Cruise & Leisure
Cruise Corner
Agency cruises
to 15% sales growth
When entrepreneur Michael Gresh started his cruise agency, Homeport Cruises, in suburban Chicago in 1992, his goal was to make money doing what he loves most—selling travel.
Today, this certified Elite Cruise Counselor (ECC) and Vacation.com member books his customers’ vacations on Amadeus Cruise, the industry‘s leading cruise booking platform.
“We chose Amadeus Cruise because it was becoming increasingly time-consuming to wait for the cruise lines’ rates and availabilities over the phone,” says Gresh.
To provide the greatest value to customers, Gresh says information must be instantly available, a feature he likes best about Amadeus Cruise. “Information is power, and Amadeus Cruise enables us to answer our customers’ inquiries in a matter of seconds, which immensely enhances the look-to-book ratio.”
Gresh calls Amadeus Cruise “the most efficient cruise-booking engine on the planet.” He says it provides immediate access to live availability by cruise line, ship, sale date and pricing category, making it easy to meet any customer’s specific needs. “It also allows us to book Vacation.com group space and our own group space,” Gresh adds.
Keys to a successful cruise agency:
Gresh reports annual cruise sales growth of 15%, thanks to these contributing factors:
- Transparency: “We believe in being honest with our customers, and we offer fair pricing. Our exceptional customer service keeps clients coming back time after time.”
- Needs assessment: “We ask our customers a series of insightful questions to determine their needs and preferences.This ensures that we deliver the right solutions for their requirements.”
- Knowledge: “We educate ourselves on everything the cruise lines offer, and take every available certification course. We scan the trade journals for the latest information. Knowledge helps us become our customers’ trusted partner.”
- Amadeus Partnership: “Our Amadeus sales representative is great. She listens, acts on our requests, and answers critical questions. Amadeus understands our business needs—and helps us accomplish our goals
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Mixing Business and Pleasure
The new hybrid traveler
A business traveler who just wants a place to sleep, shower and charge a laptop in between meetings? He’s
gone the way of tapered leg jeans and cell phones only used to make phone calls.
Today’s business traveler wants to powwow in a palace, get a glycolic
facial peel and deep tissue massage after the meeting—and then swoop down a giant water slide with her kids before the next session begins.
Welcome to the new era in corporate travel, where the line between business and leisure travelers is blurred, creating a “hybrid traveler,” who extends business trips for a longer, more relaxing stay or pays to bring the spouse and kids along to take advantage of tourist activities and amenities.
According to a new consumer survey conducted by Global Hyatt, researchers found that for many travelers, business and leisure travel overlap. 90 % percent of traveling respondents said they do not separate their personal from their professional lives, while 50 % said they often were simultaneously involved in personal and professional activities.
This is nothing but good news for the travel industry, particularly travel agents. The opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell abound. True, satisfying a hybrid business-leisure traveler might only result in a minor sales boost—tacking on extra hotel nights, finding a hotel for a layover city or putting some expenses on a personal rather than business credit card.
“Being away on business shouldn't mean doing away with enjoyment,” says Owen Wild, director of marketing for Amadeus North America and a frequent business traveler.
The savvy travel agent will be prepared to suggest popular excursions and local attractions while processing the “meat and potatoes” travel transactions. E-mail your client tour guides and brochures to keep them excited about unwinding after a long conference call. Depending on the customer’s destination, you can pitch tickets to sports events, museum passes—even guided elephant treks for your Thailand-bound travelers.
So go on, encourage your clients to mix business with pleasure. “Life goes fast. I believe you can easily make a point of seeing one new thing on every business trip you take,” Wild says.
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