Insight Autumn 2014

AUTUMN 2014

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Contents and Welcome from Gary Lewis

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With motivated teams in all areas of our business from Marketing and Membership Services through to Commercial and Risk and Operations, our Members are telling us that they are really seeing us deliver against our internal values – STEPs: Supportive, Target-driven, Entrepreneurial and Passionate.

In this edition of Insight we bring you news from across our Group of Members who are also showing similar values. From Bridget Keevil and her team at Travel Stop showing their support for the ‘Just a Drop’ charity in their crusade across Europe, to Anthony Goord for his entrepreneurial spirit at Peter Goord Travel.

Of course, for us one of the key highlights this year has been our recent ‘Obsession’ conference in Split, Croatia. We couldn’t have hoped for it to have gone any better and the feedback from the

Members and Business Partners who joined us for the 2 day event has been overwhelmingly positive. You will get a sense from the pictures and the articles in this edition of Insight what a great conference it was, which was all made possible through a GREAT team effort by everyone at The Travel Network Group (pictured below).

I hope you enjoy this edition of Insight and, as ever, if you have any questions, or want more information on any of the articles covered, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the Membership Services Team at: membership@thetravelnetworkgroup. co.uk With best regards

Gary Lewis Group Managing Director

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Commercial Update Conference Plenary Conference Awards Conference Feedback Conference Photos Out and about with Members Membership Update Habitat for Humanity Travel Trade Crusade Peter Goord Travel Honeycomb Update Independent Travel Experts 60 Seconds with Bhav Taylor

AUTUMN 2014

When I look back on what we have achieved as a Group so far in 2014, it makes me really proud. Our Growth strategy, which we put in place 18 months ago, is now beginning to deliver results not only for us as a business but more importantly, for our Members’ businesses.

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Editorial input was provided by Alexis Coles-Barrasso, Elizabeth Rawling and Sarah Toogood.

Many thanks to Members who helped with the magazine.

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We would like to hear from you if you have any interesting content for the next magazine.

The Travel Network Group - Championing the Independent Travel Market

Get in touch with Marketing on 01483 545 780 (option: 4) marketing@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk

02 Commercial Contents Update insight 04

Expansion of our commercial offering with the Preferred Partner programme Since the launch of the Growth strategy in 2013, the commercial team has been committed to growing Members’ businesses by continuing to develop the Preferred Partner programme launched earlier this year.

Discussing the Preferred Partner programme, Martin Andrew, Group Commercial Director, explains, “This programme has delivered increased incentives, marketing campaigns and extra commission from a group of 40 of the best Business Partners and this will continue to be a focus in the year ahead.”

The team has also been busy sourcing new and exciting products and services from suppliers that the Group has not previously worked with.

“Our main focus has been the expansion of our commercial offering for Members,” explains Martin.

“Our new partnership with the Expedia Affiliate Network is an example of this and offers Members an exclusive advantage, providing access to an extensive supply of quality hotels all over the world.”

The Expedia partnership is in addition to new partnerships with Pathway GDS, a leading supplier of villa and rental apartment products, and the upcoming release of another unique supplier, Tourico, all of which are exclusively available through Honeycomb, the Group’s dynamic packaging tool.

“We’re really excited about these partnerships, and it is part of our plan to continue providing

market-leading supply to our Members, providing the proposition is compelling,” says Martin.

This further progress is matched by the optimism Martin has for the market in 2015: “We’ve seen a steady increase in package and all-inclusive holidays in 2014, suggesting that these are areas of growth in the next year.”

With a new initiative on the horizon to bring Cruise Club Members a unique dynamic packaging system designed specifically for cruise, the commercial team will be continuing to strive for further growth opportunities in the forthcoming months.

Any questions? Please contact us at commercial@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk

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Conference Plenary 05

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What a conference!

Insight speaks to Gary Lewis, Group Managing Director of The Travel Network Group, to find out his highlights from this year’s ’Obsession’ conference in Split, Croatia.

Against the wonderful backdrop of Split, the combination of great support from trade partners, a line-up of fantastic speakers from the industry and good solid practical business advice in the workshops, the experience for delegates couldn’t have been better.

And what about the amazing motivational speakers? I shall never forget seeing all the delegates pretending to be jockeys as we joined in the hugely entertaining ‘Taming Tigers’ presentation from Jim Lawless.

‘Obsession’ was the theme of the conference and it was echoed throughout the event – from speeches by the likes of Jim Lawless – who trained obsessively to be a free diver and a jockey – to the detailed tips and practical advice given at our workshops on social media, predictive technology and retail success.

I was delighted to announce other innovations and pledges too, showing how the culture of our business works obsessively for our Members: our resources are their resources.

