Recently in Industry bloggers Category

Regular contributor Brian Hordon reflects on Travel Weekly's Mystery Shopper feature as Cruise Month draws to a close...

It had to happen during cruise month: Mystery Shopper went looking for a cruise holiday. The result? An excellent outright winner and a variety of scores for the other agents.

As for the agents who scored lower, it is difficult to apportion blame - I certainly have sympathy for the sales consultants who were the focus of Mystery Shopper's attention.

Lack of knowledge, lack of awareness of cruising, lack of confidence, lack of training? It is easy to "point the finger", but I see the Mystery Shopper exercise as an opportunity.

How many travel agents actually incorporate the weekly Mystery Shopper feature into their in-house training? The script is in place, the subject is clearly defined; the discussion can be based upon:

• How would our front line sales consultants handle this question?
• What products would we have proposed?
• How would we have closed the sales discussion?

Mystery Shopper can appear a little harsh when reviewed after the event; but used positively, it can be yet another superb resource - especially for cruising.

And of course the feature included five selling tips by Andy Harmer from the Association of Cruise Experts - another invaluable resource for all levels of sales consultants.

Final point; I have every Mystery Shopper featuring cruise requests from the very beginning (yes, I know, how sad!), and with literally a couple of exceptions the score card remains very similar to the latest mystery shopper.

Don't despair, Luton, just adopt a positive attitude and learn from the experience.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd

Travel Weekly Cruise Month has featured some statistics which are worth looking at. We are all aware of the year on year growth of the UK cruising stats produced by the Passenger Shipping Association, and of course the frequent exposure for the need for younger first time cruisers to develop the market; but is everyone aware that the percentage of these first time cruisers is actually slightly declining?

How many travel agents are aware that there are more than 40 new cruise ships on order right now?. Also, is everyone in your office aware that more than 50% of these new ships are projected to offer ex UK cruises?

Agents and cruise lines agree that a selection of mini cruises on all types of cruise ship are a recognised feature of creating visibility and ultimately business for a full cruise holiday, but I wonder how many travel agents uplift this different product and ensure that their customers are aware of this opportunity.

The short break holiday market is a boom market, so why not the short break cruise market?

But it is essential that agents do not lose sight of the cruise needs of the most important market - the mature market. Agents must remember the age and wealth demograhic profile of the UK population. It is this market that has time and money and that will continue to provide the volume for travel agents.

In her opinion column in 14 September Travel Weekly, Fay Thompson of Instant Cruise Holidays, summed up by saying, "So for all you budding cruise specialists, take heed; brush up on your product knowledge - there are big ships to fill".

My summary - there are lots of big ships to fill.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd

This post comes from Gill Hartigan, winner of the Agent Excellence Award for best sales consultant, small agency, in the Southwest and Wales.

Next week the Caribbean Tourism Organisation will be holding its ‘Courses for the Caribbean 2007’ event in Oxford.

I’ll be going along. I run the weddings and honeymoons department at Howard Travel, so I’m on the lookout for new wedding opportunities for both the company and my clients.

Meeting contacts from the various exhibitors is also useful, especially if you need some expert advice. And of course I’m also hoping to gain knowledge and information that will add to the pleasure of experiencing the islands myself.

Here are my three favourite Caribbean bookings:

• A wedding at the Radisson Cable Beach in Grand Bahamas. It was for 19 passengers with a total cost of over £23,000. I found it most enjoyable, challenging and very rewarding – and it sparked the idea for the wedding department within Howard Travel.



• Last year I booked a wedding at The Beach Club in Antigua for 20 passengers at a total cost of £22,000. The resort is a favourite of mine, in particular the superior rooms which have direct access to the beach.



• In November I have a wedding booked for 13 passengers at the all-inclusive Holiday Village Golden Beach in the Dominican Republic. Their child prices go up to the age of 14 years and they have four-bedded rooms, so I was able to keep the price down to £10,700.

What’s your best booking to the Caribbean? And if you attended the Durham CTO training event, what selling tips did you pick up?

Gill Hartigan, Howard Travel

A new post from regular guest blogger Brian Hordon (Silversea UK)

Travel Weekly Cruise Month is now in full flow with news features, product information, comment, and above all another platform which focuses upon the exciting world of holidays at sea.

My post of June 14 was titled "the new cruise era" and focused on how developments in the cruise industry would benefit the travel agent. Cruising really is now a mainstream holiday and offers volume business opportunity and profit.

