talking shop THE SECTION JUST FOR AGENTS INSIDE.....
63 WISE COUNSEL Barbara Charlton reveals the annual sales for Travel Counsellors and looks forward to St. Lucia. Plus: ABTA's column on training opportunities
66 ON LOCATION Toni Svensson of STA Travel, London, reflects on how he fell in love with Oregon, especially Portland and snow boarding in Mount Bachelor
Cruising For Excellence sails again
BY LAURA GELDER An online training programme which
NEWS
62 IN THE NEWS 64 AGENT TRAINING
features Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises has re-launched, and now includes 3D 'environments' for agents to explore. A highlight of the new Cruising for Excellence e-learning programme are its interactive, virtual graphic ship environments, which allow browsers to take a look around key onboard features such as the Lawn Club onboard Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice class ships. There are also visual training sessions that include quizzes and videos, a leaderboard of top scorers to drive a sense of competition between agencies, and the opportunity to become a brand ‘Captain’, focusing on just one cruise line. Agents who complete all training modules become the ultimate cruise specialist and gain ‘Admiral’ status. The revamped Cruising for
WISE UP ON THE WEB! Catch up on Travel Uni's latest
programme, Seychelles Superstar. The four modules are dedicated to getting you to know about the paradise islands
traveluni.com
TALKING SHOP appears in every issue of Selling Long Haul. It is your opportunity to tell us and your fellow retailers what you have been up to. Have you been on any fams, attended a conference, hosted a theme evening at your agency or sold an unusual holiday? Or maybe your shop is selling travel a little differently to your competitors? Or do you have a strong view on one of the industry’s burning issues? We want to know!! Please send your news, views and photos to Talking Shop, Selling Long Haul, Suffolk House, George Street, Croydon, Surrey, CR9 1SR Tel: 020 8649 7233 Fax: 020 8649 7234. Or email
steve.hartridge@bmipublishing.co.uk
Excellence e-learning programme follows feedback from agents, who expressed a desire to 'get closer' to the ships with a more engaging but succinct learning tool and access to visual content that is directly relevant to commonly-asked questions from their clients. Michelle Russell, trade training manager of the three brands, commented: "Our statistics show that agents who stay up to date with all the
IN BRIEF
Experience fams to the Gambia Specialist tour operator The Gambia Experience is to take two four-night fam trips (Friday to Tuesday) out to the West African country on May 6 and October 15 2011. Interested agents should contact the agency sales team on 0845 330 2066 or email
trade@serenity.co.uk.
www.gambia.co.uk
US Airtours' agent incentive US Airtours is running a 'destination of the month' incentive for agents throughout 2011. In March, Travel Counsellor Rita Hunter won an eight-night Arizona holiday, including a ranch stay. May's destination is Hawaii and every booking to Hawaii presents a chance to enter the draw. See the agent zone at:
www.usairtours.co.uk
Win prizes with Oman The Oman Ministry of Tourism
will be hosting training sessions at London's British Museum this summer. Agents can sample Omani cuisine, network with hoteliers and win prizes on May 24, July 13 and September 7. Register on
omanacademy.com or email the London office to show interest:
oman@representationplus.co.uk
www.sellinglonghaul.com • May 2011 61
Cruising for Excellence training modules sell the most cruises. This significant re-launch brings to life key features of our ships that consumers often simply think are too good to be true. Being able to see highlights like first-class restaurants means agents
can truly share their ship knowledge with confidence.” The site also includes information
on other training opportunities such as ship visits, face-to-face training and virtual classroom events.
www.cruisingpower.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68