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Transcript of Travel Agent Professional Feb 2012
Travel AgentProfessional
February 2012Issue 16
4 How much is too much?By Rusty Pickett, ECCShellback Cruises
14 Birmingham England —The Ultimate Shopper’s ParadiseBy Paull Tickner Creator of Special Interest Britain
February 2012
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1
Travel Agent Professional TAP
2012
Ad In
dex
64 How much is too much?By Rusty Pickett, ECCShellback Cruises
66 What Kind of Fool Am I?By Scott KoepfVice President of Sales Avoya Travel/American Express
68 Managing the Customer RelationshipBy Mitchell J. SchlesingerVice President, Sales & Marketing Voyages to Antiquity
14 Birmingham England —The Ultimate Shopper’s ParadiseBy Paull Tickner Creator of Special Interest Britain
20 Damage Control, Surveys & InsuranceBy Les-Lee RolandOwner of The Package Deal
ShowcaseAvoya Travel™/American Express® ..............17OASIS............................................................11TRAVELSAVERS ............................................15
February
http://www.AutoEurope.com
http://www.joinavoya.com/default.cfm?ref=115
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Auto Europe................................IFCAvoya Travel/American Express....19Leisure Pops ...................................9 Royal Caribbean Line ...................BC
Sabre ...........................................19Travel Planners Int’l......................13Voyages to Antiquity ......................3
Travel AgentProfessional
February 2012 Issue 16
Travel Agent Professional has its roots in Home Based Trade, the firstmagazine of its kind, started by Joel Abels in 2004. Joel and Lenore Abelsran Travel Trade for nearly half a century – it was started by her grandfa-ther, John S. Lewis, and her father, Sidney Lewis, in 1929, and they tookthe publication over after her grandfather’s passing.
Under Joel’s direction, the company grew to be one of the travel agentindustry’s leading publications, reaching more than 45,000 agentsthroughout North America. It spawned a famous series of trade showsand three monthly magazines – Cruise Trade, Tour Trade and Home BasedTrade.
The Abels also garnered enormous respect – Joel received the NealAward, called “the Pulitzer Prize of the business press,” for his hard-hit-ting editorials.
On a personal note, after working with Joel for over a decade and stay-ing with him until the end, I grew to truly care for and respect the man.He was like a second father to me. Joel was old school, he stood by hisword and believed in his work. There will never be another.
While nobody can replace this industry legend, we’re hoping thatthis new publication, which reunites the original Home Based Tradeeditorial board, will be able to carry on his passion for travel andthose who sell it.
Ann M. Hoek
Travel Agent ProfessionalP.O. Box 120202
Staten Island, NY 10312E-mail:
718.227.7541
Ann M. HoekPublisher/Creative Design
Bonnie WallingEditor
Editorial Board
Mitchell J. SchlesingerVice President, Sales & Marketing
Voyages to Antiquitywww.voyagestoantiquity.com
Mary BrutscherFormer Host Agency Owner & Travel Educational [email protected]
Rusty Pickett, ECCShellback Cruises
www.shellbackcruises.com
Les-Lee RolandOwner of The Package Deal
Scott KoepfVice President of Sales
Avoya Travel/America’s Vacation Center
www.joinavoya.com/default.cfm?ref=11583
Sherry Laskin, ACCTravel Writer/NACTA Webinar Moderator
www.cruisemaven.com
Sue Sh apiro, PresidentShapiro Travel [email protected]
www.shapirotravelresources.com
Paull Tickner,Creator of Special Interest Britain
ContributionsLee Rosen, CEOLeisure Pops
www.leisurepops.com
Joel M. Abels Legend In the Travel Industry
April 1927 to January 2007
September 2011
This online magazine is dedicated to the memory of Joel Abels, Travel Trade's editor andpublisher. Joel and his life's work may be gone, but with your help it can live on.
From monumental Sicily and the classical elegance of Greece to the beauty of India’s Taj Mahal, in-depth Burma and mysterious Angkor Wat, Voyages to Antiquity’s uniqueitineraries bring to life the history of the world’s ancient civilizations.
