part in these trips to photograph your offerings and compose content. If you can impress and inspire your guests during a Fam Trip, then you should be able to generate first-rate reviews and recommendations for your destination (Brigham, 2021). 

4. Expanding your network 

Another benefit is that Fam Trips guests can expand their professional network by building connections with other participants who will have different kinds of field expertise; most Fam Trips embrace downtime to relax with other professionals (Brigham, 2021). This schedule allows them time to get in touch with industry experts and exchange stories on what has worked for their organisations. By developing long-lasting relationships with other participants, they will also acquire better deals for themselves and their future clients. 

5. The future of Familiarization Trips

‘’Fam Trips are more important now than they ever were,’’ is what Natalie Browning said, owner of Insider Travel Planners in Danville, West Virginia. ‘’Given the circumstances, the general public is afraid to travel, or they have concerns. When they see someone they trust out travelling and experiencing new things, they are likely to follow suit. We need Fam Trips in order to show the world that we can travel and things are open.’’ (TravelAge West, 2020)

According to TravelAge West, the new world of Fam Trips is going to be very exclusive, focusing on changes in order to provide consumer confidence (TravelAge West, 2020). It will stay important to focus on what the traveller wants and anticipate this in the future. ‘’Moving forward, we will be hosting smaller and more personalised Fam Trips with a stronger focus on social media’’, said Carilis Felipe, the company’s director of field sales (TravelAge West, 2020). We want to encourage agents to document their experience on their social platforms for consumers to see and feel comfortable travelling to the destination. 

Regardless of how they take place, Fam Trips are likely to become an increasingly important educational source for travel advisors, according to Thomas Carpenter, owner of Huckleberry Travel (TravelAge West, 2020). 

6. How can Familiarization Trips create successful destinations?

People often believe that Fam Trips hold no value, but this is probably because things went wrong in the organisational process. Maybe the right people weren’t invited or the proper follow-up process did not take place. Therefore, carrying out Fam Trips the right way can be beneficial for any company (Lucht, 2015). 

According to Lucht (2015), the Taiwan Convention Bureau invited 12 corporate buyers from China for a six-day Fam Tour. On the last day, the Bureau presented 12 destination management companies and travel agencies to the corporate representatives, and they generated three corporate travel deals. This amounted to 1,500 MICE travellers heading to Taiwan. The Fam produced an ROI of 3000%. The cost of the Fam was $25,000 and Taiwan generated at least $750,000 from the MICE travellers for the destination (Lucht, 2015). 

Additionally, ACREW hosted a Fam Trip for a marina who received a ROI of 1000% based on the return visits for those who attended the Fam Trip. Another broker Fam Trip hosted by ACREW for a destination resulted in $3.4 million charters being brokered. This shows that Fam Trips can indeed create successful destinations once done right. Here are some tips on how to successfully run Fam Trips:

Set Expectations

Sending the participants their proposed itinerary in advance is a good way to manage their expectations (Alban, 2018). You can also organise a meeting a week in advance to go through the itinerary to discuss and give further details. Managing expectations is one way to ensure that the participants are not disappointed during the Fam Trip. 

Creating Connections

You would think that displaying your destination and tourism products should be your first priority during Fam Trips, but it shouldn’t be. Your top priority should be building connections with the participants of your fam trips. Only then would you fully connect them to your destination, and be able to show their uniqueness and potential (Pohl, 2021). 

Make Follow-Ups After The Trips

Don’t wait too long to follow up with the participants of the Fam Trip and get their feedback. See if there are any questions or suggestions. Keep the communication lines open and find out what worked and what didn’t. Their feedback can be crucial going forward (Alban, 2018).

Alban, M. C. (2018). What Are Fam Trips And How To Get The Most Out Of Them. Retrieved from https://www.wetravel.com/academy/fam-trips/

Brigham, A. (2021, July 06). https://cww.travel/blog/what-you-should-know-about-a-fam-trip. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from CWW: https://cww.travel/blog/what-you-should-know-about-a-fam-trip  

Lira Alban, M. C. (2018, September 22). What Are Fam Trips And How To Get The Most Out Of Them. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from We Travel Academy: https://www.wetravel.com/academy/fam-trips/  

Pohl, C. (2021, January 29). 3 tips to stand out with the most memorable Fam trips. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from Good Tourism Institute: https://goodtourisminstitute.com/library/fam-trips/  

