«Oh Come, All Ye Faithful…» in Spring?

Or rather, when a new brochure is being created, it can quite easily happen that we product managers find ourselves working on a topic in a completely different season, which is currently the case for me. Since the end of February I have been busy producing our brochure «Christmas Markets from the Specialist». Friends have already asked me whether I will still be able to enjoy Advent in December at all. Good question… But the chances are good that I will decorate my flat for Christmas after all and visit one or two Christmas markets myself. After all, I also put together our beach holiday brochure from around November to January, and so far that hasn't put me off summer either. What is more, the weather at the beginning of May adapted itself to my work. Rumour has it that my work and I are to blame for the snow, since now and then I imagined I was listening to Christmas carols. Who knows…

It takes a while until the finished, printed brochure lands in your letterbox. For the 2019 Christmas markets, our partners (hotels, agencies, etc.) were already contacted in early summer 2018. After that we received offers and contracts by email. With most long-standing partners, the contract is only briefly checked, signed and sent back. With others we still have to renegotiate and clarify details before we can start the costing. For trips that were already in our programme, the costing is quickly completed. For new trips, we first have to decide what we want to include in the offer. That starts with the coach: Comfort or Deluxe coach?

You are wondering how we come up with new trips? There are various ways. Our partners suggest new trips to us, or someone from the office staff or one of the coach drivers brings the idea because they have already been there privately, or through observing the market and trends. Our trip «Advent in Kufstein», for example, comes from my pen. As I am a great animal lover, some time ago I read an article about the Fohlenhof Ebbs and discovered that a Christmas market takes place at the horse farm. I researched which larger town would be suitable for the overnight stay, and little by little this new trip came about.

Once the travel dates, prices and details are fixed, the brochure page is created in a dedicated programme. The texts are written and the suitable photos selected until the page matches the specified layout and, above all, is appealing. After each page has been checked several times, I can approve it, which means handing it over to the agency that will print the brochure.

But even with this handover, the work on a product is not yet finished. Until the brochure is sent to you, the trip data has to be entered into our system and the website updated so that you can book the trip online. After a while it can happen that you hear Christmas carols and have had enough of Christmas already in May… But this feeling only lasts a short time: today I am holding the printed 2019 edition of the preview brochure «Christmas from the Specialist» in my hands for the first time and am delighted with the finished brochure and the 38 trips to the most varied Christmas markets in Europe. To you, dear guests, I now wish plenty of enjoyment browsing the new brochure and I wish you – no, don't worry, I'm not wishing you a lovely Advent season yet – I wish you an eventful and pleasant summer!