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4
February 2012
We were recently on a NACTA seminar at sea,
and as is typical these days, the subject of social and elec-
tronic media came up with respect to its use in our busi-
ness. A very professional and aggressive agent, also relatively
new, was describing how much time it takes to do her elec-
tronic newsletter, keep up with her Facebook account and
also stay active with Twitter.
Although she didn’t say it directly, it was clearly evident that
the amount of time she spent on these media was cutting in
to the time she had available for actually processing client
bookings and professional education, which she stated was
important to her.
The buzz at the moment seems to be that you can’t be a
successful travel company unless you have a robust
Facebook and Twitter presence, and are always in contact
By
R
us
ty
P
ic
ke
tt
,
EC
C
Rusty Pickett, ECCShellback Cruises www.shellbackcruises.com
How much is too much?
The bottom line
seems to be keep it
simple. List all the
media/actions that you
want to have a
presence in: Web site,
Facebook, E-mail,
Twitter, newsletter,
professional education,
client service etc.
5
Travel Agent Professional
with your client base through the use of a top-
notch newsletter. We never discuss how much
is too much.
Just like you have to qualify your clients, you
also have to qualify your client base! The base
question is that really needs to be asked is how
does your client base really grow? For the vast
majority of home based agents it’s pure and
simple — word of mouth networking based on
service provided rather than a huge social net-
working presence.
I have both a business Facebook account and
Twitter account. There are only a few people
who have ‘liked’ my Facebook account and I
don’t use my Twitter account at all — one life-
time tweet! My national client base just isn’t on
Facebook, and using that as a reference, they
won’t be on Twitter.
It just would not be a good use of my time to
spend hours per week chatting on those
media. The value added compared to the time
taken away from professional education and
client processing just isn’t justified.
To some extent, the same can be said about an
agency newsletter. I definitely think there is
value added, but you have to decide which is
more cost-effective — spending many hours on
the newsletter or growing your professional
knowledge and service ethic.
There is certainly a balance, but given the vast
amount of information pushed by our travel
supplier partners, there is only so much new
information that can be put out in a newsletter.
I think you really need to understand that what
you are trying to accomplish with the newslet-
ter. “Touching” your client base is critical.
However, too much may be overwhelming,
given the number of E-mails – spam and other-
wise — that are generated daily.
Additionally, you need to ensure you are using
the best E-mail broadcast method – using a
product like Constant Contact – instead of
processing the information using your E-mail
program, which can be tedious at best.
The bottom line seems to be keep it simple.
List all the media/actions that you want to have
a presence in: Web site, Facebook, E-mail,
Twitter, newsletter, professional education, client
service etc. Which of these platforms give the
most return on investment on your most valu-
able commodity — your time? Objectively fig-
ure out which ‘time consumer’ adds the most
value and potential for growth and focus your
attention on that. Forget about the others in
spite of what the talking heads say!
By
S
co
tt
K
oe
pf
February 2012
What Kind of Fool
Am I?
Scott KoepfVice President of Sales
Avoya Travel/American Express
www.JoinAvoya.com
6
There may be a few of
you who are already composing
your E-mail to answer this ques-
tion for me. While I will be happy
to receive those replies, this ques-
tion is actually designed to ask of
yourself, not others.
It is the title of a song that became more famous
than the show it came from, Stop the World — I
Want to Get Off. Through singing the beautiful
melody and piercing lyrics, the character tries to find
the answer to the question in the title of the song,
“What Kind of Fool Am I?”
Through this self-analysis, he realizes he may be inca-
pable of love, which is sad indeed. As compared to
most of my musical theatre references, this song is
really somewhat depressing.
So how is this introspective song related to selling
travel? After recently reading a number of communi-
ty forums and Facebook posts, I was struck with the
idea that maybe we need to take the approach of
this song and apply it to our businesses. As I noted
above, this song is about self-analysis, so let’s take a
look at ourselves.
If you are honest with
yourself, you will
determine what you
may not have done
well so you can
improve for the next
time.
7
Travel Agent Professional
As travel agents, we are in a very competitive and
dynamic business — if you do not agree with that
you might as well stop reading this! While I under-
stand the frustrations of losing business to com-
petitors or direct sales, I guess I am tired of the
blame game. It seems that just about every post
says something like “They (insert competitor or
supplier name here) are doing this bad thing or that
bad thing and I am losing business because of it....”
