Global Connections: “We Have the Coolest Customers!”
“We have the coolest customers,” says Melanie Gring, Global Connections’ Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Public Relations. “Our members clearly enjoy their vacations and appreciate the wonderful memories created with the help of our Global Discovery Vacations travel club program.”
Most recently Global Connections, Inc. (GCI) awarded one of its Global Discovery Vacations (GDV) members the title of “Coolest Customer” for a video submitted to the “Coolest Customer” contest. The entry from a honeymoon vacation to Ixtapa portrayed–both visually and verbally– all the enthusiasm that so many GDV members share without reservation:
“Global gives us our life back on each location we visit. Everyone needs to have a break in life with no stress. Global Discovery Vacations has given us that and more. We would never be traveling if it wasn’t for them. Having a disabled daughter creates many challenges in my life. I thank God he gave us this opportunity to see the world through GDV.”
The Coolest Customer contest is yet another in a long line of events designed to build loyalty and excitement for GDV members. GDV regularly engages its members with contests and promotes them through newsletters and social media. Prizes for the numerous contests vary from gift certificates to resort condominium lodging for their next vacation or last minute get-a-ways.
“Of course, we think all of our members are ‘cool,’ “said Melanie. “Our GDV ‘Coolest Customer’ winner received a nifty remote control cooler the same as those popularly in use at various GDV sales offices for the past year. What these contests really underline is the high level of member satisfaction.”
According to Tom Lyons, President and CEO of GCI, “The ancillary benefit of these customer engagement contests and events is the accumulation of great videos and pictures that can be archived and shared on social media, on our web site and printed collateral materials. Our members often turn out to be our most enthusiastic ‘salespeople.’ Their personal photos and videos show what our travel club does for our members through their authentic first-hand experiences.”
It doesn’t take a contest for Global customers to voice their positive opinions via email, handwritten notes and social media posts. However, it is clear the contests are widely popular. Some of the most successful contests have been “Shoot for the Stars” (a vacation photo contest which garnered over 1000 entries this year) and “Bucket List,” where winners received dream vacations based on essays submitted online. The Bucket List event originally started out as simply a way to solicit input from members about where they wanted to vacation. It evolved into something much more than that with many members sharing vivid vacation dreams. More than 500 essays were submitted in just over a month’s time. The Bucket List promotion is now part of a regular Member Engagement calendar.
Considered a leader in the travel club industry, GCI, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, offers the members of its Global Discovery Vacations club program a wide variety of leisure benefits and vacation options at more than 700 North American resorts. Global Discovery Vacations, is a respected membership based travel club offering its 75,000+ active members access to condominium accommodations, cruise and tour vacations, a full-service travel agency, a concierge program, and other leisure benefits. GCI is also the developer and owner of resorts in California, Florida, Tennessee and Colorado as well as owning and leasing numerous resort condominium units throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Caribbean.
