This year’s Motorcoach Marketing Council GoMotorcoach fundraising, which took place at the United Motorcoach Association (UMA) Expo in Atlanta, was a huge success, thanks to a live auction, which included a VanHool CX35 that was sold to John Benjamin of Northfields Lines from Eagan, Minn.

There was also a silent auction, with donations from over 50 companies offering trips, technology, coach parts, clothing and more. This represented a major departure from years past, with many items bringing above-retail values, demonstrating the level of support the industry has for these products, training and services.

“We are thrilled to see the support from the industry for the work that we are doing. It is amazing to see companies like ABC Bus Sales who respect what we are doing so much that they were willing to donate such a great coach to the auction. It really speaks to the fact that we are doing things right,” said Christian Riddell, the executive director of the Motorcoach Marketing Council. “The last two years we have made huge leaps forward with our ability to help operators sell more charters to more people for more money, and we feel that this is a reflection of that effort. We simply can’t say thank you enough to those who donated and those who participated in the bidding and ended up purchasing items. This is a huge part of what makes it possible for us to continue to provide these services to the industry.”

The Motorcoach Marketing Council’s GoMotorcoach program is now in its third year and has helped hundreds of operators around the U.S. and Canada better sell their products in their respective markets.

The program offers training for sales teams of motorcoach operators, a vast library of marketing materials, which can be customized and ordered online, as well as a social media library full of images and social posts to help make those efforts more effective.

“We are making great strides to help operators be more effective in marketing their services to their respective markets. We are consistently talking to operators who are using the tools and seeing results,” Riddell said.

Funds from this fundraiser and other donations to the council are used to support the development of new products, services and training; fund attendance to national and regional motorcoach events where they provide training and support; and they are also put toward administrative costs to execute the mission of the council.