Of course, it is easy for others to jump in and toss
a couple “Halleluiahs” and “Amens” and add to the
tale of woe. Soon, you have an unending string of
“They did this...” and “They did that...”
I may not make friends with this next comment,
but maybe it is time to sing the song, “What Kind
of Fool Am I”? (Now you really want to send me
your answers!) Before you get too upset, please
don’t imply that I am calling you a fool. But I do
think we all should start by looking at what our
actions have been instead of moaning and groaning
about what others are doing.
Everything we do comes out of the choices we
make, and no matter how upset we might get,
the fact is that others are winning sales and
growing their businesses in the same environ-
ment we are in.
The irony here is the very fact that we travel
agents exist is the whole proof that I am right.
Remember that due to commission cuts, the
Internet, the economy or direct sales, we are not
supposed to be here! Yet here we are. However, I
think the most successful agents are not the ones
loudly worrying about what “they” are doing but
instead have made choices to change and adapt
which allow them to succeed.
So, the next time you lose a sale take a deep
breath and think about this song’s self analysis and
focus on “What did I do?” instead of what “they”
did. Complaining about what “they” did will simply
not improve your business prospects for the
future. However, true self analysis will.
I always recommend that agents review what did
and more importantly, didn’t work on a daily if not
weekly basis. So if you lost business to a competi-
tor, step into your panic room and scream primor-
dially, then come back and ask yourself why that
happened. If your answer is that “they” have a bet-
ter price or that their marketing is too pervasive,
then I suggest you did not ask the right question.
Once again, it is self-analysis, not blame analysis.
What can be learned from this to make sure it
does not happen again? Did you follow up to the
degree you should have? Did you do enough
research to quote a compelling offer in the first
place? Did you spend enough time with the cus-
tomer and ask enough questions to build a rela-
tionship? Did you clearly articulate the benefits of
booking with you?
If you are honest with yourself, you will determine
what you may not have done well so you can
improve for the next time. If you sing the song
below just a few times (with some liberty taken
with the lyrics) you may realize the only foolish
thing would be to not sing this song!
What kind of fool am I?Who didn’t make the sale?
What can I do next time so I will not fail?I need to learn and grow
Or clients will never knowWhat kind of Jewel I really am!
By
M
it
ch
el
l
J.
S
ch
le
si
ng
er
Mitchell J. SchlesingerVice President, Sales & Marketing Voyages to [email protected]
Capturing “Clients for Life” starts with understanding the basics of consumer behavior, which provides a fuller
understanding of each of your clients’ individual motivations. So let’s focus on how this works:
1. Clients come to you with their own motivation for travel and the expected result. The key isthat they purchase based on emotions and then justify with logic. To be successful, you must lis-
ten very closely to what they want and then match the right product to fulfill their expectation.
2. You need to create an emotional connection with each client so that they perceive you under-stand what it is they are seeking. Remember, they buy for their own reasons, not yours. Selling
them a vacation that fulfills their personal emotional desires directly impacts their ability to
logically justify that they made the right choice, of both the travel package…and YOU.
3. Customer perceptions of you and your service are crucial. They must feel that there is signifi-cant value in your relationship. It starts with their trust that you will be invested enough in
the relationship to recommend the travel that best fulfills their expectations, which creates
the perception that their purchase had significant value. It continues with your communicating
with them on an ongoing basis and the acid test, how you handle “challenges.” And part of
this perception must be their sensation that they are your most important client!
Think about your own motivations when you buy
anything. For clothes, it is how stylish you feel you look or
appear to others, or those of you in Green Bay, warmth. For
insurance, it is security and peace of mind; for toys, the pleasure
in the eyes of children; for a computer, a way to connect to the
rest of the world and, importantly, conduct business.
The use of the word “commodity” to convey a non-brand dis-
tinct thing is not accurate. We don’t buy “things,” we buy ideas,
personal feelings, happiness, self satisfaction, respect and solu-
tions to challenges.
8 Clients For Life
Managing the Customer
Relationship
February 2012
(continued on page 10)
With Leisure Pops you "Pick your Pops": meaning tyou turn on the Pop Campaigns they choose and get only those Pops when pertinent. With Leisure Pops you will never get a Pop that you have not asked for!
