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DANA
SANCHEZ | TOURISM MATTERS - Their messages reach around the globe, courtesy of the
World Wide Web. So it makes sense that some Florida tourist organizations
are translating their published materials into other languages.
But in the translation business, one size does not fit all.
Visit Florida, the state's marketing agency, has made its Web site
available in foreign languages and dialects including British English,
German, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Tampa-based AAA Auto Club South just opened a franchise in Puerto
Rico and has hired a local advertising agency to translate its
printed material into Spanish. The club has done Spanish translation
piece-by-piece, but this is the first time it has done a comprehensive
Spanish translation, according to AAA spokesman Gregg Laskoski.
AAA's literature needs to be translated not just into Spanish,
but into the correct dialect.
"Puerto Rican Spanish is slightly different from Cuban Spanish or
Mexican Spanish," said Pedro Luis Perez, vice president of
sales and marketing for Sarasota-based Nuevo Advertising Group,
which was chosen by AAA for the job. Nuevo Advertising Group says
it focuses on "bridging the
gap between businesses and the Hispanic community."
Translation of printed material, advertising and AAA's Web site
will be part of a multipronged campaign for Nuevo Advertising Group.
Any business that wants to communicate effectively with the Spanish-speaking
audience needs to take dialect into account and make sure the message
reaches the intended audience, Laskoski said: "One size does
not fit all."
Translation into Spanish will boost marketing efforts not only
in Puerto Rico, but also in the United States and locally, according
to Perez.
Census figures show the Spanish-speaking population growing by
147 percent per year in this area, he said.
"Tourist organizations are trying to attract the broadest possible
audience to the area," Perez said. "A Web site is an
international gateway to your business. People can pick it up anywhere.
It would be naive not to translate."
Travel agencies changing
In a post-9-11 world where travelers like to make their own arrangements
on the Internet, travel agencies, as we once knew them, all but
went away. Kim Taylor is what you might consider a pioneer in the
industry.
She owns Admiral Travel Gallery, newly opened in Lakewood Ranch.
The travel agency is an offshoot from the original Admiral Travel
which opened in 1997 in Sarasota.
Taylor attributes the agency's resilience to chipping out a niche
market in luxurious added-on travel services its clients may not
ever have considered.
Another client booked a trans-Atlantic cruise but didn't want to
go on the pre-arranged tour bus with 70 other passengers.
"They want a private custom tour in the Canary Islands, so I'm arranging
for a private driver and guide to pick them up," she said.
The agency handles everything from a simple airline booking to
a private villa in France and front-row tickets to the Rolling
Stones concert.
Sound more expensive than doing the booking yourself? Not necessarily
so, Taylor says. The agency has a lot of relationships with hotels,
cruise lines and tour companies that give it special rates and
contracts, plus incentives for clients like upgrades and welcome
gifts.
"People have it in their minds that it's going to cost more through
an agency," she said. "Generally, it costs the same if
not less."
Getting people to book the first time is the hard part. Afterward,
repeat customers and referrals are pretty much a sure thing, Taylor
said.
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