Q Ruth Hilton& A
Q. Tell us why you are sponsoring the 2018 Agent Achievement Awards. A. The AAAs is the one night when the crème de le crème of travel agents from the UK and Northern Ireland come together to reward our industry’s exceptional talent. We work closely with the trade, so it’s important to be involved in the event, to celebrate the success of many well-deserving consultants and managers, and make our valued agents feel special on a glamorous evening in London.
Awards preview: The UK’s biggest celebration of agents, the Travel Weekly Agent Achievement Awards, takes place on July 12. Here we chat to Ruth Hilton, sales and business development director of headline sponsors Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold and CostSaver
Headline sponsors
Q. How do you work with agents and what value do they add to your business? A. Travel agents are core to our business. With exceptional knowledge of how to sell the guided holiday experience to clients, our trade partners add great value, while earning top commissions. We do everything in our power to support our agent partners, such as offering price parity across the board, sharing marketing tips and collateral, sales support from our growing team on the road and getting agents to experience our trips. We have also invested heavily in our online Agent Academy training, with new modules added regularly.
Q. What is the future for travel agencies? A. Travel agents are integral to our industry, and an important part of a customer’s booking journey. Agencies that specialise in touring are in a particularly good position because they add real value to a client’s experience. A guided product can be complex for someone
Sales and business development director, Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold and CostSaver
new to this style of holiday, so agent support is vital in getting the sale across the line. Face-to- face time with an agent creates a memorable service experience, kick-starting a client’s holiday in the best way possible. Agents are here to stay, and the AAAs is the perfect demonstration of how talented and resourceful each and every individual is.
Q. What have been the highlights for your business in the past year? A. The most exciting development is the consolidation of sales teams across our guided holiday brands: Trafalgar, CostSaver, Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold. Our five on-the- road sales representatives operate across all brands, allowing them to meet the touring needs of all agents. From the value, flexi- touring proposition of CostSaver through to the luxury escorted journeys of Luxury Gold, we’re the ‘go to’ for every agent. With smaller territories, our sales reps are taking a bespoke approach with each agent, and through deeper relationships we hope to deliver better service and achieve a bigger impact.
Q. What activity do you have planned for agents in the next 12 months? A. We’re in the midst of our 2019 launch season and have lots of exciting product announcements to make, one of which is our inaugural Trafalgar Africa programme that features five new destinations. Our popular 2019 Americas programmes have also just
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travelweekly.co.uk 28 June 2018
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