TravelAge West. (2020, June 16). What Is the Future of Fam Trips? Retrieved March 17, 2022, from TravelAge West: https://www.travelagewest.com/Industry-Insight/Business-Features/What-Is-theFuture-of-Fam-Trips  

Lucht, J. (2015). The Value of FAM Trips. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/value-fam-trips-joern-lucht/

• Upcoming Events
• Past Events
• ACREW Online Events
• COVID Safety Protocol
• Crew Awards 2024
• Crew Awards 2023
• Crew Awards 2022
• Crew Awards 2021
• Crew Awards 2020
• Crew Awards 2019
• Crew Awards 2018
• Superyacht Business Awards 2023
• Superyacht Business Awards 2022
• Superyacht Business Awards 2021
• Superyacht Business Awards 2020
• Publications
• Recruitment

• Dictionary Home
• Recently Added
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy

Define Familiarization Trip

familiarization trip. A low-cost trip or tour offered to travel agents by a supplier or group of suppliers to familiarize the agents with their destination and services. Example, a resort property or group of hotels and restaurants in Aruba might team up with an airline or tour operator to offer a discount fam trip to the resort or to Aruba. Generally referred to as a "fam trip."

The home study course for home-based travel agents reveals the fastest way to qualify for these ultra-low-cost fam trips.

To find the abbreviation, acronym, or term you’re looking for, use the Search box (below) or click on any letter (above).

This site is Copyright© 1999-2022. All rights reserved.

Serving the travel industry since 1999

Why familiarization trips (FAMs)?

Why does Destination BC host familiarization trips (also known as FAMs) and what are the outcomes of trips like this? Destination BC and key partners often host journalists, editors, travel agents, product managers, marketing managers or reservations staff from tour operator partners.    The intent of these trips to provide attendees with a level of understanding about what BC has to offer as well as inspire them to sell or write about the destination more knowledgably (when they often sell or write about hundreds of destinations around the world). Learn more about FAMs in BC.

UK trade education

The Destination BC UK team held an educational quiz for Trailfinders, consistently one of the biggest tour operator partners and producers into British Columbia from the UK, which shared BC facts to attending staff in London.

German documentary filming

A German documentary team filmed in the Kootenay Rockies in rare boreal forest from 2016-2017, and the subsequent film “Black Forest” is being released.  The dark woods in British Columbia’s Kootenay Rockies is a 55,000 hectare sized remote area that was owned for many years by the German Carl, Duke of Württemberg who managed it with sustainability in mind. He named it Darkwoods after his home mountain range Schwarzwald. Home to the very rare boreal woodland cariboo, wolves, and grizzlies, the area is owned by the Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC).

Australia Winter FAMs

November and December 2018 saw many FAM trips from Australia, sharing the idea of experiencing Winter in BC/pre-Christmas and non-ski activities. The team hosted: 10 retail travel agents from Flight Centre stores in New South Wales, who visited Whistler and Vancouver on their FAM; 10 retail travel agents who were part of the Canada Specialist Program from across Australia, visiting Victoria, Vancouver and the Kootenay Rockies; and 8 top travel trade clients in Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria, and Field at Emerald Lake Lodge.    Feedback from the trips included the following: “If you’ve been to Canada in summer you’ll know the scenery is spectacular, but to visit in winter is truly magical” .

Photo: Product Managers snow shoeing Grouse Mountain.

Recent travel media coverage

Here are just a few of the media outlets Destination BC recently assisted or hosted:

Outside Online, National Geographic Traveler, Orbitz, Robb Report, LA Travel Magazine, BC Living, Globe and Mail, Ski Canada Magazine, Matador Network, Today (Australia)

Examples of recent coverage:

USA Today https://www.10best.com/interests/explore/why-you-should-visit-canadas-thompson-okanagan/?geo=eu

Iconic Life https://iconiclife.com/experiential-gift-ideas/

Outside https://www.outsideonline.com/2375486/5-road-trips-you-need-take-winter

OpenTable https://blog.opentable.com/page/3/

OpenTable https://blog.opentable.com/2018/neighborhood-gems-restaurants-for-a-hip-casual-new-years-eve-celebration-with-friends/

SkiCanada.org https://www.skicanada.org/christmas-carving-part-2/

Sharp Magazine https://sharpmagazine.com/2018/10/12/why-vancouver-is-the-best-place-in-the-world-for-upscale-chinese-food/

Divergent Travelers https://www.divergenttravelers.com/things-to-do-in-squamish-bc/

justBobbi https://www.justbobbi.com/diary/9-wellness-resorts-to-help-you-reset-and-recharge

