Sunquest Calls Dynamic Packaging a Success

Less than a year after introducing dynamic packaging to Canada’s vacation market, Travelbrands says its flexible Sunquest product has met with initial success.

First branded Fun Sun, the Sunquest packages are built for sale in the GDS shopping platforms that agents use to search for charter vacation packages. Parent company Travelbrands re-branded the product to its iconic Sunquest name last summer.

Currently Sunquest’s dynamic packages are available for travel to sun destinations and to the U.S.  

Flexibility is key
Dynamic packaging differs from the pre-packaged, pre-priced vacations offered by most Canadian tour operators in that the components of travel – air, hotel and transfers – are assembled individually.

Unlike inclusive package holidays, which are built months in advance and restrict travelers to departures on certain days of the week for stays of seven or 14 nights, dynamic packaging gives travelers more choice.

The technology used by Sunquest lets agents shop for flights using as many airlines as the dynamic packaging company chooses to offer. This gives the customer a choice of airlines, departure dates and times, routes, gateways and length of stay, as well as many pricing options.

The flights can be combined with any hotel and priced accordingly. Transfers are included, so the end result is the same as a pre-packaged vacation, but with much more flexibility. The program also has no beginning or end dates.

Easy for agents
After Sunquest’s first full winter competing with Canada’s traditional inclusive package tour operators, “the business is doing extremely well,” said Bryan Klompas, executive vice president of Sunquest. “We have seen excellent growth.”

He said the key was to bring the product to market so that it looked in every way like an inclusive charter package. For agents, he said, “the compensation is the same and the booking process is the same.”

Agents can easily sell the packages using their GDS, Klompas said. But Sunquest is also training agents on how to use its Resweb program in TTS, the booking system used by many tour operators. “When they know how to use it, they can get so much more from this product.”

What agents are saying
Lucie Lesperance of Marlin Travel in Miramichi, New Brunswick, said the Sunquest packages have been very popular.  

“In the Maritimes we have always been dependent on charter flights, which don’t start until February. Now we can sell to clients wanting to go in November, or over the holidays, or any time of the year with this product. It is great for us.”

But Sandra McMurray of Carlson Wagonlit in Arnprior, Ontario, had some reservations.

U.S. gateways unpopular
McMurray said Sunquest’s product can be great using Westjet out of Ottawa, she said. But other options, which involve flying clients via Chicago or other U.S. gateways, are not popular.

“Our clients don’t want to be routed through the U.S. to get a good price, which is what a lot of the options from Sunquest offer you.”

Laurie Lennox from Breakaway Travel in Oshawa, Ontario, said she had sold quite a few Sunquest packages and found they often save money for clients. “For the most part, it keeps us competitive with the OTAs like Expedia,” she said.

“We have access to way more flights with this technology and flexible flight times, and we can sell small-name hotels that we didn’t have access to before,” Lennox added.

Good business proposition
For Sunquest, the dynamic package product is a much healthier business proposition than traditional charter packages, said Klompas, who spent years in the business when it had its own charter seats to sell.

“We no longer care when or for how long the client flies, because we are not trying to fill empty seats.”

Klompas said he believes Sunquest is now viewed by its competitors as irrelevant, which he sees as a good thing. “We are quietly doing very well over here.”