So many highlights, and too many to mention, but from the high energy opening of the main plenary to the reception in the Diocletian’s Palace, and the gala dinner and awards under the stars by the beach, it couldn’t have gone any better.

This is demonstrated by our company values: ‘STEPS’, which stands for Supportive, Target Focused, Entrepreneurial and Passionate.

I was proud to show delegates how The Travel Network Group’s team delivered on promises made last year in Lake Bled.

Looking to the future, we are working with a data specialist business to deliver more business benefits to our Members, we will soon be able to offer a ‘State of the Nation’ report with facts and figures that give them even more insight to their business.

From the results of our investment in marketing, to the restructuring and recruiting for our Membership team, the value we are adding to our Members’ businesses couldn’t be clearer.

Through this and other initiatives we are

At our last conference I introduced delegates to the Group’s new strategy around the four pillars: scale, opportunity, solutions, and growth, and we have followed our strategy ruthlessly over the past 18 months and are beginning to now see it bear fruit.

“I was delighted to announce other innovations and pledges too, showing how the culture of our business works obsessively for our Members: our resources are their resources.”

helping Members drive new customers into their shops and onto their websites, and offering tools to generate their own leads.

Supporting our new drive to better support Members, we also announced that we have joined the Institute of Customer Service.

This will benchmark us against the industry, and represents how we are driving this new and invigorated service for our Members.

As well as the obsession, I saw a lot of passion at the conference, from our trade partners, delegates, my team, and the Members.

The vibrancy, positivity and feedback that we have received from the event gives me and my team the confidence and encouragement that we are heading in the right direction for our Members and Business Partners.

“With a great and memorable conference behind us, our obsession for further success knows no bounds.”

Conference Plenary insight 0206 Contents

A healthy Obsession For the Members that travelled to Split for The Travel Network Group’s ‘Obsession’ conference, it was a truly memorable event. Over the next few pages Insight gives you the highlights from the plenary sessions and events at conference.

‘User DNA’ can help agents move away from price-driven offers A whopping 99% of people leave a website without booking but they leave lots of information, according to a data analyst at The Travel Network Group conference.

Andy Owen Jones, Co-Founder and Chief Executive at bd4travel (‘Big Data for Travel), told delegates: “If you analyse a lot of data, behaviour can be predicted. Customers can tell you a huge amount by how they act.

“Predictive technology is like talking to your favourite, all-knowing, instant travel agent.”

In his speech entitled ‘The Power of Prediction’, he said technology can follow people’s behaviour and searches online, then build the ‘User DNA’, reflecting what that person wants from a holiday.

This can help agents to move away from a reliance on the cheapest price. “You can pull up holiday ideas that are appropriate for them just from their clicks, even if they do

Here & Now Panel The package holiday is “far from dead” and the future for agents is positive - that was the message from an industry debate at The Travel Network Group conference.

The ‘Here & Now’ Panel featured three of the industry’s highest profile personalities: Steve Barrass, Jo Rzymowska and Simon Ferguson, with Group Commercial Director of The Travel Network Group, Martin Andrew, as the moderator.

“The package holiday is not dead, it is growing and continues to dominate the market despite the emphasis on dynamic packaging,” said Martin, as he explained that the package holiday market had grown to 9 million passengers by the summer of 2014.

But whilst that was a positive result for 2014, Martin added that delegates should look ahead with cautious optimism. “There will be a number of major issues we will need to navigate carefully going forward,” he told the

not book,” he told the conference in Split.

“Moving away from price is the single biggest thing people need to do,” he advised. “You need to get clients to focus on their interests and the suitability of a hotel. “If a hotel is booked up, you can find a similar hotel and suggest it as available, even offer before they ask.”

He also suggested agencies offer free Wi-Fi in their shops so agents can see what customers had been browsing.

“You can capture every interaction a customer has with your website…and you can build a picture of what people are like, anticipate their needs and predict what is suitable for them,” he said.

He also talked about the “best travel agent” that he knows, who talks about events that will happen over the next three years to generate “desire-driven”

conference. “2015’s General Election, the threat of rising interest rates, and the continued political and economic unrest in many international markets, to name a few.” He said.

But there are positives, said Andrew, noting that bookings for next summer are already up 9%, the economy is recovering, families are booking early again, and all-inclusives are popular.

“But the biggest trend is return of the travel agent. People understand the value of a travel agency,” he told the conference.

The panel of experts agreed prospects for agents appeared bright.

Steve Barrass, Managing Director at Gold Medal Travel Group, told delegates: “People will come back to travel agents, as you give great service.

rather than “offer-driven” holiday ideas.

Later, in a workshop for delegates, he advised agents to develop ‘bucket list’ holiday ideas for clients, based around must-see events and places, such as the Olympics and World Cup tournaments.