Leisure Pops "electronically taps you on the shoulder" at just the right time for your product offerings. Sell more add on products and have access to your specials at just the right time when they can help you.
Leisure Pops saves you time and makes bookings extremely efficient by moving data for you. One click takes you to the chosen site, automatically logs you in, shops the site, and even moves data (client data into and reservation details back) making the reservation process fast and easy.
Leisure Pops helps you make more money as you will sell more preferred suppliers, more add on products and can easily and auto-matically participate in reward programs.
Everyone wins with Leisure Pops: Agents better service clients and make more money; Agencies and consortia get more preferred book-ings, Suppliers get more sales from preferred agents, and perhaps best of the all the consumer's interests are best served developing long term consumer - agent relationships..
To learn morevisit leisurepops.com
Leisure Pops:Your Ultimate Assistant
Leisure Pops sits quietly on your desktop and waits for an opportunity to help you. It can save you time and keystrokes, or remind you of preferred-supplier offers, or notify you when there is an opportunity to sell add on products like show tickets or travel insurance, or automatically log your qualified bookings into contest sites like Win With Amex, or Las Vegas Agent Rewards.
104. And speaking of service, how each and every member of your agency team comes across estab-
lishes a service benchmark for the agency. This is a reflection that every contact is a judged
experience highlighted by:
Physical appearance: Attractiveness counts;Attitude: Accommodation, understanding, responsiveness;Phone etiquette: Attitude can be heard as well as witnessed;Responsiveness: “How important am I?”
5. Learn from mistakes and criticisms — this is CRUCIAL. You can’t ignore what a client istelling you. It is their perception and their reality. And whatever it is, it provides a platform for
you to communicate your appreciation, thank them for their honesty and create the perception
that you are addressing their input.
(continued on page 12)
February 2012
Travel Agent Professional
Outside Agents Sales Integration System (OASIS)Reports Record Growith in 2011With Total Sales Growth 186% over 2010
Boca Raton, Florida,February 15, 2012 – OASIS,www.OasisAgent.com, aleader in the development ofprograms for home basedindependent travel agents,reports another year ofrecord growth.
“We are extremely pleasedthat total sales in 2011 are186% more than in 2010and agent growth hasincreased by 106%,” statesKelly Bergin, OASIS vicepresident of business devel-opment. “We attribute thisgrowth to our unique busi-ness model, which allowsagents to join OASIS with noinitiation fee and receive100% commission on alltransactions. The only feesare a monthly charge of $29for the basic plan, and pro-cessing fees ranging from $2to $29, depending upon thesupplier commission.”
Contributing to the success
of OASIS is the overallgrowth of the tourism indus-try. Statistics released by theUS Department of Commercein January 2012, indicate thatthe travel industry continuesto outpace all other sectors ofthe economy. Posting its thir-teenth consecutive gain dur-ing the past 14 months, thetravel industry added 7,000jobs in January 2012. SinceMarch 2010, travel industryemployment has expandedby 223,000, marking a 3.1percent increase — fasterthan the 2.4 percent rise inemployment in other sectorsof the economy.
With a significant declinein brick and mortar travelagencies, many tourism pro-fessionals are becominghome-based agents. Amongthe benefits that OASIS pro-vides its agents is access toSignature Travel Network’sIntranet, with a hotel and
cruise booking engine andmany value-added featuresthat Signature has negotiatedwith hotels and cruise lines.This gives agents tremendousproduct diversity in bothland and cruise offerings andoffers them the benefit of vol-ume purchasing power.
OASIS turnkey businessmodel offers participatinghome-based travel agentsbusiness development sup-port and the advantages ofvolume purchasing power.Additional benefits includecontinuing professional edu-cation through webinars, on-demand training, interactiveforums, and mentoring,which help to ensure theirsuccess. Customized andbranded websites featuringcomprehensive content forcruises, hotels, land vaca-tions and destinations arealso available to all OASISagents.
Showcase
OASIS, the Outside Agents Sales Integration System, is a division of Smart Travel Group of Boca Raton, Florida. For more informa-tion about OASIS Agent visit www.OasisAgent.com or contact Kelly Bergin at 800-613-8380 extension 120, or by email [email protected]
12
February 2012
An intrinsic part of managing the customer relationship is communication. There is a distinct difference
between how this is handled by clients who are becoming customers for the first time and those who
have purchased previously.
