What is Sabre Virtually There?
How Does Virtually There Work?
Virtually There Audience
Value Proposition
Monthly Statistics: Unique Users, Traffic
Advertising Opportunities/ Targeting Capabilities
Advertising Specifications
Advertising Policy
Advertising Rates
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact Us

Sabre Virtually There is an online resource for confirmed travelers who have booked their travel through a Sabre-enabled travel agent. Currently, over 26,000 travel agencies worldwide 17,100 in the U.S.) rely on Virtually There as their exclusive travel agency co-branded website.

How Does Virtually There Work?
Once a travel component is booked, the agent emails a unique URL address to the traveler that links them directly to their upcoming real time itinerary as well as contextually relevant, strategically placed offers on VirtuallyThere.com. All Virtually There users are confirmed travelers or select individuals with whom the traveler wishes to share their itinerary information (typically executive assistants, spouses, etc.)

Audience: Who is on Virtually There?
The Virtually There audience takes an average of 11 business trips each year and spend an average of $1,432 per trip!

Traffic:

• ~ 2.7 MM+ unique visitors per month* *Source: ABCi Interactive Audit Report, October 2004 statistics

  Demographics:
  

• 65% male, 35% female
• 83% age 25-54
• 69% college graduates
• Average individual income: $86,000+
• 63% professional and/or top-level executives
• 41% work for companies of 5,000+ employees
• 85% own a mobile phone
• 55% have an electric organizer
• Take an average of 14 overnight trips per year
• ~ 11 business trips
• ~ 3 leisure trips

  Psychographics (lifestyle, buying habits, etc.): Virtually There users are:

  Technophiles - Virtually There users are above the national average on ownership of high-tech products such as mobile phones, DVD players, CD burners and PDAs.

  Internet Savvy - They use it regularly to shop and buy. In fact, our users have been online for an average of more than six years.

  Active - Frequent travel is a career requirement, but they also have a high propensity for leisure travel. They spend their free time with their family, going to the beach, shopping or attending sporting and cultural events.

  Buyers -Compared to the average Web user, their spending is higher in several categories, including technology, financial and entertainment.

  
  Value Proposition
  Why Should I Advertise on Virtually There?

• Top Tier + Difficult to Reach Demographic: Virtually There users are all active, affluent confirmed travelers who book their travel through a traditional (offline) travel agent. These are travelers who are unreachable on a traditional travel site (which makes it a perfect compliment to a Travelocity.com buy-- little/no duplication)!

• Loyal Users: Users typically return to Virtually There 2.5 times before their travel date.

• Valuable Impressions: Your contextually relevant message is delivered to the right person at the right time with little/no "wasted" impressions.

• Highly Targetable: With the wide variety of pages and features on Virtually There, you can pinpoint just the users you want. For example, a hotel can target just those users who have booked their air but have yet to book their lodging.

  Audience:
  

  • ~ 2.7 MM+ unique visitors per month*
  Traffic:
  
  • 28 MM+ page views per month*
  *Source: ABCi Interactive Audit Report, January 2004 statistics

  
  Advertising Opportunities/Targeting Capabilities
  There are a wide variety of targeted advertising opportunities and positions to help reach your desired audience.

  All advertising packages start with impressions allocated to the Home page, Virtually There Itinerary pages, and/or run of site impressions. In addition, enhance your buy by including targeting using:

• Origination City
• Destination City
• Hotel Booking Present

  
  Advertising Specifications
  

• Accepted formats include GIF, JPEGs and HTML.
• Rich Media: Flash and most other rich media technologies are also accepted. Please contact your Partner Marketing representative or email advertising@travelocity.com for more details.
• Ad dimensions and maximum file sizes:

  728x90	25k gif|30k flash
  120x240	15k
  234x60	10k
  400x15	8k
  160x600	25k gif|30k flash

  *Sizes listed for initial download.

  
  Advertising Policy
  As a travel agency co-branded website, the intention is to direct the user BACK TO THEIR TRAVEL AGENT as opposed to linking them off the site to book. The following advertising policies apply to travel industry clients:

• Banners cannot contain a live/hot link to an advertiser's web site if it contains a booking engine

• Messages cannot contain the advertiser's web address or phone number within the advertising text (SVT supports travel agents and does not allow booking bypass)

• Ads cannot contain any reference that encourages a consumer to call a reservation center or access the Internet for web fares

  
  Advertising Rates
  
  *Certain Rich Media technologies may require a premium. Please work with Ad Operations on all Rich Media buys.

  
  Frequently Asked Questions:

  My goal is to increase sales and reduce distribution costs; can we link travelers to our website for bookings?
  Not at this time. Remember, travel agents are still the largest distribution channel for travel. Travelers who use Virtually There are managed travelers who rely on their travel agent for air (83%), hotel (68%) and car (71%) reservations*. (*Source: *Roper ASW, October, 2001)

  Why would I advertise to confirmed travelers? Haven't they already made their purchase decisions?
  Not necessarily. For example, with Virtually There you can target a traveler who does not have a car or hotel reservation and deliver your offer to him. You will be targeting the exact customer you want and will not waste impressions.

  How can I measure the success of my campaign?
  It's no different than other media buys. We can provide click through rates and help you with conversions, provided there is a unique booking code associated with your offer. How do you measure your other online media buys today?

  What makes Virtually There different than other travel sites who offer lower CPM's?
  Virtually There delivers your messages to the right person at the right time saving you thousands of wasted impressions! Not to mention that Virtually There has a very desirable demographic.

  What is the mix of business travelers to leisure travelers who access SVT?
  13% access the Virtually There for business only, 14% access Virtually There for leisure only, 73% access Virtually There for both.

  Why should I buy Virtually There along with a Travelocity media buy?
  Both sites offer unique opportunities to target the managed and unmanaged traveler. With a combined buy, your reach is twice as effective as there is little/no duplication across sites.

  Who are some of the clients you've worked with before?
  Virtually There has worked with most of the major airlines, car rental companies, hoteliers and cruise lines. Other advertising partners outside the travel vertical include: American Express Travel Fund Card; the ParkingSpot; eDiets; Convention and Visitors Bureaus; phone rental companies; long distance service providers and mobile phone companies. We also have worked several restaurants, casinos, and specialty vendors.

  Who typically advertises on Virtually There?
  Common advertisers are destinations, hotels, car rental agencies, airlines, travel-related advertisers, and everyone in-between.

  Where can my ad link to?
  That depends on what you are advertising:

  Destinations - Destinations can link to their site. The same rules of linking off Travelocity.com apply.

  Hotels, Airlines, & Car Rental Agencies - All must link to a jump page with NO booking capabilities. Page must state to 'call your travel agent to book'.

  Travel-Related advertisers and everyone in-between - Similar to Travelocity.com non-supplier/competitor advertisers will be allowed to link off the site to their own assuming they do not offer travel booking capabilities or link to/powered by a competitor.

  How much inventory is available on Virtually There?
  Each month more than one and a half million confirmed travelers visit Virtually There.

  What rates can I advertise on Virtually There?
  Virtually There is designed with the Travel Agent in mind. All rates advertised MUST be available in Sabre as Published rates.

  
  For More Information about advertising on VirtuallyThere.com, please contact the Partner Marketing group at:

  advertising@travelocity.com