International travel agents in Butte to exchange info
01.04.2006, 14:55
It what looked like a speed dating event in Butte Friday, international travel agents met with regional hotels to exchange information in the hopes of bringing more foreign tourists to the Rocky Mountains.
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The three-day event based at the Copper King Hotel brings 86 regional travel and tourist industry operators together with 43 guide businesses from Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
Friday and Saturday the groups pair off, one-on-one at separate tables, and exchange information for 10 minutes, then move to the next table. The idea is to ensure every travel agent meets every tourism provider.
This is the first time Butte is host to the Rocky Mountain International Roundup. It rotates annually among the four participating states: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and South Dakota. Cities bid on the event, which Butte won last summer.
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This is the second time visiting Butte for Jean-Marie Douau of Jetset Tours, based in Lyon, France.
“I was here in 1995,” he said in a smooth English with a French accent. “We toured the museum and the pit, but much of the Uptown looked like a ghost town. It looks so much better today.” Douau, and other tour operators, said there is a growing market in Europeans visiting the West. Most are interested in the history and the scenic beauty.
“Many people have seen the West through the movies, but they are much more interested in the real history and visiting the sites where the action took place,” Douau said.
His business caters to individual tourists, not large bus tours. His firm publishes guides — including a six-page guide on Butte — tailored to the visitor’s needs. Most of his tourists visit from one to two weeks and travel along the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to New Mexico.
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This summer will be difficult to bring French tourists here due to a change in passport regulations with the United States. Next year, the U.S. should see many more tourists, Douau said.
Chuck Box, chief executive officer for Rocky Mountain International, which contracts with Travel Montana, said the agents have been impressed with Butte and its hospitality.
“One woman was overwhelmed with the scenery,” he said.
Many of the participants flew into the Bert Mooney Airport, no small feat in itself, he said, noting how difficult connections are to make in smaller markets.
“Most of the tourists planning to come to the West do so on their third trip to the United States. At first they visit New York, then Disney World, then the West,” Box said.
The groundwork laid in Butte won’t see results until next year, as the travel agents return home and begin booking trips.
For Thorsten Freimuth, of AAR Reisen tours, Westerkappeln, Germany, Butte is a lot cooler climate then the southern U.S. tours he’s used to booking.
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“It’s my first time out here, but it is very beautiful,” he said. “We book ranch tours and bed and breakfast stays; usually 15 to 20 people. The reason they come here is to see the real West.” Pam Gosink of Travel Montana said some of the operators have already made Butte a destination point because its located halfway between Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park.