Tour Ops Court Agents With New Programs
by Robin Amster /Have you noticed? There’s been a steady stream recently of tour operator initiatives aimed at building stronger relationships with travel agents.
From new travel agent web portals and enhanced web sites to agent reward programs and sales tools, tour operators have upped their game in an effort to drive agents’ business – and command their loyalty.
Travel Market Report talked with tour operators to find out what’s behind these developments.
Heavy competition
One factor spurring recent tour operator initiatives is heavy competition among tour firms and the knowledge that travel agents have scores of companies to steer clients towards.
“The tour operator business, much like airlines, is extremely competitive,” said John Caldwell, president of MLT Vacations.
“We really have to differentiate ourselves with customers,” he said, meaning travel agents. “If you don’t take care of your customers, you will be left behind in this environment.”
Agent rewards
MLT recently launched MLT Vacations Diamond Program, a rewards program that’s a more “robust” version of MLT’s former STAR program.
Benefits include discounts for agents’ personal travel, exclusive discounts and savings for agents to pass along to clients, as well as advance notification of agent training opportunities.
The company has also enhanced its WorldAgent Direct agent portal with new features, including emails about changes in clients’ scheduled flights and interactive airline seat maps for partner carriers.
“The better you can incent agencies, the more business you can get,” said Caldwell. “We do think our competitors are upping their game, as we are doing.”
Agent portal
Central Holiday’s CEO Gianni Miradoli agreed, saying that tour operators have become more aggressive in courting agents.
“You want to incent the agent to use your company,” Miradoli said.
Central Holidays recently introduced a new dedicated agent portal featuring customized marketing materials and additional resources, including access to special fam trip opportunities.
Tour vs. cruise
Competition from the cruise sector is one reason for Central Holidays’ recent efforts aimed at agents.
Despite the buzz that agents are moving away from selling cruises to sell more tours, Miradoli said he is seeing the opposite. “Our major competitor is still cruises, and we see more and more agencies moving toward cruises instead of land programs.
“We have to compete very hard in those situations, and we’re trying to give agents more tools and information to move clients to land.
“We do a lot of pre- and post-cruise programs in Europe but at the end of the day, these packages don’t drive a lot of money,” Miradoli added.
The new ‘guided vacation’
For Trafalgar, stepped-up outreach to agents is driven not only by competition but by “changes we’ve made in our product,” said president Paul Wiseman.
“Three to four years ago we looked at research that said sales in the tour space were flat or declining versus sales for cruises, and that this was a long term trend,” he said. “That turned even more significant with the dramatic increase in river cruise capacity.”
Trafalgar responded by adapting its product. “We moved away from the category we were promoting for 40 years, which was escorted vacations, and we supported that with changes in our product,” he added.
Old perceptions
Trafalgar’s product changes address both content and image.
Trafalgar’s series of Insider Experiences, for instance, offer clients more meaningful connections to destinations, in keeping with the trend toward experiential travel.
The company also jettisoned the not-very-sexy term “tour” in favor of “guided vacations” to reflect its new tour product, Wiseman said.
Re-inspiring agents
The transformation made it necessary to “re-inspire” agents, he said. “We’ve had a repackaging of our agent strategy to support the fact that we’ve rebuilt our product.
“We realize that we’re one of literally a hundred suppliers, all of whom are fighting for the agent’s precious time,” Wiseman added. “You have to challenge yourself to look at more engaging ways to reach agents.”
Trafalgar’s recent efforts include enhanced agent support for peak selling season, with new sales tools, limited-time early payment discounts, a video series that delivers tips in an entertaining way, and a comprehensive 2014 agent reference guide.
The company also plans to roll out a new agent website this year with enhanced levels of interactivity to replace the “one size fits all” approach, said Wiseman.
The Internet effect
Tauck also has been busy introducing new agent programs and training opportunities.
The motivation for Tauck’s new agent programs? “Agents need more support from us because of the Internet. That’s why we’ve stepped up,” said vice president of global sales Steven Spivak.
“The Internet has made the relationship [with agents] more important. For us, that relationship means support, tools, education,” he said.
Converting the sale
Tauck’s recently launched Agent Connect portal provides access to clients’ booking details and the ability to make online payments for clients. More features are planned for coming months.
Tauck also plans to debut an agent rewards program by the end of March as well as an online version of its Tauck Academy agent certification program. Last November it established a travel agent advisory board.
“In the dynamic environment in which clients shop, we need to give agents more tools to convert the sale,” Spivak said.
“The more support we give them, the more valuable they are in the eyes of the customer.”