The Globe and Mail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/article-the-best-new-things-to-see-and-do-in-canada-in-2019/

Ski Magazine https://www.skimag.com/adventure/bc-ale-trail-tour-de-suds

Ski Magazine https://www.skimag.com/adventure/coming-of-age-in-the-valkyr-range

Scout Magazine https://scoutmagazine.ca/2018/12/07/exploring-the-pacific-marine-circle-route/ ​

Road Stories https://roadstories.ca/okanagan-valley-vineyard-eats-and-bicycle-seats/

Miss 604 https://miss604.com/2018/12/places-to-storm-watch-in-ucluelet-and-tofino.html

Lonely Planet https://www.lonelyplanet.com/canada/british-columbia/travel-tips-and-articles/connect-to-culture-experience-first-nations-traditions-in-british-columbia/40625c8c-8a11-5710-a052-1479d2757815

Destination BC

Official websites.

HelloBC.com

Be inspired to start planning your BC Vacation.

Travel Media

Information for journalists, editors and broadcasters.

Tourism Business Portal

Online, self-service business listings system for tourism industry.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Familiarization Tours – What are they?

• September 4, 2015
• wellsgraytours

You may have heard of Familiarization Tours (FAM Tour is the industry abbreviation) and wondered what they are, who provides them and who are they for.

FAM Tours are hosted by travel destinations, restaurants and attractions to familiarize travel professionals with products and services that they feel will help the travel professional sell their destinations or services. FAM tours can be as close as a local restaurant or B & B in your community inviting the local Information Center staff or local travel agents to enjoy a meal or overnight stay. First hand experiences are much easier to sell.

FAM Trips are not usually free, but offered to travel professionals at a reduced rate. This ensures that travel expert is truly invested in learning about the destination or product. While this may sound like an ideal way to take a vacation, it is far from it. Destination FAM tours are jammed packed with hotel rooms, quick overview stops at attractions, dining experiences packaged into a short trip with long, long days. FAM tours are designed to provide the travel professional with a “snap shot” of the destination. The upside is that your travel professional will meet face to face with service providers and begin to build relationships with those they will work with. When booking your next holiday or tour, they will be able to recommend safe local transportation as well a personal perspective into your next adventure.

Wells Gray Tours utilizes FAM opportunities whenever possible to research new destinations. These FAM tours provide great benefits for you as the traveller. When researching a new destination it is so much easier to plan the itinerary with input from staff that has had firsthand experience. Having someone on the ground in a destination allows for a personal glimpse into cultural expectations, safety issues and transportation availability. Recently our staff has been busy; Darlene from our Vernon office and Sema from Victoria cruised on the Ocean Endeavor to Baffin Island and Greenland, Stephanie from Kamloops and Kerrie from Kelowna spent time in Savannah, Georgia and the Golden Isles, while Fraser and Shane are busy exploring cruise opportunities with Norwegian Cruise Lines.

On the Ocean Endeavor to Baffin Island and Greenland

The Golden Isles, Georgia

Tallinn, Estonia with Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Wells Gray Tours not only takes advantage of FAM tour offerings, but offers FAM tours to its employees on our tours to destinations that we travel to frequently. This ensures that all our staff stays well informed on areas we go to repeatedly, understand how we operate when out on tour and have a chance to meet and mingle with our guests in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. Wells Gray Tours provides the staff with additional time off to take FAMS.

You know you will be in good hands when you travel with Wells Gray Tours due to on our going commit to making sure we are well educated about the destinations we travel to.

Written by: Joan Niemeier

• Share this post on Facebook
• Share this post on Twitter
• Share this post on Google Plus
• Share this post on Pinterest
• Share this post on Linkedin

Great Escape Publishing

Your Dreams Are Waiting

4 Tips To Help You Score FAM Trip Invitations

Posted February 12th, 2021 by Theresa St. John & filed under Travel Writing .

Definition: A FAM trip is a familiarisation trip offered by tourism destinations or resorts to travel writers, bloggers, influencers and media professionals for a personal experience. The intention is to generate PR and media mentions to educate potential visitors and entice more visitors.

Going on a FAM trip is like grabbing the “brass ring” of travel writing.

It’s when someone selects YOU to go on a free trip, with activities, transportation, luxury hotel stays, and the best meals… all on the house.

FAM trips are designed by PR people or tourism bureaus, with the idea of offering a rich and varied experience to travel writers and other media folks, in hopes of promoting a destination or attraction.  