With new customers, it is the process of establishing the relationship, learning about what they really
want and providing a high quality initial level of service and product recommendation. It is important to
reinforce how the recommendation reflects the input they provided by pointing out the features of the
travel and how each segment fulfills the “wants” they expressed.
For existing clients, this is taken to a completely next level, including what you already know and augmenting it:
• Communication must be consistent in order for clients to feel engaged by your agency;
• You must constantly update your profile for each client with demographic and psychographic trendsand changes;
• Clients must be asked repeatedly, how are we doing? How can we provide better service? Whatnew ideas do you have for future travel?;
• Send information on new travel destinations and products and ask for their reactions;• Send communication of a personal nature to show how engaged you are.Creating and managing client relationships by understanding consumer behavior is crucial for you and your
team members. The reaction to the service you provide will be judged and evaluated by your clients based
on key factors:
1. Credibility 2. Communication 3. Attractiveness4. Reliability 5. Responsiveness 6. Empathy
Arranging the first letter of these factors spells the word CARE. Show your clients how much youCARE and increase the number of clients you retain for life.
By
P
au
ll
T
ic
kn
er
February 2012
Paull Tickner, creator of Special Interest Britain, is affiliated with the Greatdays Travel Group. For over 30 years, he has been developingand operating customized niche travel programs for the United Kingdom and Ireland. For more information, visit his Web site atwww.greatdays.co.uk and E-mail him at [email protected]
Airside Kerbside in less than 30
minutes... Fantastic weekend rates at fabulous 4
star hotels ... Amazing shopping... Welcome to
Birmingham, Britain’s second city and recently
named as one of the world’s top 20 places to visit
in 2012 alongside the likes of Florence, Tokyo and
San Diego.
The influential New York Times newspaper
placed the city 19th on its list of must see desti-
nations, highlighting a recent quote that
Birmingham is the UK’s ‘foodiest town’.
In its write up the New York Times says: ‘’The
chefs are building on an already rich dining
scene. Birmingham is famous in Britain for its
Balti Triangle, an area of town that is home to a
beloved Pakistani-Kashmiri curry dish invented
here.’’
With this ease of access and the high quality of
its hotels to work with, Birmingham is THE
place to go to for Girls Getaway shopping trips.
14
(continued on page 16
Birmingham England —The Ultimate Shopper’s Paradise
Travel Agent Professional
TRAVELSAVERS Partner Services & AnalogAnalytics Team Up to Provide
The Ultimate Travel Industry Solution to Group Discount Sites
Oyster Bay, N.Y. –(February 2, 2012) – TRAVEL-SAVERS Partner Services, anew American MarketingGroup company, has won theaccount as the exclusive trav-el provider for AnalogAnalytics’ Bigger BetterDeal™ solution. The newpartnership is the winninganswer to one of today’sgreatest industry challenges— group discount sites —because all parties benefit.For every purchase made, thebuyer’s local AmericanMarketing Group licensedagency receives a royalty feeand client information forpotential future business, pre-ferred suppliers can offerproduct online to a compre-hensive subscriber list withoutminimizing profits and con-sumers receive terrific value-added vacations through theAnalog Analytics SyndicationNetwork. Travel deals willlaunch at the end of February.
“This partnership forms theperfect marriage between theonline community and ourtravel agents because every-one comes out on top,” saysRick Mazza, CEO of TRAVEL-SAVERS Partner Services. “Wehave been exploring the ques-tion of how to garner mutualonline success for suppliers,
travel agents and consumersand I am thrilled that TRAV-ELSAVERS Partner Services isthe first to come up with theanswer. We’re very excitedabout our relationship withAnalog Analytics.”