His session was particularly relevant as The Travel Network Group is developing data segmentation strategies for its Members’ marketing, so targeted offers are sent to customers.

“If you feed the relevant holiday options to customers, the average booking price goes up,” he added.

“It is no surprise that people are returning to travel agents - it is because of the ‘choice explosion’.”

He said the longhaul market, in which Gold Medal specialises, is predicted to grow by 4-5% over coming years, and offers agents the chance to generate cash flow over winter.

Jo Rzymowska, Managing Director at Celebrity Cruises, UK & Ireland, said cruises presented a “massive opportunity” for agents, as there are 1.7 million cruisers in the market, so there is potential to win over millions of new customers.

Simon Ferguson, Managing Director, Travelport UK & Ireland, cited the examples of three very successful travel brands - DialAFlight, Trailfinders and Flight Centre - which were top agencies despite not having bookable websites.

He also said the contribution of travel agents to Travelport’s business had helped the technology firm’s recent, successful flotation on the New York Stock Exchange. “The share was oversubscribed, and the success is a vindication of the agency distribution marketplace,” he said.

Conference Plenary 07

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Poker player tells agents how to put the odds in their favour A former professional poker player urged travel agents to get out of their comfort zone and be “more open to uncertainty”.

In his entertaining and motivational speech to the conference, Caspar Berry shared the lessons he learned from his gambling days in Las Vegas to show agents about risk-taking.

Using a series of equations about gambling and the odds of success or failure, he produced the ‘Break Even’ line on a graph.

He showed the graph to demonstrate how businesses can end up in their ‘comfort zone’, but told delegates: “You are not getting great returns from being there. You need to try new things.”

Being more open to uncertainty leads to more chances of failure, he said, pointing to examples of people who failed repeatedly, such as Abraham Lincoln - but who eventually succeeded.

Called ‘Risk Taking & Decision Making in Poker, Business & Life’, his session was as amusing as it was informative.

Plenty of ‘You’ve Been Framed’-type pictures of mishaps proved his point about the unpredictable nature of life. He cited research which began in 1984, asking 284 experts for predictions about the future - the results showed their forecasts were no better than random guesses.

However, some were better than others: they were the ones who had been less sure about their predictions, he told the conference.

Berry also talked about the ‘butterfly effect’ and how billions of tiny events come together and influence our lives.

Looking at history, he speculated how different the world could be if Hitler had been accepted at art school, or if the weather had not blown the Spanish Armada off course.

And more recently, the butterfly effect has been demonstrated by the Tunisian street vendor whose protest was a catalyst for the Tunisian revolution and the wider Arab

Agents jockey for position at conference The final keynote speaker at The Travel Network Group conference took Members for a ride, as he shared his tips for “Taming Tigers”.

Motivational speaker Jim Lawless managed to get all the delegates up on their feet and pretending to be jockeys in a horse race, as part of his presentation at the event in Split.

The racy re-enactment came as he recalled how he became a jockey for a £1 bet, to demonstrate his rules for “Taming Tigers”– taming the thing that roars at us when we think of taking a risk or becoming a leader. His hugely entertaining presentation started with footage from his year-long training process – complete with painful-looking pratfalls and mishaps. “I was told I was too old, too fat and couldn’t ride,” he told the conference. Jockeys usually weigh between seven-and-a-half to nine stone, and start at a young age. He was 12 stone and aged 36.

“But I rang the three most senior people in horse racing, and top jockey Gee Armytage offered to help me,” he said. “The person who can help you is waiting for your call. Gee Armytage was the person waiting for me. “I shook her hand and made that commitment to train to be a jockey. Whose hand will you shake?”

Despite the rigours of training and the flimsiness of his jockey’s silks and saddle, he achieved his target – and demonstrated that his 10 rules do work. “You have to move out of your comfort zone, and then you can inspire people,” he advised delegates.

“We have to be out there on the track, and people will judge and criticise us.”

If becoming a jockey wasn’t enough proof of his credentials, he also regaled the audience with tales of training to become the first Briton to dive below the magic 100-metre barrier on a single breath of air.

To demonstrate just how long he had to hold his breath, he re-played the footage of his achievement – and asked delegates to hold their breath during the video.

Echoing the ‘Obsession’ theme of the conference, he said he trained in Sharm el

Spring.

Berry asked the delegates to imagine a world of certainty - and how boring and weird that would be.

“It is only because tomorrow is uncertain that today has any meaning for us,” he concluded.

Sheikh for his free-diving, which meant he had to clear his diary of other commitments for one week every month.

“What do you need to take out of your diary to let the obsession in?” he asked delegates. “Nothing gets finished without commitment.”

