Industry to Shower Favors on Visiting Travel Agents
Have you hugged a travel agent today?
Area tourism bigwigs will be squeezing 500 of them for bookings when the agents descend on Orange County on Oct. 24 through 27.
It’s all part of Travel Agent Get Acquainted--or TAG--Days, an annual junket designed to show off Orange County’s tourist amenities to the people responsible for selling them.
Sponsored by the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau, the 29-year-old event has become a critical marketing tool for local theme parks, hotels, restaurants and other tourism industry players, according to Ann Gallaugher of the Anaheim bureau.
“This is our single most important leisure event of the year,” said Gallaugher, who estimated that at least 30% of the travel agents will come from overseas. “It produces a lot of business for this area.”
The agent itinerary includes shopping at chichi venues such as South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island; complimentary admission to Knott’s Berry Farm, Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood; and a slew of welcoming breakfasts, lunches and dinners at places like the Anaheim Marriott and Newport Dunes Resort.
Local tourism businesses also will host a trade show on Oct. 25 for the agents at Anaheim Convention Center. The suppliers will dress in costume to celebrate Halloween and this year’s TAG Days theme: “Be Part of the Magic.”
Big bucks are riding on this tourism version of trick or treat.
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