Analog Analytics andTRAVELSAVERS PartnerServices by the numbers: • 850 online newspapers andbroadcast media accessingexclusive travel offers daily• 40-50 million consumersreached daily • 1 travel provider
How The Agent Benefits The partnership’s profit
sharing structure providesfinancial rewards toAmerican Marketing Grouplicensed agencies in theform of a royalty fee, alongwith the added perk of acustomer prospect — abonus that is received simplyfor being associated with thecompany. Through its exclu-sive territory system basedon populations of 50,000,TRAVELSAVERS PartnerServices matches eachBigger Better Deal™ travelpurchaser to the closestlicensed agency to ensure afair distribution of royaltyfees and client information.
How The Supplier BenefitsGone are the days of
online deals filled with lowprofits for suppliers. The newpartnership provides suppli-ers with the opportunity tooffer product online withoutslashing prices, which allowsfor rate integrity to stay intact. Instead, Bigger BetterDeal™ travel offers providevalue-added experiences anda business model that allowsfor inventory to be carefullycontrolled in a limited timeoffer structure. Suppliers onlypay for performance, yetreceive exposure similar tothat of a comprehensiveadvertising campaign.
How The Consumer BenefitsWith consumers looking to
stretch their vacation dollars,TRAVELSAVERS PartnerServices’ Bigger BetterDeal™ offers will meet thosedemands head on by provid-ing the value-adds today’saspiring traveler expects.Through the new partner-ship, consumers can lever-age the relationships TRAV-ELSAVERS Partner Serviceshas with many of the world’stop travel suppliers to makethe most of their holiday. For more go to www.travelagentprofessioal.com
Showcase
To find out more about how to become part of the TWIN global network, independent travel agencies can visitwww.twintravelmanagement.com, email [email protected], or call 516-624-0500 x5080.
16
February 2012
Whether you want designer labels, the latest
high street trends, unique one off bargain
brands, the city’s got it all. With thousands
of shops to choose from, it’s the ultimate
shopper’s paradise. No purse is safe from
Birmingham’s inspiring retail outlets from the
uber-cool Mailbox and the iconic Selfridge
building to its selection of quirky indepen-
dent stores the city is an unparalleled world
class shopping destination.
Shopaholics will love browsing around the
vast choice of shopping malls. At the heart
of this capital of retail lies the award winning
Bullring www.bullring.co.uk which is home
to a vibrant mix of over 160 shops and 25
restaurants.
(continued on page 18)
Travel Agent Professional
We are committed to helping independent travel agencies live a lifestyle of success and are looking for p
O
Norwegian Cruise Line Honors AvoyaTravel With Top Travel Award
Award Signifies Avoya Travel’s Commitment to Creating a Better Vacation Experience
MIAMI – January 25, 2012: AvoyaTravel™/American Express®, one ofthe leading travel companies inNorth America and beyond, todayannounced that Norwegian CruiseLine has presented the companywith its 2011 ‘Home-Based Agencyof the Year’ award. Avoya Travelreceived the cruise line’s highestagency honor for the company’sdedication to customer service, itselite network of IndependentAgencies, and outstanding sales per-formance in 2011.
“Avoya Travel is a valued partnerof Norwegian Cruise Line and, assuch, we commend them for creat-ing exceptional vacation experiencesfor customers worldwide,” said AndyStuart, Executive Vice President,Global Sales and Passenger Servicesfor Norwegian Cruise Line. “AvoyaTravel’s support of Norwegian CruiseLine is a core element of our success,and we’re looking forward to work-ing together to deliver amazing vaca-tions to cruisers around the globe foryears to come.”
Recently onboard the NorwegianEpic, Avoya Travel held its annual
National Conference for its networkof independent travel agencies.While onboard, Stuart hosted anexclusive event for Avoya Travel tocelebrate the successful year. Thehonor was later announced by Stuart;Camille Olivere, Vice President ofSales; Alex Pinelo, Director, NationalAccounts; and Shanel Knight,Program Manager, Home BasedAccounts for Norwegian Cruise Line.This is the third agency of the yearaward Avoya Travel has won fromNorwegian Cruise Line, previouslyreceiving the cruise line’s recognitionin 2007 and 2006.
