Australian travel agent partners remain "firmly and unequivocally" part of Trafalgar's future plans, the company's global CEO Gavin Tollman has said. Speaking to Travel Today during his recent visit to Australia and New Zealand, Tollman also expounded on what he described as two of the company's "gifts to agents".
"The first gift to our agent partners is a commitment that 60% of our 2015 itineraries are definite," Tollman said. The company's website, which was relaunched last week with a focus on user-generated content, was described by Tollman as the second gift. "The new website allows agents access to aggregated content, images and independent, unedited consumer reviews of itineraries," Tollman said.
Describing the sharing of consumer reviews as "probably the fastest growing trend" in booking a holiday today, Tollman said that the website's ability to offer agents these details to share with prospective clients was "the most powerful way in assisting them to close sales".
Tollman acknowleged the importance of online in the sales process for clients but staunchly defended retail travel agents and their importance to the distribution chain. "When people feel sick today they will often conduct a Google search first. But if they turned up at the doctor's with a self diagnosis, it's unlikely they'd be handed a prescription. It's the same with travel agents," he said.
"Yes travellers research their trips, but they want comfort and affirmation from an expert. Agents have to add value to the purchase decision. They have to understand the consumers, then recommend a travel product that meets their needs," Tollman added.
Elsewhere, Tollman was ebullient on the company's Australian sales performance, but provided a more nebullous assessment in describing "double digit growth" in the past year. Trafalgar's global performance, meanwhile, was described as "extremely robust".
In terms of new developments for the company, Tollman said that the routinely high cost of single supplements on escorted itineraries had been a sticking point that agents had come back to him with time and again. "With that in mind, in 2015 Trafalgar will conduct a trial of 17 selected itineraries around the world that will feature savings of between 25% and 100% for single supplements," Tollman said.
There will also be a lift in the company's Hidden Journey experiences with 11 new options in Europe, Asia, Central and North America, Tollman said.
"In terms of destinations, Turkey is obviously huge for 2015 with the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings, while Ireland has seen a huge surge recently. Our standalone itineraries to Ireland have jumped from four to 11 between 2014 and 2015," Tollman said.
And while he would not be drawn on the actions of competitors, he was quick to point out Trafalgar's contribution to the escorted touring space. "Trafalgar is the innovator, not the imitator. At the end of day, my focus is to ensure our agent partners that what is being promised is delivered," Tollman said.
