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Virgin Voyages vows to get trade back on board


Lucy Huxley lucy.huxley@travelweekly.co.uk


Virgin Voyages has confirmed it will sell through agents and instigate an “epic sea change” in the organisation to make the company a business the trade wants to work with again.


Acknowledging that agents in


the UK were hurt when Virgin Holidays severed ties with the trade and became a direct-sell-only brand in 2015, vice-president of sales and business development Stacy Shaw said: “One of my challenges is agents in the UK assuming we won’t be interested in them selling Virgin Voyages. “But this is more than just


having an interest in the trade selling us. My job is one of creating an epic sea change for the organisation and our partners. “My job is to create a really


good news story for the trade that makes us a company that agents really want to do business with.” Speaking exclusively to Travel


Virgin Voyages will launch the first of three ships in 2020; inset: Stacy Shaw


Weekly, Shaw added: “However transactionally profitable and amazing selling Virgin Voyages will be, we want to do more than that. We want to focus on the pain points for agents and take them away.” A new UK-based international sales director is due to be in place by January who will recruit field sales managers. Shaw said: “Their next job will be looking at commission structures, contracts and how we are going to support the trade with marketing.” She added: “I expect this to take


until mid-year, but from then we will really start engaging with accounts and doing a big blitz with the trade. “We have a big job to do kicking


off all the education. One of the most important jobs for next year with the trade is helping them to understand how we’re different. “We don’t think our product


is for everybody and we will be explicit about that. If agents have customers who are looking for Broadway shows and FlowRiders, Virgin Voyages is not for them.”


3


Tui and Cook have Black Friday deals for direct customers


STORIES HOT


Agents slam Black Friday travel deals


Ben Ireland ben.Ireland@travelweekly.co.uk


Independent agents have threatened to stop selling operators that are offering Black Friday discounts to direct customers.


Thomas Cook is offering £200 off online or in-store bookings of £1,000 or more until November 28, while Tui has teased some “sensationally good-value deals” for direct customers to be released around the American pre-Christmas discount day. Some agents hit out on social media. One said she cancelled sending out a promotional email with Cook’s offers after seeing the consumer-facing discount. Another wrote: “The only thing


that will stop this is if agents refuse to promote or give business to suppliers who undercut by selling direct and make it clear this is why those suppliers are losing business.” Chris Bailey, owner of Bailey’s


Travel, said independents should focus on higher-margin products instead. “If they [Thomas Cook and Tui]


“This offer is counter- productive if Cook and Tui want to get some traction back with agents”


want to get some traction back in the travel agent community, this offer is clearly counter- productive,” he said. “They need the independents.” But homeworker Laura


Featonby said: “If you spend three days on a booking and your customer comes back with a [discount] code I can see why you’d be fed up, but when it’s Thomas Cook and it’s not much work you might as well take the booking and move on. “You might only make a tenner


but that customer might make a £10,000 booking next time.” A spokeswoman for Thomas


Cook confirmed the discount codes were applicable only to direct-sell customers, but said “a number of measures” were in place to help agents reduce prices. Tui said its Black Friday deals


were available for “selected” third-party agents to sell.


23 November 2017 travelweekly.co.uk 5


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