Cruising now caters to clients of all ages and wealth profiles. There are ships which offer the perfect holiday for younger, active people; ships which deliver an all-round holiday for families; ships that recognise the special needs and desires of the mature traveller.

There is now no excuse - there is a cruise holiday for every market segment, nationally.

But the Travel Weekly Cruise Month must not be seen in isolation. The features, the thoughts and ideas, the ship visits and training opportunities should all become integral to your next business plan, which should feature your projected cruise targets and promotional programme.

The opportunities here must not be overlooked: they will contribute to the profitability of your agency.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd.

Regular contributor Brian Hordon (Silversea UK) kicks off Travel Weekly Cruise Month...

The timing of the Travel Weekly Cruise Month could not be more appropriate.

Passenger Shipping Association stats continue to show excellent passenger percentage growth year on year, the new Association of Cruise Experts (ACE) goes from strength to strength, and cruise lines are putting plenty of energy into maintaining this success. They are all doing an outstanding job.

However, I still detect concern from many agents about whether the cruise market is factored into their company business plan.

Is this down to lack of confidence or product knowledge on the part of frontline staff? Or is agency management failing to create a plan for increasing local cruise business? (As we say in the Silversea Cruises Luxury Cruising Academy, "Your target is to own the cruise market within your area.")

Some of this may seem controversial, and I am happy to apologise if I have touched a nerve. But I am also happy to say that the solution is now available, this month, and in many forms.

Travel Weekly's focus on cruising throughout September, alongside its cruise roadshows throughout the UK, are resources that must not be underestimated. Reading up on the market is always important, but hearing it from an enthusiastic and professional cruiseline salesperson cannot be emphasised enough.

These people are good, so make sure that you leave each cruiseline discussion with all the features and benefits of their company - who buys, how to sell, going to market, training, agency support, ship visits.

All this first hand knowledge will strengthen your plan to "own the cruise market within your area." It will also provide the confidence that is too often lacking.

And that's not all: the new ACE programme and conventions; the online cruising training programmes; the cruise company roadshows throughout the country - it's all there. The amazing thing is that it is just for the travel agent.

Have a great and successful cruise month, and use all this new knowledge to make sure that the rest of 2007 and 2008 onwards delivers your best cruise profits.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd.

This post comes from regular contributor Brian Hordon (Silversea Cruises UK)

Visit Britain plans to spend one million pounds promoting English rural tourism to the UK holiday market, and already television and newspaper adverts are appearing.

It is a campaign that will create new opportunities for creative travel agents, and represent a new challenge for many other agents.

I would suggest that in most travel agencies knowledge of overseas destinations, resorts and hotels far outweighs the equivalent knowledge of the United Kingdom; no doubt someone will take me to task on this, but the response will be interesting.

So the challenge is twofold. First, the travel agent needs to recognise a niche sales opportunity and ensure that appropriate operator and product knowledge and customer awareness of the United Kingdom as a viable sales alternative (or even a first choice) is included in business plan activity.

Second - and most thought provoking - the myriad of United Kingdom products need to move up a couple of gears to ensure that the features and benefits of their products become front of mind at the cutting edge of the retail travel agent market.

Just look at the demographics of the United Kingdom population, wealth control etc; many holidaymakers seek safety and security, ease of travel and good value - all widely available within the UK holiday "basket."

But those same holidaymakers are probably booking direct right now due to lack of awareness of how a good travel agent can help them.

Believe me, this can be reversed, so please recognise this superb opportunity and go for it. It can also make you money!

One million may not seem like a lot. But if it succeeds (and there is no reason why this highly creative campaign should not) I am sure more money will become available for promotional activity, so the need to be in place is paramount.

Brian Hordon, Director of Training Development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd

This post comes from our regular guest poster Brian Hordon of Silversea Cruises UK

Nothing focuses the mind like adversity! My last post for TW Blog addressed my concern with the proliferation of events currently taking place in the travel industry, from consortia issues to mergers to environmental concerns.

The current postal dispute brought to mind another pressure area faced by travel agents: digesting the enormous volume of feature and advertising material which is published each week.

Receiving two editions of Travel Weekly at once brought into focus the complexity of product and destination news, highlighting the depth of knowledge needed by travel salespeople in order to get out there and sell dreams every day.

I won't go into the increasing importance of focused training in travel - I will blog on that another time.