I’ll never forget my first FAM trip, on St. Simons Island, Georgia. I had only a few articles under my belt at the time but decided to take a chance. I applied and landed that golden ticket, traveling with 11 other journalists to The King and Prince Resort, just steps away from the Atlantic Ocean.

When I returned home, I wrote several articles about the experience and worked on getting them published. I made sure to send the links/magazines to every property and attraction I’d been able to visit. Pretty soon, I was being invited on FAM and media trips… without even having to apply.

Once you have a few by-lines under your belt and can prove you’re dependable by delivering articles that highlight your trip, I’m confident the same thing will happen for you.

To speed things along, consider becoming a member of places like ITWPA, Media Kitty, and TravMedia. All three are organizations intent on helping travel writers learn of opportunities in upcoming FAM trips. You’ll have to put your best foot forward when you apply for a spot, as the competition can be fierce.

Here are a few other things you can do to score FAM trip invitations…

Do what you say you are going to do .

If you apply for and land a coveted spot by promising you can get three articles published, you better be ready to go home and make it happen. PR representatives talk to everyone .

If you are the “real deal,” they will sing your praises. Other invitations will arrive in your mail box. On the other hand, if you promise something and produce nothing, it’s a big no-no. It won’t be long before the invites dry up. 

Try and line up publications ready to take your stories before you go.  Review what’s in The Ultimate Travel Writer’s Program, The Travel Writer’s Café, or the stuff you get with ITWPA membership on how to do this. 

You’re on the job.

By all means, enjoy every second of the exotic location, the warm weather, the magnificent vistas, and ridiculous food… but remember to take good notes and tons of pictures, too. You’re going to be writing stories when you return home, so your facts need to be accurate. Be professional. Be that person the tourism bureaus want to work with again.

Don’t be that aggravating, irritating travel writer.

FAM trips are set on a tight schedule. There is nothing worse than showing up late, when everyone else is on the bus, ready to go. Be on time, be respectful, and you’ll be a favorite.

Even if you have no personal interest in where the group’s headed, don’t be a complainer. Find something to enjoy. Look for the story within the story. After all, you may find some little-known thing that makes you excited to write about it later.

Travel writers eat strange things. They go to strange places. They meet strange and interesting people. A sense of adventure will take you far!

You can under-promise, but you better over-deliver.

You were invited on this trip because you promised them a story. Make sure it rocks! Knock their socks off with great coverage and stellar images. You’re a travel writer and tourism representatives are counting on you to help promote their area to others.

I’ve been able to work with numerous tourism bureaus, both overseas and in the states. One recently told me they’re using my “true professionalism” as an example in their training seminars. It’s such an honor to be named in what all tourism bureaus should expect from a travel writer, after the FAM trip is over.

Today, I have nearly 150 articles published. I’m blessed but I’ve also worked hard.  The free trips are icing on the cake.

Share on Facebook

The best place to start your journey with us is with our free newsletter  The Right Way to Travel . Sign up here today and we’ll send you a complimentary copy of our new report,  Travel the World, Sell the Story: A Quick-Start Guide.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Recent Posts

• 3 Hidden Smartphone Features To Help You Earn
• How to Write a Blog Post
• How to Sell Stock Photos Online
• The Power of Processing in Lightroom
• 5 Tips for Travel Writing Success in Your Hometown

©2024 Great Escape Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

• 1.1 Alternative forms
• 1.2 Etymology

English [ edit ]

Alternative forms [ edit ].

• educational ( noun )
• jolly ( noun )
• perk ( noun )

Etymology [ edit ]

From fam ( “ familiarisation ” ) +‎ trip .

Noun [ edit ]

fam trip ( plural fam trips )

• ( UK , aviation , travel ) A free (or low cost) trip for travel agents or consultants , provided by a travel operator or airline as a means of promoting their service.

• English compound terms
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English countable nouns
• English multiword terms
• British English
• en:Aviation

Navigation menu

Hosting the Perfect Familiarization Trip

• May 16, 2019
• Sales and Service

(this post was originally posted February 2018; this is the revised post here)

Some of your meeting planner prospects may be quite savvy on the FAM circuit, or this may be their first opportunity to be hosted.  Regardless of where your client is in their career and journey, there are some things you can keep in mind as host when planning a FAM trip.

Why are FAMs important?

