Hooray For Travel Agents
Six years ago there was no such thing as an international day in recognition of travel agents. Now the fifth annual Travel Agent Day, taking place on May 4, is shaping up to be the biggest yet – with plenty of tour operators and wholesalers getting on board with festivities, reports Ann Ruppenstein in this week’s digital edition of Travel Courier.
For its first annual National Travel Agents’ Day celebration, Trafalgar Canada is holding an Italian-themed cocktail party on May 4, complete with appetizers, drinks, prizes, a special announcement, and by promoting the hashtag #TrafalgarLovesAgents.
“Agents are integral to the success of our business – they are our first hand ambassadors to the customer,” says Anita Emilio, VP of sales for Trafalgar Canada.
“When an agent recommends our product they are putting their personal reputation on the line with respect to their customer and we take that accolade very seriously. Our agents are travel professionals and we admire and listen to their expertise to make our product and our delivery strategies better,” Emilio said.
Rather than simply limit it to a day, WestJet is again dedicating May to travel agent partners with Travel Agent Appreciation month, and will be holding the annual Hooray for Travel Agents contest and a travel trade expo across six Canadian cities. On April 25th the company also relaunched its travel agent resource website (http://www.westjettravelagents.com), which features enhancements based on agent feedback such as customization and share functions for WestJet Vacations offers.
“Travel agents have been a critical piece of our business for almost 20 years,” says Bob Cummings, WestJet executive vice-president, sales, marketing and guest experience. “We deliver a very specific brand promise to our guests, and travel agents understand the value, the experience and the choices we offer to business and leisure travellers. Our goal is to make WestJet an easy place to do business with, and we hope that is reflected in the many new features we have to offer the travel trade.”
Similar to last year, Intrepid Travel will be thanking agents in the form of giving away a trip. This year it will be through a social media activation.
“While engaging the agent community is a 365-day job, Travel Agent Appreciation Day really gives us an opportunity to reward agents and truly say thank you,” says Nick Shuttleworth, VP of Sales for the Intrepid Group.
“We understand our industry partners have a lot of choice when it comes to booking their client on a holiday, so when they choose to book through the Intrepid Group it really does mean a lot to us… It’s definitely been a busy year with agents and we’ve really started to hit our stride, on May 4th we’re thrilled to take some time to say thanks,” he stated.
Rather than just limit it to a day, the team at TravelBrands kicked off promotions in April, which will continue until mid May, and held Travel Agent Appreciation events in various cities, including Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver.
“Our goal is to show travel agents that their support is the key to our success,” says Nino Montagnese, senior vice president at TravelBrands. “Travel agents will earn an additional 1% commission on all commissionable product lines.”
For the full story, check out this week’s digital edition of Travel Courier by clicking here.
