Broadway at IPW: Building Distribution Partnerships
6/8/17
As we've discussed in previous articles, reaching out to visitors to NYC is one of the key ways we build the Broadway audience. Connecting with those visitors requires a solid relationship with the travel and tourism industry, more importantly with distribution partners who sell direct to their clients—domestically and internationally.
These distribution partners, for the most part, use wholesale (FIT) rates programmed by the shows to offer competitive pricing to their customers. Many distribution partners are names you've heard of--Expedia, Viator, EBG—and the rest are a huge mixture of online travel agencies, tour operators, transportation companies, and more.
Broadway Inbound travels to tradeshows and sales/marketing missions all year to meet with distributors and encourage them to promote Broadway shows to their clients and book early, before they arrive in-market. The largest of these in the U.S. is IPW, with 6400 attendees.
At IPW, Broadway is the star. For six consecutive years, Broadway Inbound has partnered with NYC & Company to present NYC Center Stage, a huge showcase during the Tuesday luncheon that puts Broadway directly in front of these influential buyers.
Earlier this week, performers from Cats, Anastasia, Blue Man Group, Waitress, The Phantom of the Opera, and Beautiful traveled to IPW 2017 in Washington, D.C. to promote Broadway as the calling card for New York City. Hosted by actress and Tony winner Tamara Tunie, the show featured a mix of live performances, messages from NYC & Company and the US Travel Association, and a series of videos.
These behind-the-scenes videos gave IPW a taste of what putting on a show is like and reminded everyone that it takes thousands of hardworking New Yorkers, hailing from around the world, to make Broadway magic. Shot over a few weeks at a number of Broadway theatres, these videos show distribution partners a side of Broadway they rarely get to see—from pre-show, to curtain time to after the show.
In the first video, which you can watch below, Broadway performers welcome IPW attendees backstage and let them know that the world is welcome here.
For more information, visit www.broadwayinbound.com.
These distribution partners, for the most part, use wholesale (FIT) rates programmed by the shows to offer competitive pricing to their customers. Many distribution partners are names you've heard of--Expedia, Viator, EBG—and the rest are a huge mixture of online travel agencies, tour operators, transportation companies, and more.
Broadway Inbound travels to tradeshows and sales/marketing missions all year to meet with distributors and encourage them to promote Broadway shows to their clients and book early, before they arrive in-market. The largest of these in the U.S. is IPW, with 6400 attendees.
At IPW, Broadway is the star. For six consecutive years, Broadway Inbound has partnered with NYC & Company to present NYC Center Stage, a huge showcase during the Tuesday luncheon that puts Broadway directly in front of these influential buyers.
Earlier this week, performers from Cats, Anastasia, Blue Man Group, Waitress, The Phantom of the Opera, and Beautiful traveled to IPW 2017 in Washington, D.C. to promote Broadway as the calling card for New York City. Hosted by actress and Tony winner Tamara Tunie, the show featured a mix of live performances, messages from NYC & Company and the US Travel Association, and a series of videos.
These behind-the-scenes videos gave IPW a taste of what putting on a show is like and reminded everyone that it takes thousands of hardworking New Yorkers, hailing from around the world, to make Broadway magic. Shot over a few weeks at a number of Broadway theatres, these videos show distribution partners a side of Broadway they rarely get to see—from pre-show, to curtain time to after the show.
In the first video, which you can watch below, Broadway performers welcome IPW attendees backstage and let them know that the world is welcome here.
For more information, visit www.broadwayinbound.com.
Originally published in Broadway Briefing.