He encouraged delegates to follow his first rule by 10am on the next Monday morning: “Think of the boldest thing you can do.” But he guessed what was in many people’s minds when he added: “You are thinking of reasons why you can’t do it by 10am on Monday morning.”

He urged them: “You hold the pen that writes the story of your life. Decision, Action, Result... that writes your story.”

Jim’s top 10 tips for Taming Tigers….

Rule # 1: A ct boldly today. Time is limited!

Rule # 2: R e-write your rule book. Challenge it hourly.

Rule # 3: H ead in the direction of where you want to arrive, every day.

Rule # 4: I t’s all in the mind.

Rule # 5: T he tools for Taming Tigers are all around you.

Rule # 6: T here is no safety in numbers.

Rule # 7: D o something scary every day.

Rule # 8: U nderstand and control your time to create change.

Rule # 9: C reate disciplines – do the basics brilliantly Rule # 10: N ever, never give up!

Conference Awards insight 0208 Contents

Obsession Awards 2014 At the culmination of the conference and under a ‘ night of stars’ at the closing Gala Dinner and Awards – Gary Lewis announced this year’s Members of the Year.

TTA Member of the Year, Truly Travel; ITE Homeworker of the Year, Claire Body; Worldchoice WC Member of the Year, Premier Travel and Worldchoice Plus Member of the Year Portrush Travel.

Gary said “For this year’s awards we were looking for Members who have been totally obsessed with further developing their businesses. These four winners are exemplary and we are incredibly proud to have them as Members.”

Members of the Year Awards:

TTA Member of the Year Truly Travel

ITE Homeworker of the Year - Claire Body

Business Partner Awards: Best Accommodation Provider - Bedsonline

Best Car Hire Provider Flexible Autos

Best Short Breaks Operator - Superbreak Mini Holidays

Best Long Haul Operator Kuoni

Best Cruise Operator - Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Best Consolidator Gold Medal Travel

Best Ancillaries Provider Holiday Extras

Best Short Haul Operator Classic Collection Holidays

WC Member of the Year Premier Travel

Best Touring/Coach Operator - Titan Travel

Best Luxury Operator Classic Collection Holidays

WC+ Member of the Year Portrush Travel

Most Trade Friendly Business Partner - Travel 2

Conference Feedback 09

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Members feedback people and had an amazing time.

Harry Hastings, Ocean Holidays Great weekend. Thank you for everything once again. You all did a great job and although Bled was good, this was even better.

Rob Kenton, Triangle Travel Home after the amazing The Travel Network Group conference in Split.

Full praise to Gary Lewis and his team.

John Flin, Wallace Arnold Worldchoice I just wanted to drop a line to say a really big thank you for organising what was simply a brilliant conference. You and your frankly formidable team made everyone feel part of something really special, and the planning and sheer hard work that went in to it was greatly appreciated by everyone that I spoke to.

We came back feeling extremely inspired and full of new ideas and strategies on how we can grow our business, which is what a true conference is all about. I learnt so much and I’m really looking forward to the next conference.

Adam Playfair, Richmond Holidays Fantastic to meet you over the weekend, what a great time! Hermoine and I came back encouraged, better connected and completely exhausted thanks to the incredible stamina of the The Travel Network Group party animals!

Your team’s commitment and professionalism was exemplary and thanks to the event I made a number of very useful contacts for future tours.

Jane Neenan, Supreme Breaks

Rehmat Saleh, Savvy Travellers I must say it was a fantastic weekend meeting the team and putting a few faces to names which we’ve been working with for a while now. We left feeling so much more motivated and felt you guys went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and really important, so honestly we couldn’t thank you guys enough.

Paul Nelson, Wyntersun Holidays It was a great conference and I felt privileged to be part of such a huge organisation. It really felt like one big family and we met some amazing

We have just returned last night from our trip to Croatia. We had the best time ever! The confererence was truly amazing and so empowering. It was great to meet the team at TTA and put a name to a face, as well as network with the suppliers. I already offer several venues in Croatia, but to be able to chat to suppliers and make new contacts was excellent and I’m brimming with new ideas now.

The whole organisation of the event from start to finish was faultless and I know and appreciate how much work must have gone on behind the scenes. I can’t wait for the next one!

Thank you for voting Titan as THE BEST TOURING OPERATOR PERATOR Edwina, Craig and everyone at Titan, wish to express their genuine appreciation for this award and your continued support throughout 2014.

THANKS A MILLION!

To order brochures or to find out more call

0800 988 5800 or visit www.titanagents.co.uk

Conference Photos insight 0210 Contents

Obsession Photos From a reception in the Diocletian’s Palace, to the Gala Dinner under the stars, this year’s conference in Split was a visual delight.

Here are the highlights from across the two day event.

