For many within the journey trade, the new ticket in Nashville
final week wasn’t to the record-breaking Taylor Swift live shows happening at
Nissan Stadium. It was to Travel Leaders Network’s annual EDGE convention at
the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center—a sold-out occasion that
attracted greater than 1,700 attendees, together with 1,300-plus journey advisors, from
May 8-10.
“This is the second-largest EDGE,” mentioned Roger E. Block, CTC,
president of Travel Leaders Network (TLN). “The first was the tenth anniversary
in Las Vegas [in 2018], and we’d have far eclipsed it if we had had the
room.”
The demand for attendance on the gathering of the most important
community of journey businesses in North America displays the demand for journey.
“2022 turned out to be a very good year,” mentioned Block. “2023 is wanting
extremely sturdy—particularly for leisure.”
In truth, 2023 is projected to be TLN’s highest gross sales 12 months
ever for cruises and excursions. John Lovell, CTC, president of Travel Leaders
Group, predicts cruise gross sales for the corporate shall be 12 p.c above 2019
ranges this 12 months, and land gross sales shall be 8 p.c or 9 p.c above 2019
ranges. Corporate journey gross sales for the corporate are at roughly 85 to 95
p.c of pre-COVID ranges. “There is an pleasure concerning the trade as a result of
it’s coming again and coming again actually sturdy,” mentioned Lovell.
In addition to record-breaking ocean cruise gross sales, TLN is
“having a very, very good year on the river side,” mentioned Lovell. Europe is
promoting “extremely well,” he added, with Italy, France and Germany seeing the
highest demand. Scandinavia, Egypt and Japan are additionally prime locations for the corporate’s
purchasers. While journey to U.S. locations stays sturdy, theme park bookings
are down in comparison with 2022 however are corresponding to 2019.
Overall, mentioned Lovell, “bookings are outpacing 2019, and
there’s no signal of slowing down.”
As journey continues its sturdy rebound from the
pandemic-induced pause, TLN is driving extra enterprise to its 5,700-plus journey
company places than ever. Last 12 months, TLN delivered greater than 215,000 results in
its members—a 24 p.c improve from the pre-pandemic excessive of 2019. The leads
represented $324 million in gross sales with most popular provider companions and $53
million in commissions earned by members. With 97,000 leads generated within the
first quarter of this 12 months, 2023 is projected to surpass 2022 lead-generation
numbers by 54 p.c.
“With the post-pandemic journey growth, the difficulty has turn into
not solely how do advisors get purchasers, however how do vacationers discover the proper
advisor for his or her journey? TravelLeaders.com, powered by Agent Profiler, is the
reply that ‘matchmakes’ these two teams for an incredible answer for each,” mentioned
Stephen McGillivray, CTC, chief advertising officer of Travel Leaders Group.
McGillivray urged journey advisors on the convention to
improve their profiles on TravelLeaders.com to turn into “Super Agents.” To
obtain the Super Agent designation, advisors should have full profiles in
Agent Profiler, together with consumer evaluations and a sure degree of experience. The
Super Agent designation brings customers to the highest of client searches on
TravelLeaders.com. Advisors can now add logos for certifications to their
profiles and show itineraries of journeys they’ve designed.
Travel Leaders can also be elevating the profile of advisors in
communications with shoppers. When the corporate’s advertising arm provides journey
advisors’ images to client emails, there’s a 40 p.c click-through price.
The tactic has been so profitable that advisor images shall be added to direct
mail within the third quarter.
McGillivray additionally introduced the launch of Social Share Pro, a
complimentary subscription-based instrument that creates scheduled content material for
advisors’ social media channels—together with Facebook and Instagram posts, tales
and reels. “There’s no doubt social media channels are essential,” mentioned
McGillivray. “We want you to look great in front of your customers.”
Advisors at EDGE additionally discovered about Cruise Complete, Travel
Leaders’ new cruise reserving engine that may launch in June. Replacing Cruise
Pro, the brand new web-based platform, “dramatically streamlines your course of and
saves you time,” mentioned Cory Voss, vp, product and options supply
for Travel Leaders Group.
Cruise Complete is a one-stop store, providing real-time
pricing and availability for 22 main ocean and river cruise strains. Features
embrace the power to check as much as 4 sailings on one display; to work
a number of itineraries for various purchasers concurrently; and to e-book as much as
4 cabins on the identical crusing on the similar time, even when every cabin has a
completely different passenger depend, kind of passenger, price and class.
