INTERVIEW TONY SEAMAN
TONY SEAMAN In Person With...
Attraction World sells theme park and attraction tickets as well as tours and activities, not just in the USA but in more than 50 different countries
TONY SEAMAN Group Sales & Marketing Director, Attraction World
Can you give us a little background on Attraction World? Attraction World is a one-stop-shop for theme park and attraction tickets, tours and activities offering more than 5,500 experiences in over 50 countries. The company was formed six years
ago and is now a highly successful tour operator. It is a business-to-business operator only and has therefore developed its brand to meet the needs of travel agents directly. It has worked incredibly hard to
ensure its brand offers great variety, is easy to book online and is competitively priced. The website is easy to use and book and has won some fantastic and prestigious awards as a result. We have also added product as required across the globe and when agents demanded more ‘experiential’ options, Attraction World bought a company to give agents access to this type of product.
How does Attraction World fit within the travel industry? Attraction World sells ancillary products that play an important role in a customer's overall holiday purchase. It has a 99% market share of the retail travel agent sector and is the number one choice for agents who want to book attraction tickets, tours and experiences around the world. This is recognised by
the number of awards it wins each year.
What are the main
products you supply to the trade? The choice
is varied and covers much of the world. Alongside the major theme parks in Florida which most agents always think of, Attraction World has so many other destinations and has the biggest attractions, tours and experiences well covered. For example, the operator features over 140 tours and attractions in Turkey, 35 in Sharm el Sheikh, over 100 in New York and so it goes on. From the beaches of Bodrum or Benidorm to the nightlife of New York or Las Vegas, soaking up the sights in Sydney or full-on family fun at the Aquaventure water park in Dubai – nobody gives you greater choice than Attraction World.
Has business expanded in recent years? Yes. Attraction World bought Experience World in November 2008 to enable us to offer more experiential-style products and this sector has gone from strength to strength. In addition, a management buy-out was also completed in December 2010. Over the last four years we have doubled the size of the business. The team are working hard to ensure that agents in the UK have an even greater choice of destinations around the world in which to add on tours, tickets and experiences. Attraction World also has an office in Germany.
How important are travel agents and homeworkers to Attraction World? Hugely important. Attraction World sells 100% through the trade so relies on agents to generate sales. We work with agents to provide them with the tools they need to keep up to speed on what we offer. The easy-to-use website offers a wealth of information and the top 20 hot spots listed on the home page offer a quick way of finding the main tours in the key destinations.
Typically, how is commission paid to agents? Attraction World pays commission to travel agents on its whole range of products.
“Attraction World sells 100% through the trade so relies on agents to generate sales. We work constantly with agents”
Is there scope for agents to earn more from selling Attraction World products? Absolutely! Attraction World’s core message is to encourage agents to ask their customers the question – ‘what are you going to do when you get there'? Rather than just selling customers
the holiday package and forgetting to think about adding on additional ancillary products to help boost their revenues, Attraction World is keen for agents to think about adding service and value each time. It is quite likely that they will book
certain tours or tickets when they are in resort anyway, so by not offering it in advance it is lost revenue for everyone. The opportunities really are enormous – only half the people travelling to Florida pre-book their theme park tickets and for Siam Park in Tenerife only 9% of those who visit from the UK pre-book. In addition, the opportunities to sell in Europe are
endless as we have product in many of the key destinations.
Do you get involved with fam trips or offer special deals for agents? Attraction World spends a huge amount of money on marketing, training and support for the trade. Whilst we don’t run specific fam trips of our own we invest heavily to support industry events.
Does Attraction World have any expansion plans? As a dynamic company, Attraction World is always adding new product to grow its portfolio – most recently we have added new Greek Islands, Vienna, Tallinn, Helsinki and much more. Going forward, we are always looking at ways to expand into other International markets. In addition, growing our product range ensures that we are always looking at new markets and opportunities.
www.sellinglonghaul.com • June 2012 55
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