Conference Photos 11

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02 Out Contents and about with Members insight 12

A catch up with Paul Nadin from Discover Holidays As Managing Director of a company that specialises in providing holidays for disabled travellers, Paul Nadin runs a very successful business in Manchester. He is a valued Member of Worldchoice Plus and took over the business in 2010.

When Insight spoke to Paul he said that going forward his biggest focus would be on data management.

he liked it so much he says that it inspired the redesign of his site - DisabledHolidays.com, that is launching December.

“Monitoring and knowing more about our clients has really allowed us to understand our customers better, which has subsequently generated better conversion of bookings,” he said. “We have got much better at analysing our customer data and this has really helped us to grow our business over the last 12 months.”

With his massive passion for innovation, Paul is someone who is driven by his Christian faith.

When asked how he’d like to be remembered, Paul says, “I want to be known as someone who inspires others to find their true purpose and enjoy their journey.”

With data as a key tool for him he also believes that differentiation is also central to his success and admires what Virgin Holidays have done to their website and how they have integrated it across tablets and mobile. In fact

Kirkham Travel lights up the sky Kirkham Travel recently saw their name in lights after they took part in the Blackpool Illuminations initiative which saw theirs and other companies logos featured amongst a stunning display of lights.

Blackpool’s illuminations are world famous and run for 10 kilometres. They involve the lighting of over one million light bulbs and every year draw crowds from across the UK. Carol Kirkham of Kirkham Travel, based in Preston, said, “Kirkham Travel is part of the

Federation of Small Businesses and we were given the opportunity to participate in the scheme which would see our name in lights along Blackpool’s North Shore. It was a great marketing initiative as it gave us the opportunity to promote our brand to over 3 million visitors.”

Pictured: Local businesses in lights along Blackpool’s North Shore

“it gave us the opportunity to promote our brand to over 3 million visitors.”

Membership Update 13

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Membership Services Managers set to deliver highest standards With the Group’s restructure of its Membership Services function in July, Members are now seeing a newly appointed, passionate and invigorated team focused on delivering a world class level of service for our Members.

Lisa Henning, Group Membership Services Director (pictured below) and her 7-strong team are all based at The Travel Network Group’s HQ in Woking and all are tasked with putting Members at the very heart of the business.

“All of our Members now have their own dedicated Membership Services Manager assigned to them, and each is responsible for ensuring that their Members are getting everything and more from their membership with us,” said Lisa. “Whether that is benefitting from the right commercial deals, through to maximising all of the many products and services we offer, such as Supplier Failure Cover.” She said.

Since Lisa put in place her new team over 170 Member visits have been carried out with many more planned. “Seeing our Members face-toface on a regular basis will be a commitment made by each of the team, and regular phone calls will ensure that stronger relationships are developed and maintained. We will use our meetings to gather feedback which will improve all parts of our business,” she added.

Lisa and the Membership Services team are recording and analysing all requests and comments from Members on a daily basis to ensure focus is being given to the correct areas.

She said; “The entire business is now

accountable for ensuring that Members feedback is being analysed and this is what is driving change through the business. We have over 100 years of travel experience in the membership team, and we all feel really passionate about our roles in the newly structured department.”

“I am really proud of how quickly my team has responded to the new structure and direction we are taking with our Members.

We are even joining the Institute of Customer Service to guarantee that our contact with Members is held up to the highest standards.”

Concluded Lisa.

Meet your Membership Services Team

Lisa Henning

Nicky Deadman

Robert White

Tracy Smith

Group Membership Services Director

Membership Services Manager

Membership Services Manager

Business Development Manager

Catheryn Morrissey

Karen Oates

Crystal Hunter

Kai-Yin Knapp

Membership Services Manager

Head of Retail

Head of Membership Services

ITE Operations Manager

Any questions? Please contact us at membership@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk

02 Worldchoice Contents Member helps raise funds for Habitat for Humanity insight 14

Worldchoice Member helps build a home with Habitat for Humanity Trevor Ardies of Belfast’s Rosetta Travel recently travelled to Romania with the charity Habitat for Humanity to construct a home for a young adult making the journey towards independence from an orphanage.

Trevor said: “With the help of many in the travel trade including a donation form Worldchoice, a group of 15 of us from the travel trade travelled to Romania in September to help build a home for Andrea Fazekas, 21.”

Trevor explains: “This is part of a greater project to build 80 homes for young adults making the move from the orphanage to independent living.”

Compelled to take part in this because of a desire to give back, Trevor and the rest of the team managed to raise £30,000 for this project over nine months through a mixture of quiz nights, auctions, afternoon teas and car boot sales.

The team managed to build the house in 5 days, with Trevor commenting: “Nothing was pre-fabricated and even though we were all relatively unskilled we managed to build the structure with limited equipment – the most technical tool we had was a circular saw!”

