Lessons Learned: Mundo Ogima
Targeting Different Markets
by Marjorie Gutierrez

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Mundo Ogima is a Mexico City travel agency run by Marjorie Gutierrez. (Email: ogima@avantel.net) The company develops ecological tours and bike trips for groups and individuals. During Mexico's Expo Aventura 2000, Marjorie gave a brief presentation on lessons learned in a forum on how travel agencies can use the Internet to promote alternative tourism in Mexico. This presentation accompanied a discussion of Travel Agencies and Alternative Tourism - Ron Mader

Mundo Ogima targets both the Mexican and foreign markets. For the domestic market, we create various programs which include archeological tours, ethnic tours, cultural tours, adventure weekends for student groups, and foreign groups living in Mexico. And for the international market, we promote our specialized programs in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Our objective is to provide a service for people who want to explore the different facets Mexico has to offer. We want to get away from your basic traditional package and offer something that is more adventurous, exciting and new -- simply Mexico as a premier destination for ecotourism.

As a one-stop agency that can provide information, advice (consultancy) and service for our clients' needs, we sell everything from tickets to package, including specialized tours which are both affordable and reliable. Often we need to take our clients by the hand and introduce them to new concepts. We do this by providing everything they need to realize their travel plans in Mexico. In order to excel as this type of agency, we must work with local operators who provide us with up-to-date information, including prices (quotes). They must deliver on their promise.

How can Travel Agencies promote and sell alternative tourism?

Our job as an agency will be to promote and market your programs. I believe that there are three important points.

1) Match your product with the market. I was able to achieve selling alternative tourism by creating programs for different parts of Mexico and offering these programs to a variety of institutions, including colleges, clubs and associations.

2) Study your market. Read about these places and visit them.

c) Make contact with different operators and try to get some feedback about these operations. A good example in the field of alternative tourism is Amtave - Mexico's National Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism Association.

How can individual operators work with travel agencies to promote their tours?

1) Local operators need to research the market well and look for agencies who would like to promote and sell their programs.

2) Send up-to-date information with calendar departure dates six months in advance to the travel agencies which are interested in selling your product.

3) Make sure prices are included starting from individual -- from the Foreign Independent Traveler (FIT) to 2pax , 4pax, 6pax, 8pax.

4) Deliver on promises made. If the package is supposed to include insurance, make sure you have insurance to cover accidents etc.

5) If you promise to send a quote within a day or two, make sure you send proper information and follow-up on time. Mundo Ogima has a policy of responding to any query within 24 hours. This has been a good business decision.

6) Base your prices based upon what people can afford. It makes no sense to create a tour that is so expensive that no one will want to take it. Travelers are looking for good value in Mexico. When trips are more expensive than others -- and no doubt for good reasons -- they simply cannot be sold.

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