“Earning the Home-Based Agencyof the Year award is a testament toAvoya Travel’s commitment to thecustomer experience and the exper-tise of our Independent Agencies,”said Brad Anderson, Co-President ofAvoya Travel. “We are pleased to winone of the most elite awards fromNorwegian Cruise Line and will con-tinue to provide travelers worldwidewith the best value, customer service,and overall vacation experience.”For more information visitwww.travelagentprofessional.com
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Travel agency owners and professionals interested in growing their business should contact Avoya Travel / AmericanExpress at 800-521-2597 or visit www.JoinAvoya.com. Travelers interested in booking their next vacation should call800-753-1463 or visit www.AvoyaTravel.com.
Sandals honored AvoyaTravel™/American
Express® with the 2011Travel Agency Recognition
S.T.A.R. Award‘Best of the Best,
Western’ for the compa-ny’s dedication to out-standing customer serviceand creating exceptionalvacation experiences forSandals Resorts’ guests.
Avoya® was recognizedfor being the ‘Best of theBest’ by Sandals Resorts atthe Tenth Annual S.T.A.RAwards event held recent-ly at Sandals GrandRiviera Resort in OchoRios, Jamaica.
“Sandals Resorts ispleased to recognizeAvoya and their elite net-work of IndependentAgencies for their commit-ment to excellent cus-tomer service and a greatvacation experience forour Luxury Included resortguests,” said Gary Sadler,Senior Vice President ofSales for Sandals Resorts.
February 2012
18The Mailbox www.mailboxlife.com houses some of the top designer
names such as Harvey Nichols, Hugo Boss and Emporio Armani along-
side contemporary arts and fine furnishing shops, exclusive eateries, top
salons and spas.
Birmingham’s wealth of shopping centres continues with the Pavilions,
City Plaza, the House of Fraser, the Pallasades, the Great Western
Arcade and Martineau Place.
If you’re looking for something that dazzles, head for the world famous
250 year old Jewellery Quarter www.jewelleryquarter.net/shopping. It’s
where an estimated 40% of all the UK jewellery originates and it’s the
place to go for something that sparkles especially if you’re looking for
hand crafted jewellery, clock and watches, at unbelievable prices.
Finally, Birmingham is famous for its outdoor markets that are jam
packed with bargains, character and bumper choice.
A typical Girls Getaway day can include:
• A behind the scenes tour of the Jewellery Quarter.• Some insider tips at Harvey Nichols.• English Afternoon Tea in the Edwardian Tea Rooms at the CityMuseum and Art Gallery (home to a wonderful collection of
pre-Raphaelite paintings)
• A pampering session from a top expert at Selfridges beforekicking back with a glass of champagne at the Moet Bar and
Gallery Restaurant.
• Cocktails and dinner at Gingers, an exquisite bar and restaurant.The New York Times isn’t wrong about many things and if you take a
closer look, you’ll find that their judgement about Birmingham is spot
on. As travel planners, if we look beyond the obvious eg London, we’ll
discover that Birmingham is a place to be taken very seriously indeed.
If you think otherwise, I’m afraid your information is very much out of
date. Check their website and you’ll see exactly what I mean at
www.visitbirmingham.com
20
February 2012
First, I found myself running damage control with my clients after Costa’s tragedy. Then, Princesshad an outbreak of the norovirus on two ships. The calls from clients asking the same questions, making
the same comments, became very tedious. I was feeling like a robot defending the cruise industry, giving
clients answers designed to reassure them so they would still make bookings.
By
L
es
-L
ee
R
ol
an
d
Les-Lee RolandOwner of The Package Deal
Damage Control,
What a Month
This Has
Been
21
Travel Agent Professional
Yes, the demise of the Concordia is so unthinkable,
but the media did not emphasize enough that over
4,000 people were rescued with the help of the
crew. (And that didn’t come from a press release
from Carnival).
I don’t know if the people that didn’t make it out
were the ones who had just boarded and their
muster drill was set for the following morning, which
was their policy. I do know that on a large ship, must
people don’t find themselves oriented until the sec-
ond or third day. And the darkness was a big factor.
Remember the captain’s words when ordered to go
back to the ship - “It’s dark out there.”
Then the TV reports of the virus onboard the
ships. I tell my clients that the virus has nothing to
do with the ship — there’s a 99.9% chance it was
spread by a passenger who came on board with it
— perhaps knowingly.
If that were the case, most likely the person didn’t
fill out the form at registration asking if they had
any symptoms. Who would? It means you are not
allowed to board. In addition, crew members are
not allowed to work if they have the virus.