To find out more how you and your colleagues can get involved contact Dianne Whyte, Habitat for Humanity Corporate Relations Manager on diannew@habitatni.co.uk

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E ES..

V SA DAT E TH

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02 December 2014 Hilton Hotel, Euston, London 09 December 2014 Hilton Hotel, Leeds

Members reserve your FREE place now by e-mailing membership@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk

Travel Trade Crusade 15

Who ya gonna call?

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Bridget Keevil and her team do Ghostbusters for this year’s 4 day Travel Trade Crusade charity event.

Worldchoice Member and last year’s Member of the Year, Bridget Keevil, her husband Paul and staff members from Travel Stop - Nancy Bagnall and Sonia Reece - set off on July 10th for this years Travel Trade Crusade.

Bridget and her team - dressed as ‘Ghostbusters’ - took the theme to the limit.

Bridget said: “Paul and I were the Ghostbusters,

The three-day driving and charity event around Europe started in the French city of Lille on July 11 and the cavalcade of cars then travelled through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland before heading back into France with a final night party at Disneyland Paris.

Seventeen teams, six countries and countless silly outfits - the charity rally was the UK travel industry at its craziest and big-hearted best.

complete with overalls, goggles, backpacks and super soaker guns. Sonia was Mr Marshmallow Man, and Nancy was Slimer. It was just about one of the most fun weekends of the year. Despite our Ghostbuster Truck having a few technical issues, we made all of the challenges - albeit some a little late! How fantastic is it to be able to spend a few days with friends from the travel industry raising money for good causes and not stopping laughing from start to finish.”

The Ghostbusters raised over £2,200 for the ‘Just a Drop’ charity, of which £500 was donated

by The Travel Network Group.

For an overview of the entire event visit Bridget’s Blog at: www.bridgetsblogtravelstop.blogspot.co.uk

Marketing Strategy continues to help grow Members businesses The Marketing team has continued to make great progress this year in pursuing its strategy of helping grow Members’ businesses.

The recently launched ‘Discover’ campaign has received a great response from Members and the take up of Members using the central marketing team as a resource is on the up.

Si Prentice Group Marketing Director, said: “During the year we have delivered over 4000 customers to Members businesses, and we are now working with over 300 Members across the UK. Our plan

for 2015 is all about working harder to make marketing efforts more relevant to Member’s local marketplace. Going forward we will be splitting the UK into 4 new territories: The North, The Midlands, The South East and the South West, and this will mean that through localising the products and sales messages, we will be helping Members become more relevant to their customers.”

Targeted Direct Mail example: new territories will enable relevant regional departure points along with personalised call to actions already in place.

Any questions? Please contact us at marketing@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk

02 Peter Contents Goord Travel insight 16

A Goord move to luxury Due to a changing market and growing customer demand, Worldchoice Member Peter Goord Travel has shifted their business from mainstream traditional package holidays to luxury and long-haul travel, and in doing so have seen an increase in business.

Anthony Goord, who owns and runs the successful Plymouth-based business said: “We started to see a fundamental change in our marketplace a few years ago when our customers started showing a growing interest in luxury holidays, and we saw this as a perfect opportunity to change strategy.”

Anthony added, “Customer service became our priority with our new focus on luxury. With the addition of the call centre staff in the shop we could offer a round the clock service to our customers, and this has really helped us to establish our business in this new market place which values specialism.”

strong results.

Slowly Anthony and his team started to shift their brand towards the luxury end of the holiday market, and now three years on Anthony says: “We now sell more holidays to The Maldives than Majorca.”

“Today our core sales are around-the-world cruises, honeymoons and long-haul holidays”

In closing he added, “Today our core sales are around-the-world cruises, honeymoons and long-haul holidays, and this means the business suffers less from seasonal fluctuations and instead maintains steady sales year round.”

Previously operating across both a call centre and their Plymouth store, Anthony made the decision to consolidate the operations under one roof and provide a seven-day-a-week service to its customers.

Anthony added that he is a big fan of Worldchoice TV saying, “National TV is a fantastic way to promote the Worldchoice brand, whilst Direct Mail is a great way to personalise the targeting of customers.”

The Worldchoice Member has also been engaging with The Travel Network Group’s marketing campaigns and Honeycomb, the Group’s dynamic packaging system and seeing

We’re delighted to have been awarded

Most Trade Friendly Business Partner 2014 at the recent TTNG Conference in Split!

Thank you for your continuous support and to everyone who voted for us From all the team at Travel 2.

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Honeycomb Update 17

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With the industry’s major move towards dynamic packaging over the past 10 years, The Travel Network Group certainly had foresight when it invested heavily in developing Honeycomb, its own in-house online search and booking engine that exclusively gives Members access to flights, cruise, accommodation, transfers and car hire.

