INTERVIEW TRAVEL 2
GORDON MCCREADIE In Person With...
Selling Long Haul’s Alan Orbell speaks with Gordon McCreadie, Sales, Marketing and Commercial Director for Travel 2 as the company celebrates 30 years of working with the trade
GORDON MCCREADIE Sales, Marketing and Commercial Director Travel 2
Can you give us a little background on Travel 2? Travel 2 is the UK's leading long haul trade-only tour operator and this year celebrates its 30th birthday. We work solely with independent travel agents throughout the UK, are 100% trade only and put travel agents at the forefront of everything we do.
How was 2011 and how is 2012 shaping up? Last year (2011) saw Travel 2 turn a profit for the first time in 10 years – and fully as a result of the independent trade's support. In the tough trading climate we are
faced with in 2012 we will make sure we continue to build on last year's performance by supporting agents. January started very strongly delivering
growth across a range of destinations including a resurgence in Australia on the back of some attractive fares. While we remain ahead of last year,
February has definitely seen a slow down in confirmed bookings but we are very confident sales will increase as we approach March and beyond as a result of the high level of quotes we are providing to our agent partners and a number of new and exciting promotions we will be launching to the trade over the coming weeks and months.
Which destinations are performing best? USA sales are storming especially in key cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles,
New York and most notably in Florida thanks to our recently-launched standalone Florida brochure. In addition, we are delighted to see
Dubai numbers further increase on last year's triple-digit growth and we're very confident this exponential growth can only continue throughout 2012 and beyond as we deliver initiatives ensuring our Dubai offering is second to none. We are also reaping the benefits from
the launch of our Simply Luxury by Travel 2 brand, making us more synonymous with exclusive resorts in destinations such as the Caribbean, Asia and Indian Ocean.
How important are travel agents and homeworkers to Travel 2? Without independent travel agents and homeworkers we have NO business as they are our ONLY customer and therefore invaluable to Travel 2. Travel 2 is very proud of being 100%
trade only and is one of the only brands to remain loyal to the trade. We constantly strive to be the best we possibly can be and offer unrivalled service and support to ensure we retain agents’ support. This year’s 30th birthday plans are built
around rewarding the trade for their unprecedented support of Travel 2 over the years and we wholly plan to put the fun back into travel.
How do you communicate with the trade? We have various routes of communication and we make sure we utilise all of them to ensure we are engaging with agents at all levels. We have a team of seven Key Account
Managers who are our Travel 2 ambassadors. Their primary objectives are to support agents through training, marketing, consumer days and all other opportunities as well as to ensure they obtain as much feedback as possible to allow the business to remain relevant and ahead of our competition. There’s no other industry where the phrase ‘people buy from people’ is more applicable. In addition to the KAMs, we have an
"Travel 2 is very proud of being 100% trade only and is one of the only brands to remain loyal to the trade"
award-winning marketing team who work on campaigns, weekly promotions, incentives and product updates to further enhance our brand and ensure agents receive the tools they require to engage with their customers and ultimately make the booking! These campaigns are communicated
via trade press, online trade websites, events, e-shots, direct mail, social media and other means of communication.
Do road shows, workshops, agency visits, fam trips, etc, play a part in your relationship with the trade? Absolutely! We plan to increase by 50% the number of agents we take on fam trips this year – including to USA, Dubai, Australia and Asia – giving more agents the chance to experience and learn about these amazing countries and enhancing their ability to sell these destinations. In addition, our KAMs visit over 750
agents per month and also place a strong emphasis on training via road shows (including TIPTO, SATOA and various Travel 2 road shows). We run webinars and training workshops with agents and co-host consumer events to attract customers in-store. In celebration of our 30th birthday this year, we will be hosting 30 events around the UK to reward, educate and recognise the commitment from independent travel agents, culminating in our annual Travel 2 Awards.
How optimistic are you about the trade’s future? I am very optimistic about independent retail agents’ future (I was one) as long as there is a constant evaluation of the business, innovation and added value, which I feel the majority of agents are already offering. However, independent agents must only support the businesses that support them to survive.
www.sellinglonghaul.com • March 2012 29
©TOURISM QUEENSLAND
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