The Travel Corporation Highlights New Travel Agent-Dedicated Site
by Jessica Montevago
One of the major highlights was U by Uniworld, a new river cruise product debuting in March dedicated to a younger demographic.
In a webinar hosted Tuesday for travel advisors, the Travel Corporation (TTC) put a spotlight on how it’s looking to help its agent partners with a new trade-facing website, TTC Update.
According to the company, TTC Update was created in response to feedback from agents, who said it can be challenging to track all the brands. The website provides agent partners with news, information and resources for TTC’s brands in one central location.
“On average, brands sell 85 percent to 90 percent through the trade, so that’s why this partnership is important,” said director of communications and project management Erika Bradley, who hosted the webinar.
One of the features allows agents to sign up for quarterly newsletters, providing updates and promotions for each brand through email. Another feature on the site allows agents to find the name and contact information for their regional BDMs under the Sales Manager tab. Agents can also access TTC Academy, which provides a deep dive into each brand.
In order to help agents unfamiliar with the TTC brands, the webinar translated each brand into a cruise line. One travel agent commented that this was particularly helpful because she mostly sells cruises. For example, affordable brands like Trafalgar, and Brendan Vacations – middle market brands – compare to Holland America or Norwegian Cruise Line. Premium Insight Vacations compares to AmaWaterways and Celebrity Cruises, while Luxury Gold and African Travel compare to luxury lines Scenic, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and Oceania Cruises.
Some brands had individual updates for 2018. One of the major highlights was U by Uniworld, a new river cruise product debuting in March dedicated to a younger demographic. Bradley recommended selling this option to young couples, solo travelers, honeymooners, and babymooners.
Another bit of feedback the company received, Bradley said, was that some agents have clients who sit on itineraries and packages. To combat that, it added dynamic pricing to its Costsaver itineraries, called Ready to Go prices, so travel agents “can encourage clients to buy then while the price is good, because it can go up with the market if they wait.”
In 2018, Luxury Gold will offer its new Chairman’s Collection, available on 12 of its itineraries in France, Italy, Austria, and France. The curated selection provides exclusive, one-of-a-kind excursions, ranging from meeting with counts, duchesses and princesses to going behind the scenes at castles and estates.
Brendan Vacations also had a new product launch this year with golf vacations, arranging all of the details from tee times and transport to accommodations and sightseeing.
