• Sponsoring subscribers enjoy a +40% market visibility expansion
• CT's Web Page Ad advertisers enjoy marketing cost effectiveness
• A CT advertising presence is designed to improve:
     —sales,
     —image and
     —profitability

Demographics - Market Survey Results

Here’s why a portion of your ad dollars should be supporting a longer-term payback (brand awareness) on top of profitable referrals and click-thrus:

2)   That key-word advertising, while effective, keeps you locked up in a market box of those who already know what they want. We knew — at the outset — that the unique offerings of specialized tour operators needed expanded marketing horizons—higher-end travelers who needed “Explore and Discover” research opportunities. For you, that means a piece of a bigger pie, not a key-word battle for a limited one.

So, we dedicated our web sites to encourage travelers to explore and discover—yes, we all say that, but look at how many explorer sites simply mean multiples of the same pre-packaged deals—travelers don’t return to those sites when they seriously want to know how they’ll spend their next year’s $20,000 of travel budget. That’s why our average session time is so high.

What that means for you is that you’re appealing to a larger potential market, those with the disposable income needed for higher-end travel (nearly 40% of our travelers spend over $20,000 per year on multiple travels — see CT’s demographic profile and survey). The travelers we attract arrive here because they wish to explore and discover new opportunities—your trip opportunities. Opportunities they may not have thought of before (as a keyword) to research. 

3)   Qualified leads and referrals should be just that! Pre-qualified. Not accidental or casual click-thrus. Our Web Page Ads, for example, require a traveler to first click on your thumbnail (after reading a Description of your Company or Trip), then they review your Web Page Ad where they can see your Trip offerings, a recap of your home page and “About” you as well as any articles or press releases you’ve had us place there (a Web Page Ad is so completely effective that for very small tour operators it can serve as a cost and marketing effective web site!). Only after such a thorough research and review of your advertising do they then click-thru, and they do so at a “better than anyone” 37% rate (relative to those who viewed your Web Page Ad).

Now, that’s pre-qualification! No one else even dares do that—risk losing the chance to charge you for a useless click-thru. For you that means sales and administration effectiveness—you get to deal with better qualified leads and referrals only.

4)   Traveler credibility—that we deliver on the promise of over 2,000 worldwide tour operators being available for their research. We do that by retaining free-listings for all (available through our search-engine) while maintaining our “Explore and Discover” Theme and Region pages—now limited to tour operator subscribers and Web Page Ad advertisers. The idea here was to limit visibility (a minimum of only $5.95/month for continuing presence) in order to deliver more qualified leads—with a nominal click-thru charge that reflects the quality of results delivered—WHILE building brand awareness. [remember, our travelers return monthly as registered recipients of The Cultured Traveler news magazine—that's currently a qualified market exceeding $100 million per year.

Subscribing advertisers enjoy the benefit of by Activity and by Country searches. Choose as many Countries, Themes, Regions or Activities to be visible under—doing so will can either increase or decrease your click-thru charges.