My clients are surprised when I mention that this
is normally a 24-hour virus and only cruise ships
are mandated to report it — not hotels, not air-
lines, not resorts. Las Vegas hotels hold more peo-
ple than the cruise ships. All it takes is one guest
with the virus touching elevator buttons, slot
machine buttons and everything in sight in com-
mon areas, and within a couple of days, hundreds
of people may have symptoms.
The difference here is that Vegas visitors usually
don’t stay more than three days, so if they return
home, they blame their illness on something they
caught on the airplane.
Now, I’d like to move to another topic — surveys.
Cruise lines, some hotels, and tour operators all
ask you to fill out forms. Don’t you just love it
when the choice of answers doesn’t allow you to
state your true feelings?
What a surprise I had when three employees of
the cruise line contacted me separately about the
survey I filled out on a recent cruise — to ask for
more specific info, to offer apologies for any prob-
lems and to share the praise for the good remarks.
Two of the three callers did not know I am a travel
agent, so I was not picked out for that reason.
Guess there is a cooped up office in Miami where
they read thousands of these every week — and
more importantly, they act on them! Kudos!
I wish a prominent travel insurance company
would have sent out a survey rather than the let-
ter I received. Yes, me, moi, the one and only Les-
Lee Roland got a letter from Access America stat-
ing they were deleting me as a travel agent selling
their product starting in February. If I did want to
process policies from them, I would receive only a
$5 marketing fee.
Surveys & Insurance
(continued on page 22)
22
February 2012
I admit, they were not my preferred supplier. But
when they offered policies that fit my clients’
needs, like their family plan, I did quote their rates
to my clients. And I don’t think I had any claims
processed through them. In fact, the day I received
the letter, I did process a policy.
This week, I contacted them, and explained the sit-
uation that because of family illness, I took a few
months off from actively selling travel, attending
shows, etc. and asked to be reinstated.
The answer I got from a nice phone reservations
agent, Ashley, was that once the decision was
made, it cannot be reversed. “What’s the reason?”
I asked. She said it has to do with the state — in
my case, Florida.
That was not an acceptable answer to my thinking.
In fact, I did call the State of Florida’s office, and
they said they knew of no reason for Access
America’s actions.
I asked to speak to a supervisor, and was told that
couldn’t be done. I then asked who the head of the
company was and how I could reach him. His name is
Ricky Horowitz, and he doesn’t take phone calls. The
only way to correspond is to send Ashley, the phone
agent, an E-mail, which she would then give to him.
With all respect, Mr. or maybe it is Ms. Horowitz, I
have called the White House and spoken to many
different offices. I can, and have called, the CEOs or
presidents of airlines, cruise lines, and tour opera-
tors; my state senator, Buckingham Palace, the
Vatican, and Donald Trump’s executive secretary
to get a quote confirmed. I have the gold-
embossed stationery signed by Mr. “You’re Fired”
himself, thanking me for the phone call. Guess
Ricky Horowitz marches to a different drummer.
I did receive a call from a Daniel Durazo at the insur-
ance company offering me his sympathies for the fam-
ily illness, but telling me “no” to ever selling their
product again unless I wanted a $5 marketing fee, or a
referral fee — they don’t use the word commissions.
I asked why, if my sales were practically non-exis-
tent, they didn’t have a rep call me in advance and
try to pump up some future bookings. Well, he
said, my rep had left the company - and they just
don’t do that.
Thank goodness there are other very reputable com-
panies we can deal with, as well as the companies
affiliated with our suppliers. Five dollars is an insult,
when we can make 20%-60% with other companies.
Whether you are an occasional user of Access
America, or a constant user with perhaps many
claims, you, too, may get a letter. Wonder it they’ll
blame it on the State.
I remember a couple of years ago, I got a letter
from Access America saying I had to pay them to
be registered and update my license in Florida.
When I called Tallahassee to ask about my license,
I was told there is no renewal fee, and my license
was active. I relayed that info to Access America
and they dropped the billing fee. I then wrote
about it in a column to warn other agents who
may be charged incorrectly.
I would be interested if anyone has had similar
problems with ANY travel insurance company.
Contact me at [email protected]
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