Dave Hershberger, president of Cincinnati-based Prestige
Travel Leaders—who has attended each EDGE convention—sings the praises of the
advantages his company receives from being part of Travel Leaders. The greatest,
he says, is Agent Profiler. “We are getting unbelievable leads off of
that—certified, closable leads,” mentioned Hershberger, who additionally names fee
alternatives, relationships with distributors and expertise as prime perks
supplied by Travel Leaders. “We’re capable of present full-blown company
expertise to our clients and never pay the total value as if we had been doing it
on our personal. The price financial savings is super.”
Hershberger expects Prestige Travel to hit $25 million in
gross sales this 12 months, with a enterprise combine that’s about 65 p.c company. “We’re
most likely about 30 p.c forward of 2019 on company bookings, which is
stunning to me,” he mentioned. “It’s booming—although not as a lot as trip is
booming proper now. Vacation is insane. I’ve been within the enterprise 40 years, and
I’ve by no means seen the sort of atmosphere on the holiday aspect.”
Also on an upward trajectory are the variety of businesses
underneath the Travel Leaders umbrella. “Last 12 months we had one among our greatest years for
development, when it comes to not simply numbers of members however most popular suppliers, and
the development is continuous,” mentioned Block. “So far this 12 months, simply within the U.S.,
we’ve signed up 87 new affiliate members within the first quarter and two new
franchise associates.”
While discovering staff is the largest problem businesses
have proper now, says Block, the academic alternatives supplied by Travel
Leaders are serving to to form the subsequent technology of journey advisors. “What’s
actually encouraging is while you take a look at our hosts and what number of new people they’re bringing in, it’s by the 1000’s each
month,” mentioned Block. “There’s such a thirst and a necessity for the kind of coaching
we offer.”
Travel Leaders’ academic packages vary from entry-level
coaching—studying easy methods to qualify a buyer, for instance—to certification
packages that may take 9 months to a 12 months to finish. More than 1,300
journey advisors are presently enrolled in Travel Leaders’ New Advisor – Leisure
Learning Path coaching.
The EDGE convention supplied 200 academic workshops, many
of them offered out. Attendees additionally heard from suppliers within the normal
periods—lots of whom obtained Power of Partnership (POP) awards from TLN.
Advisors may meet with suppliers throughout the commerce present and attend
supplier-sponsored workshops. “We have the right suppliers here,” mentioned Lovell.
“Everyone wants to be here.”
Suppliers are wanting to work with Travel Leaders due to
its attain, notes Lovell. “We most likely symbolize wherever from 35 to 40 p.c
of the distribution channel,” he mentioned. “We give them the power to the touch the
greatest group but in addition the group that sells probably the most in any
explicit class.”
Travel Leaders’ members embrace company in addition to leisure
businesses, “which is likely one of the issues that makes us completely different from all of our
rivals,” mentioned Block.
In addition, famous Block, the corporate’s common transaction
value has elevated over time because it has added extra coaching, extra packages and
extra alliances—communities of top-performing members targeted on particular
niches. They embrace the Independent Advisor Networks Leaders Alliance, the
Honeymoon & Destination Wedding Leaders Alliance, the Luxury Leaders
Alliance and the newly launched Technology Leaders Alliance. The Technology
Alliance, out there solely to proprietor and manager-level members, acts as a platform
for sharing and studying about instruments that exist outdoors of TLN—from the usage of
AI to pay reconciliation for company businesses.
To be a member of the Luxury Leaders Alliance, which now
contains 275 members, advisors have to be within the prime 1 p.c of all luxurious
sellers in TLN. “Lots of people contemplate us nothing however mass-market retailers;
it’s something however that,” mentioned Block. “TLN is likely one of the very prime luxurious
sellers, interval.”
As Travel Leaders continues to recruit new members, Lovell
says its greatest promoting level is worth. “If you’re an company of 10 individuals, I’d
say that you just’re actually an company of nicely over 120 individuals, as a result of every one among
our staff is admittedly working in your behalf, be it advertising, coaching,
training, expertise,” he mentioned. “We give them the power to drive leads into
their enterprise, to develop their enterprise, to market to their current purchasers, to
make the telephones ring. Ultimately, we’re bringing nice expertise instruments to make
their lives a bit of bit easier.”
And Lovell believes enterprise subsequent 12 months shall be even
stronger. “We have more capacity coming on in terms of the cruise industry,” he
mentioned. “More resorts are being constructed, so we can have extra capability there. I
undertaking a really sturdy ’24. And in the event you take a look at our advance bookings, they’re
actually displaying that as nicely.”
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Source: www.travelpulse.com”