SUPPLIERS NEWS YOU CAN USE
Rail tickets firm signals plans for bookable portal
Robin Searle
robin.searle@
travelweekly.co.uk
RailTourGuide is to increase its focus on travel agents with a new web portal for the trade due to launch this summer.
The Newcastle-based rail tickets specialist was set up by former train driver David Glover in 2010, and its board members include Stewart Travel founder and former SPAA president Willie Stewart. It already works with travel agencies and consortia, including Travel Counsellors, Freedom and Advantage, and is aiming to extend its trade reach during 2018. Product currently offered by
RailTourGuide includes point-to- point tickets in the UK, Europe and worldwide, group tours and some escorted tours. It works with a range of rail companies, including Deutsche Bahn in Germany, Trenitalia in Italy, Amtrak in the US and Via Rail in Canada. Agents currently book via
email or phone, but the company
Learn to drive your car hire sales with Affordable training
Affordable Car Hire has launched an online training platform to give agents more confidence selling car rental. AffordableXtras product will be uploaded to the Affordable Training Academy, giving agents more information on selling extras such as airport parking, lounges, travel money and airport hotels. It features a Car Hire Clinic to help agents learn how to convert
NEWS IN BRIEF
Jet2holidays extends flight check-in service in Canaries
Jet2holidays has extended its Free Resort Flight Check-In service to two more destinations for summer 2018. Guests in selected hotels in Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura can now check in for their return flights and drop their bags at hotel reception, where their boarding passes will be printed. The service will be available in 250 hotels this summer.
jet2holidays.com
Rail Discoveries adds five global tours in new brochure
ON TRACK: RailTourGuide offers tickets for rail operators worldwide
believes the new web portal will offer a more efficient way for agents to book tickets and passes. Glover said: “I have been
dedicated to the trade since starting RailTourGuide and have built successful relationships with agents across the UK and Europe. “The team and I are focused on continuing to provide excellent customer service and independent rail advice to trade clients.” He added: “By introducing the latest rail booking technology, we
are giving trade clients the ability to grow their business. “Our new web-based portal launching in the summer will transform our business and help us become the number-one choice for the UK travel trade in booking global rail tickets and passes.” No date has been announced
for the launch of the web portal. However, RailTourGuide said it was confident it would be live
this summer.
railtourguide.com
Categories are Car Hire Terms, How to Book, How to Sell, USA Car Hire and Customer Support. There are also fact sheets to
download and information about incentives and webinars. Completing all five modules
takes about 20 minutes and agents get a certificate for doing so. Angela Day, chief executive of
CAR HIRE: Affordable’s training platform features five modules
ancillary products into sales. There are five modules, with a multiple choice test at the end of each.
Affordable Car Hire, said: “We’ve traditionally found that once agents have had training on car hire, their conversion rates are a lot higher. When agents complete our online webinars, their training
conversion is around 70%.”
affordabletrainingacademy.com
29 March 2018
travelweekly.co.uk 23
Escorted group rail operator Rail Discoveries has released its new brochure for 2018 with five new worldwide itineraries. They include the 15-day Highlights of South Africa from £2,795 on the Ceres Railway through Kruger National Park. Rail tours in India, Vietnam and Cambodia, Japan and the US are also new.
raildiscoveries.com
Santa’s Lapland delivers a new package for this year
Santa’s Lapland has added a package with an igloo experience and snowmobile safari for next winter. The Santa’s Aurora trips also include an extended husky ride (pictured), talks about the Northern Lights, a meeting with Santa in Saariselkä and a present. Accommodation is at the Star Arctic Hotel and prices start from £1,319.
santaslapland.com
PICTURE: SWISS TRAVEL SYSTEM/DAVID BUMANN
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
