talking shop THE SECTION JUST FOR AGENTS INSIDE SECTION
44 FAMTASTIC Midlands-based Kuoni agent Katie Low sells us Samoa through her own eyes. Plus: agents in Thailand and Hong Kong.
45 WISE COUNSEL Barbara Charlton talks time management and the obvious benefits of the 'human touch'
48 ON LOCATION The second part to our Courses in the Caribbean fam trip special profiles Grand Cayman – luxury spas, pirate ship shenanigans and StingRay City.
NEWS
46 AGENT TRAINING WITH TRAVEL UNI
Virgin's trade-only site
BY LAURA GELDER Virgin Atlantic has launched a new
WISE UP ON THE WEB!
Be in the know with Travel Uni. From Anguilla to Norway to Visit USA, Travel Uni has got it covered. visit
www.traveluni.com for more......
website dedicated to travel agents and tour operators.
www.vsflyinghub.com is being pitched as a 'one-stop shop' for agents looking for information on the airline, and includes products, destinations and other news. The Knowledge Bank section works as an A-to-Z directory on terms like 'baggage' and 'clubhouse'. Agents can personalise the website,
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
by flagging up their own favourite pages and creating their own scrapbooks of site content. Users can personalise these compilations further by adding their own logo and sending them directly to a client or downloading them as a PDF.
IN BRIEF
YOU do something different!
DoSomethingDifferent.com has launched a new travel agent concessions scheme, providing agents with a 20 per cent discount on all tours, attraction tickets and experiences for their personal holiday. The company's portfolio includes over 2000 products worldwide.
www.dosomethingdifferent.com
Sell yourself to Namibia Air Namibia is offering two Business Class tickets to Namibia, with accommodation and tours provided by Wilderness Safaris, to the agency which increases its Air Namibia and Wilderness Safaris sales most significantly between June 1 2011 and May 31 2012. Quote WNANUK11.
www.airnamibia.com.na
Aruba nights on offer for agents The Aruba Tourism Authority’s
Travel Agent Months programme is offering agents accommodation (for up to two sharing) across 12 resorts from $180 for four to six nights, splitting the accommodation between high-rise and low-rise resorts. Additional free nights are available.
http://agents.aruba.com
www.sellinglonghaul.com • July/August 2011 43
Agents can also access logos and images for brochures. The site will feature competitions and special offers. To celebrate the website launch Virgin Atlantic is currently offering all agents the chance to win two return Upper Class tickets to New York, as well as four nights in the Gansevoort, Park Avenue and dinner for two at Nobu. Paul Wait, Virgin Atlantic general manager of sales said: “The website really underlines Virgin Atlantic’s long- standing commitment to the trade. We recognise that the trade is an essential part of the whole customer journey, and want to provide them with as much information and as many tools as possible to help them."
www.vsflyinghub.com
Travel 2 goes mobile
Long haul trade-dedicated tour
operator Travel 2 has announced the launch of its all-new mobile site, designed to provide travel agents on the move with quick access to Travel 2 information no matter where they are. Aimed primarily at home workers, the mobile site is adapted from the existing Travel 2 website and provides agents who have iPhone, Android or certain Blackberry mobile phones, 24/7 access to its information.
Although bookings cannot be made on the site, by logging onto http://m.
travel2.com and using their regular
Travel2.com credentials, agents will be able to use a flight and hotel search function for accurate leading prices. Travel 2 hopes that the site will offer
greater flexibility to home workers and agents that travel frequently. Travel 2 sales and marketing director,
Gordon McCreadie commented: “Whether our home workers receive an important call when they are out or bump into someone unexpectedly, they will be able to quickly access the information that they need. Home workers are a valuable part of our business and integral to our future growth.” Travel 2 has also launched a Twitter
profile, @T2News – which will provide updates on all news, views, incentives, offers, competitions and fam trips, as well as pictures from company fun days and charity events.
www.travel2.com
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