After 3 years in development, Honeycomb went live on 30th April 2012 and has grown massively in the last two years with more than 450 Members now using the technology.

Gary Lewis, Group Managing Director of The Travel Network Group, said: “Honeycomb has been a huge success story for us, with many Members telling us that the system is now an integral part of their business. We are committed to ensuring that this platform continues to develop by constantly adding new product suppliers and making system enhancements, ensuring it’s an evolving technology that is meeting the needs of Members.”

“We knew that one of the main drivers for the success for Honeycomb would be giving Members access to a huge variety of product and today the system offers feeds from all of the industry’s major suppliers.” Added Martin Andrew, Group Commercial Director. “We recently announced an exciting partnership with Expedia which will give users access to a large number of valuable, quality hotels, and we believe this will drive incremental sales for our Members,” he said.

“We have also been given permission, through this partnership with Expedia, to use Trip Advisor ratings, which is a real privilege for us as Expedia is very selective in allowing external partners to use Trip Advisor ratings”

To support Members on Honeycomb, the Group announced extended hours to the Honeycomb support centre and a 24-hour emergency line. Lisa Henning, who as Group Membership Services Director also has responsibility for the back office of Honeycomb, said: “We have continued to make enhancements, such as an improved filter search and a package search function on Honeycomb, and they have all been well received by Members.”

Lisa says that since the new back office was introduced, bookings on Honeycomb have increased 148% with some of Honeycomb’s top Members achieving conversion of up to 30%. “The Members who are achieving 30% conversion rates are really using Honeycomb to its full potential and getting maximum commissions,” she said.

The Group continues to offer on-site training for Honeycomb and recently introduced a monthly incentive programme whereby Members get increased rewards from Business Partners when they book on the system.

“So far we have launched incentives from Flexible Car Hire and Travelcube,” added Martin Andrew. “We will be announcing new incentive partners every month, making it really rewarding for Members booking on Honeycomb.” New suppliers that have recently been added include: Jac Travel,

Sun Hotels, UTravel, Totalstay, Funway, somewhere2stay, Holiday Taxis and All of America / Asia. Villa product and ancillaries will also be coming online soon.

The benefits to Members include: Net fares from Business Partners Ability to simultaneously search multiple providers

Creation of a customer travel plan Live availability Ability to book a low cost carrier

flight without the need to hand over the client’s credit card or a company credit carda

No account set up required with Business Partners

Commission set by supplier and

changeable on an individual booking basis

ATOL coverage for all flight inclusive bookings

Supplier payment collection is via ACAS and TAPS

Free to use - all charges for ATOL are

included in the customer selling price

Booking support available from 9-9

for 6 days a week with the addition of an emergency line

HONEYCOMB NOW FEATURES OVER 30 BUSINESS PARTNERS : FLIGHTS:

CRUISE LINES:

ACCOMMODATION:

TRANSFERS: CAR HIRE: EUROSTAR

Gold Medal, Jetset, Majortravel, Easyjet & Jet2, Net fares via Travelport, Published Fares via Travelport, Monarch & Ryanair Complete Cruise Solutions, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Costa, MSC, Norwegian Cruise Line MedHotels, Travelcube, Innstant Travel, Transhotel, Getabed, Lowcostbeds, Bedsonline, All of America/Asia, Sun Hotels, Total Stay, You Travel, Funway, somewhere2stay, Expedia Affiliate Network & JAC Travel A2B Transfers & Holiday Taxis Flexible Car Hire Eurostar is also available in Honeycomb

If you are interested in using Honeycomb contact your Membership Services Manager or email membership@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk for more information.

The Silversea Difference •

Superlative service with a staff-to-guest ratio of nearly 1 to 1

•

All ocean-view suites – up to 95% with private veranda

•

Butler service for all ships and all suites

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Complimentary beverages served throughout ship

•

In-suite bar stocked with your preferred beverage selections

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All onboard gratuities

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Gourmet menus inspired by Relais & Châteaux

For more information or to book, please call 0844 770 9030 or visit silversea.com

Independent Travel Experts 19

ITE’s honeymoon specialist honeymoons in the South Pacific

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Congratulations are in order for ITE’s very own Honeymoon specialist, Sangeeta Sehmi, who got married on the 2nd August and travelled to Bora Bora and Las Vegas on her honeymoon.

Sangeeta explained, “A huge 580 people attended our wedding in West London after the initial ceremony in our local Sikh temple.

There were so many cameras and lights that it felt like a fairy tale wedding.”

