Preparing our Group for International Travel

It's hard to believe we are just a 11 days out from our Mission to China.

Here at the chamber we started this process approximately nine months ago with our first full-page advertisements in the Daily Inter Lake and initial informational meeting. Over the following months of getting more and more travelers signed up (see post from 3/25), our office to-do list grew longer and longer.

Organizing a trip around the world, especially to China, entails a lot more than putting a name and contact information on a sign-up sheet.

In case you're wondering what behind the scenes here looked like while prepping for this trip, here's a little inside information on what we've been keeping ourselves busy with.

The last few name badges
with tickets and luggage tags

While payment for this trip wasn't due until nearly 6 months after our first informational meeting, we started working right away. Our interested travelers had to complete a registration form and leave a deposit to reserve their space (good thing everyone did this early, since we built a waiting list of 30+ people).

Our Administrative Services Manager, Katie, and our Presidents son, Andrew, began taking these registration forms and creating what would soon become one of the largest Excel spreadsheets you could imagine. First name, middle name, last name, phone number, permanent address, winter address, deposit received, rooming with, traveling with, luggage tag name, and finally a registration number.

This spreadsheet quickly grew longer when we began collecting visas. As
you know, China is a heavily regulated country and requires a significant amount of paperwork and documentation for anyone wanting to visit.

Soon, instead of registration forms we were collecting 4-page applications, passports and payment for Chinese visas. Additionally, we made copies of all this information as well as duplicates of passports for our own records. It took about 4 months to coordinate all 200 Chinese visas, match every little bit of information across all of our documentation, send everything to California for the visas to be processed, receive the passports back, and then distribute them to their rightful owners.

By early March we finally received all of the airline tickets and itineraries we needed. It's taken us about 3 weeks now to get everyone their information, but I can confidently say we're pretty much done with all of the planning and preparation for this excursion!

One thing that we implemented for this trip that resulted in an overwhelming positive response was a
series of four newsletters we developed. These newsletters included information like important dates, helpful hints for international travel, flight and hotel information, frequently asked questions, optional tour information and more. Providing this information helped us insure our passengers are going to be well-educated and prepared for their trip around the world.

Remember those 30 people I said were on the waiting list for this trip? Well they're in luck! We will be running this trip again in April 2017. If you're interested in experiencing a whole new part of the world, through the safety and comfort of the Kalispell Chamber, give us a call and we'll give you the information you need. (406)758-2806.

If China doesn't suit your fancy, click here to learn about our upcoming trip to Innsbruck, Austria and Oktoberfest, Sept 25-Oct 3, 2016.

- Kate Lufkin
Marketing & Communications Specialist for the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce

Taking 200 People Around the World

Typically the Chamber organizes annual trips to destinations around the world through an agent that specializes in chamber trips. While we followed our typical, initial steps for setting up this trip to China, we quickly learned this was going to be a whole different experience. While our travel agency is wonderful and we can't imagine pulling of this trip without them, there is a BIG difference between this trip and our typical ventures; 200 people.

Have you ever taken 200 people around the world, to a country that for the majority, speaks no English? Us either.

Our trips normally average close to 50 people, so back in July when we learned we had the ability to take 100 people to China this April we were a bit surprised at the increased availability. We were even more surprised when all 100 of those seats were booked within 45 days and we had a waiting list that was ever-growing.

"Hey Leo, can we have an additional 50 seats added to our trip this year?" our president, Joe Unterreiner asked the representative for our travel agency, Citslic.

150 People are now coming with us to China. Crazy right? It get's better.

The fall is our busy season where schedules are jammed packed with events like Flathead Manufacturing Day, the Timber Tour and Small Business Saturday. Needless to say, with 150 people already signed up for our trip, marketing the thing more was the last thing on our minds.

"Hey Leo, can we add another 50 seats to our trip this year?" 200 people coming to China with us - WHAT?!

Fortunately with every 30 seats we sold to our passengers we were given the privilege of bringing a staff member for assistance overseas. Joe and the director of our Convention and Visitor Bureau, Diane, were already scheduled to go on the trip. It wasn't long before Joe called our Administrative Services Manager, Katie and I into his office to tell us we'll be flying to China in 6 months.

While Katie and I were (and still are) extremely excited, the idea of taking 200 people around the world and the logistics of the whole thing was definitely daunting.

Over the following weeks it was all-hands-on-deck in the office to collect 200 passports, complete Chinese visa applications, schedule 200 plane tickets, organize travel groups and stay on top of our normal day-to-day Chamber projects.

Needless to say we're definitely well-versed in everything about this trip. We even took a Chinese Travel Vocabulary class at Flathead Valley Community College for four weeks.

Now we are 14 days away from being wheels up and on our way to Beijing and really couldn't be more excited.

Wish us luck!
-Kate Lufkin, Marketing and Communications Specialist for the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce

Kate has been with the Kalispell Chamber since August 2015, prior to which she was a competitive equestrian. Kate graduated from The University of Montana in 2013 with two bachelor degrees in Marketing and Management as well as an Organizational Communications minor and Entertainment Management certificate. Go Griz!



Follow along with our trip to China via this blog. We'll be posting daily updates, photos and features of our trip, including a special evening with Ambassador Baucus. 

Welcome to Kalispell Travels

Discover the world with the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce.

Each year we facilitate trips for dozens members, Flathead Valley locals and their friends and family across the country to explore the world. Traveling with a chamber often gives individuals a first-class experience while providing an unparalleled sense of safety and security at an unbeatable cost.  We at the Kalispell Chamber pride ourselves on bringing the best experiences to our travelers and an unmatched system of support and preparation to make international travel a breeze.

Through this blog you will be able to follow along with us as we travel to many of the world's most incredible destinations. We'll give you a sense as to what our chamber trips are like by letting you follow along with us through a stream of photos and stories from each trip. Additionally, we'll let you in on the whole process of planning one of our trips as well as travel tips and suggestions.

Some of the destinations we have traveled to include:
Costa Del Sol, Spain
Tuscany, Italy
Athens, Greece
China
Ireland

Coming up this year is a 10-day trip to Beijing, Xi'An and Shanghai, China in spring that we were able to offer for $2,499. Follow along with our trip through this blog, we'll post updates daily!

Also coming up is a 10-day trip to Innsbruck, Austria this fall for $3,549.

If you are interested in receiving more information about any of our international trips, please reach out to us at info@kalispellchamber.com or call (406)758-2803.