For meeting planners, familiarization trips work because they provide a holistic view of what their program would look like in a destination – from ease of access, hotels and offsites, local beauty and amenities, and ease of doing business.  All factors contribute to a meeting planner’s decision to use a destination.  For site selection professionals, many of their clients lean on these industry experts to advise them on destination that make sense for their program’s goals. FAMs are education-based opportunities , not vacations.

As a host destination and/or event host, here are some things to keep in mind when you host your next FAM:

• One point of contact- while your FAM trip requires lots of partners in order to make it a success, designate one point of contact for both suppliers and the attendees. This will save on confusion during execution.
• Timing – it works best if you can offer FAMS at varying times of the year, so planners can somewhat “pick and choose” when they can come. If you can only host one FAM a year, you may benefit from moving the FAM around to different weeks or seasons to accommodate planner’s schedules.  There is one destination that I’m dying to go see on behalf of my clients, but they hold their FAM during the same week, every year, during my busiest month of the year.  For 10 years now, I’ve had to decline the opportunity to go see the destination.  Ironically, I haven’t booked a lot of business in this destination either.
• Vetting process – FAMs can be seen as “free vacays” by some inexperienced planners. By vetting the potential delegate, you may be able to qualify your delegates and ensure your fam is full of planners who truly have business aspirations for your destination.
• Pre-fam survey – conduct and execute a pre-fam survey with your delegates. Ask them key questions about their program(s), including size and demographics of delegates.  This will help your suppliers customize their talking points specifically for certain individuals.
• Work collaboratively – regardless of how you feel your particular service is the “best game in town”, ensure you work in tandem with the other hotels and offsite venues in your destination.  The first and foremost goal should be to get the planner to buy into the destination, not your particular service.
• Showcase unique local qualities – showing what’s unique to your destination may seem like a no-brainer, but ensure your offerings truly stand out as original. Are you a museum town?  How are you different from the other museum towns in the country?  Do you have a thriving wine region?  How do you set yourself apart from other wine regions?
• Agenda and timing
• Contact information for each facility, and for the hosts
• Social media handles for each facility
• Dress code for each day of the trip
• Average weather for the season
• Communication between partners – every stop on the tour wants to showcase their best, and they should be encouraged to do so. Have the partners communicate with one another (or use your “one point of contact”) about the plan for the day, especially menus.  While its great that all your partners are known for their fried chicken, the delegates likely do not want to eat fried chicken at three different places in one day.
• Downtime – many of your attendees are busy meeting planning professionals. Their life at the office doesn’t stop just because they took 3 days out of their schedule to see your destination.  Ensure you build in a few hours each day for delegates to catch up on email (or jet lag).
• Post-fam debrief – Conclude the familiarization trip experience by sending both a post-fam survey to your delegates, as well as your suppliers, to see what was impactful about the FAM, and what leaves room for improvement for the next one

Leanne’s Note – I recently attended a FAM during the destination’s most popular festiva l – it was an incredible experience and it really showcased the energy of the city.  Ensure your FAM participants understand the booking implications of booking their meetings around the festival time as opposed to other times of the year.

Some of the above tips may not work for your destination given the logistics, but many of these are achievable regardless of the duration of the familiarization trip or destination.  By employing many of these tips, you’ve set yourself up for a great return on your FAM investment.  Good luck with your FAMs this season!

RELATED  – The Value of A Site Visit

RELATED – Planner tips for a Successful Site Visit

RELATED – When Life Gives You Snow, Make Snow Angels

Related Posts

There's a common adage that's been making the rounds in the business world for years:…

As the world grows increasingly digitized, there's a quaint charm to voicemails. It's an intimate…

In the digital realm, your words are your lifeline. They're your handshake, your first impression,…

• previous post: 9 Tips for Achieving Hotel Sales Proposal Success in the Meetings Industry
• next post: Working With Association Meeting Planners

The Federal Register

The daily journal of the united states government, request access.

Due to aggressive automated scraping of FederalRegister.gov and eCFR.gov, programmatic access to these sites is limited to access to our extensive developer APIs.

If you are human user receiving this message, we can add your IP address to a set of IPs that can access FederalRegister.gov & eCFR.gov; complete the CAPTCHA (bot test) below and click "Request Access". This process will be necessary for each IP address you wish to access the site from, requests are valid for approximately one quarter (three months) after which the process may need to be repeated.

An official website of the United States government.

If you want to request a wider IP range, first request access for your current IP, and then use the "Site Feedback" button found in the lower left-hand side to make the request.