“To relax after their big day the newly-wedded couple stayed in water bungalows at the InterContinental in Bora Bora, with Sangeeta explaining, “It was out of this world beautiful, with glass bottom floors to see underwater and stunning sunrises and sunsets every day.”

“We continued on to Vegas after Bora Bora and stayed at the futuristic Encore Resort at the Wynn hotel, with fl oor to ceiling windows across the city and remote-controlled curtains.”

Prime-shop-spot in super location Two entrepreneurial ITE workers, Nichola Collette-Yates and Wendy Veal, shrewdly embarked on a joint venture with their local Sainsbury’s to promote themselves and the ITE brand on the 6th December.

Nichola said: “We got a prime spot on a Saturday shopping day with the idea to promote ourselves within the south Manchester area.”

Sangeeta concluded: “I always recommend that my clients stop-over in America to break up the trip on the way home from Bora Bora because it’s a long journey, but it’s worth every minute.”

Travel insurance saved the day!

Being airlifted from Palma hospital back to Britain isn’t an experience that most people consider happening when booking their holiday. However, for ITE worker Lynsey Crutchley, this became an unfortunate reality when she fell ill on her family holiday to Majorca.

Lynsey, who has Multiple Sclerosis, had thought ahead by booking specialist travel insurance through the MS Society by AllClear, saying: “They were excellent. They paid for my husband and children to stay longer on the island with no extra cost whilst I received medical treatment, even paying for them to all travel back later with me, despite my husband having separate insurance.”

“The event brought some fantastic attention to the Independent Travel Experts brand with three enquiries obtained on the day which we both worked on.”

The total of the treatment received, including the medical flight back home, would have cost upwards of £20,000, with Lynsey explaining that, “We would have needed to re-mortgage our home if the service we received from the travel insurance wasn’t so fantastic.”

Nichola concluded: “It was a fantastic opportunity to interact with the public and we received lots of interest.”

However, Lynsey has now returned to good health and the overall experience was encouraging, with Lynsey commenting, “This means that, more than ever, I urge my customers to book good travel insurance for their holidays.”

60 Seconds with Bhav Taylor 20

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with Bhav Taylor from After a long spell at Thomas Cook, Bhav Taylor joined Celebrity Cruises last December in a newly created position of “Strategic Account Manager - Consortia”. In this position Bhav’s role is to work with The Travel Network Group and its Membership to increase sales with Celebrity Cruises.

Working closely with the Marketing and Commercial teams at The Travel Network Group, Bhav has developed a working plan to drive enquires and help Members convert sales quickly. This involves working across various marketing media, including: e-shots, window material, decals, targeted Direct Marketing, lifestyle magazines and much more.

Speaking about her role, Bhav says:

Bhav started her career in Travel at DER and then moved to Time Off , a major city break specialist at the time. She then spent 16 years with the Thomas Cook Group, starting with Thomas Cook Signature and latterly the charter division. In all roles with Thomas Cook she was responsible for managing key independent partners.

Her role with Celebrity Cruises is a national role and she is working hard to reach as many Members as possible through visits and focus groups and share all the exciting news that Celebrity has and, as importantly, to listen to how they can better support Members.

Bhav continued; “What’s been really exciting at Celebrity Cruises are the tools we have available to help the Members learn to sell Celebrity Cruises really effectively. ‘Cruising for Excellence’ is our online training module and it takes around 8 hours in total for an agent to work through the programme.”

Bhav believes that if agents spent

one hour a week for 2 months using the module, there would be 100’s of Celebrity Captains within The Travel Network Group – and, any agent that is a Celebrity Captain, gets first refusal on any ship visits that they are running!

Celebrity Cruises is running a number of engaging webinars to keep their partners up to speed on developments, campaigns and key messages. For those Members that like to do lots of local marketing they have a fabulous agent toolkit that gives you access to various assets including logos, images, copy and videos to really bring their product to life. Onboard sales are a big focus for them too, and they will be working closely with us as a Group to ensure Members have the right information to convert any sales that we take onboard.

There is a lot going on with creative campaigns every month, staff incentives and commercial benefits.

Bhav concluded: “My impressions are that a select group of Members across The Travel Network Group are strong supporters

“This is a really exciting opportunity for me. I really enjoy working with the independent travel sector and my role demonstrates Celebrity’s commitment to the independent sector. As a business we are extremely trade focused and being a preferred business partner for The Travel Network Group brings a whole wealth of opportunities for both parties.”

of Celebrity Cruises and are strong at upselling as they understand the brand and the benefits of upgrading. My challenge is to grow the number of Members that sell Celebrity Cruises. If we have 100 new members that sell just 1 Celebrity Cruise a week that would make a vast difference!

With all the tools we have in place, I am confident we can do this together!”

If you are interested in growing your business please contact btaylor@celebritycruises.com