But I will close this post by saying that I sincerely hope the sharp-end salespeople in the travel business walk with pride.

Their knowledge invariably embraces leisure travel, air and rail, cruising, hotels, car rental, destinations and resorts, airport parking, passport and visa inormation, computer skills, insurance and lots more.

And I haven't even mentioned the behind-the-scenes staff who deliver additional essential skills.

It sometimes takes a third-party issue - such as receiving an enormous volume of must-read material after having had no mail for a full week - to put things into perspective.

Incidentaly, I had no mail as mentioned, but I did have several e-communications introducing late sales opportunities, special pricing, thought provoking destination ideas. Is there a message here?

Brian Hordon
Director of Training Development
Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd

A new post from industry contributor Brian Hordon (Silversea Cruises UK)

The magnitude of change within the travel industry has been reflected in every Travel Weekly edition during the past 21 days.

Current and future change encompasses a plethora of subjects; mergers, consortia development, green issues, market growth, e-marketing and technology.

On top of that there are "new" dimensions such as niche markets, luxury travel, UK tourism, and of course the amazing expansion of cruising.

These are all high profile issues right now, and will continue be so for some time.

For travel agents in particular, change can make it easy to lose sight of the most important business element: the customer.

Change inevitably demands new skills, and these skills represent a real opportunity for creative and aggressive travel agents to recognise and deliver the quality of service that the increasingly demanding customer has come to expect.

If you recognise these opportunities and deliver the service right you will have the opportunity to ensure customer loyalty. Lose sight of the opportunities and you could open the doors even wider to the new booking channels that are already threatening traditional agents.

This week I will have enjoyed 50 unbroken years in the UK tourism and travel industry. In that time I have experienced countless changes; but the agents who recognised change, embraced the "new" and adapted accordingly are in most cases still around, and in many cases thriving.

This industry is a wonderful business to be in, and current change represents a special challenge. Agents who recognise this challenge, adapt their business model accordingly and do not lose sight of the customer could be on their way to a new dimension in travel.

I wish I was 50 years younger!

Brian Hordon
Director of Training Development
Silversea Cruises (UK) Ltd.

A post from regular industry blogger Brian Hordon...

A postcript on "why are women not at the top with more travel companies?" (see my post of 29th January 2007). The departure of Sue Biggs from Kuoni will be discussed by the travel trade for some time, but my focus is on the achievements of this amazing lady.

She really does represent the perfect role model for aspiring female travel industry leaders.

I won't go into how long I have known Sue, suffice to say it was long before Kuoni days.

The subsequent years have seen this lady power her way up the commercial ladder (supposingly littered with male obstacles) displaying all the abilities needed to hold a very senior position.

She has creativity, determination, and the ability to recognise potential, whether in people, destinations, products or investments. In my opinion what stands out above all else is her "streetwise" character, which many people in travel have, but do not demonstrate.

Female or male, just copy Sue. If you deliver you will climb the ladder, and the gender issue will disappear - believe me! This wonderful industry of ours is full of remarkable talent and it is going to be needed in volume during the coming years.

Brian Hordon, director of training development, Silversea Cruises (UK)Ltd

This post comes from Silversea Cruises UK director of training development Brian Hordon.

The online editor of Travel Weekly recently highlighted some research by Boo.com which found that agents are the source of travel information least trusted by consumers.

Travel review websites were in second position, which raises the issue of travel agent vs internet yet again.

Back in November 2006 I wrote that "a knowledgeable, well trained and sales driven travel consultant can easily become the living internet for the customer". I have not changed my opinion.

Everyone talks of 'adding value' to travel agent service, but the best agents are already adding it. This year I've travelled to Australia, the Far East, United States, Central Europe and the UK, and I can tell you how important the little things can be to holidaymakers who are not frequent travellers.

For example? Tell customers who are travelling to the United States to carry a black pen and pick up two immigration forms (we all make a mistake on the first) at check in. Tell anyone departing from Heathrow Terminal three - currently a nightmare - to leave lots and lots of time. Tell them about the new BA Club cabin (superb).

I could go on and on. So can travel agents. As specialists they can provide information which will ease the customer's passage through the maze that many airports have become.

The internet is still restricted to data in, data out. But agents can provide mood, empathy, enthusiasm, excitement, and individual and personal information. That's 'added value' at its very best.

Brian Hordon, director of training development, Silversea Cruises UK