Best Practices: FAM Tours

Over the past few years, our team at HUG has found its way into the familiarization tour business, aka FAMs. It was quite accidental honestly. A few of our closest partners came to us and basically said, “Your team has the industry knowledge and connections, and you know our destination. What would it look like if HUG was to curate a FAM for us?” While we would love to take credit for a great idea, there was no strategic plan on our part to get into the FAM business. The market asked us to craft a plan, so we did.

What was once one statewide FAM for New York, turned into one for Kentucky, then Wisconsin. Some individual destinations surfaced and wanted their own. Later on, two affiliate groups surfaced representing like markets emerged, seeking nationwide collaboration. Both of those groups include an annual FAM held in one of the member cities. This has turned into a big part of our work at HUG, which brings us to today’s theme…..

What have we learned about putting on a great FAM tour?

Cole and Vince on our team plan and execute these events on behalf of our destination partners. They have offered up five key elements to a great FAM. Here you go…..

1.  Intentionality – The matchmaking portion of the FAM is the most important part. Just like at any speed dating trade show, the idea is to make sure you have the mix of destinations and rights holders. We don’t recruit event owners just to have event owners there, we are laser focused in the recruitment process that the rights holder’s events fit the destinations and their facilities.

2.  Deliberate – A close cousin to intentionality is being deliberate. Specifically, being deliberate about the schedule of the event itself. The FAMs we produce are not a party. They are specific and thoughtfully built to maximize the outcomes of the two-plus days everyone is together. That doesn’t happen by accident.

3.  Rights Holder Collaboration – This one isn't obvious, but it is just as important. The opportunity for event rights holders to share best practices, discuss their business models, and chat about what works/doesn't work is extremely valuable to them. We make sure they have their own dedicated time to meet and connect during the FAM.

4.  Bridge Building – At HUG, we are wired to build long-term relationships. This carries over to planning a good FAM. We are not trying to create a short-term transactional environment. That would miss the mark. These FAM events are about much more than the one-to-one business, they are about the value of relationships and community buy-in that can be built and sustained over time. Most people believe if they can get someone to their market, they can get them to come back. We see this out of our FAMs every time.

5.  State Buy-In – This one is very important. In our experience a great FAM not only has the destinations involved, it also has state level support. This is important not only from a monetary standpoint, but from their active participation as well. The more state tourism leaders see, the more they understand what sports tourism is and why it's beneficial to the destinations they serve.

Be intentional and deliberate. Provide time for different groups to network with like organizations. Build long-term relationship bridges and get buy-in from key stakeholders. These strategies will not only deliver a great FAM, they can also positively impact your organization in other areas.