INSIGHT AUTUMN/WINTER 2012

AUTUMN/WINTER 2012

Shaping your future Conference 2013 17-19 May We take a look at the latest plans for next year’s conference in Lake Bled, Slovenia. Along with a Honeycomb update and the benefits of social media.

Corporate Travel

Solutions

The Travel Network Group - Championing the Independent Travel Market

Contents insight 02 Welcome

Contents 05

08

12

02-03

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Welcome from Gary Lewis

04

Flying high in the travel industry!

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Social Media

06-07

Membership Page

08-09

Shaping Your Future Conference 2013

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How to...make PR work for you

11

Brunlea Travel/ Worldchoice Plus

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Make cruise your speciality

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Maintaining a database/ Trekking to raise money

14-15 16

Honeycomb Update 60 seconds with Alan “Travelboy” Hughes

Editorial input was provided by Alexis ColesBarrasso and Laura Greaves. Many thanks to all the members that helped with the magazine.

We would like to hear from you if you have any interesting content for the next magazine. Get in touch with Marketing on: marketing@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk.

The last few months has continued to be a busy time for us at The Travel Network Group. The development of Honeycomb continues to be a key priority and currently we are averaging approximately 100 travel plans booked per month, which translates into around 300 different elements being booked through the system each month. The next release will feature a car hire element from Holiday Autos, making Honeycomb a comprehensive solution to the Flight Plus regulations. To date we have held a number of successful training seminars in Manchester, Belfast, Norfolk and Lancaster and will continue to do more going forward. In this issue of Insight we have provided you with a full update – see pages 14 and 15.

Our conference, planned for Lake Bled next year, has also been at the top of our agenda. We have already had a really good number of members confirming their attendance and the conference programme is really beginning to take shape.

We are very excited to have our very own conference charter flight now confirmed with Slovenia’s national carrier ADRIA, and this will only serve to make the event even more special and memorable. We have covered our plans on pages 8 and 9 to further whet your appetite. So if you haven’t booked your place by now, we urge you to do so by contacting: membership@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk.

Other priorities in the last few months have been around embedding the new ATOL regulations and helping members prepare and understand the final part of the legislation, the ATOL certificate.

Despite the difficulty of dealing with so many business partners we were the first consortia to have all the agreements on line and judging from the feedback from members, you are pleased with the way we have managed the processes to help you understand and comply with the changes in legislation. There was a great deal of debate at the recent ABTA Convention in Turkey about what the new European Directive will mean for the UK travel industry. Further changes to the way we do business are coming down the line from Brussels

Bringing you all the latest news for:

Welcome from Gary Lewis

Other priorities in the last few months have been around embedding the new ATOL regulations and helping members prepare and understand the final part of the legislation, the ATOL certificate.

and these are sure to continue to challenge us. However, as a Group we will monitor this closely and make sure you are fully updated on any proposed changes.

The ABTA Convention in itself has seen a great deal of change of late. Whereas the entire conference used to be attended by agents, these days it is quite the opposite with very few agents and the vast majority of the delegates being made up of tour operators and the trade at large. The two Economists who spoke at the main plenary sessions spoke of ‘cautious optimism’ for 2013, with the markets beginning to report some signs of recovery. A rise in the number of people buying cars, and an upsurge in house sales, are good indicators of consumers tiring of recession and this can only be a good sign for our industry.

At the convention we took the opportunity to announce that we would be moving all of our managed-services agents, that trade under the Worldchoice Plus brand, over to TTA membership in order for them to offer 100% financial protection and make use of the 100% financial protection badge (see page 11). These members have each been individually consulted and are totally supportive of this initiative as it offers clarity to consumers and an opportunity to differentiate themselves in their local marketplace. Since the Worldchoice and TTA merger, members have been requesting a non-ABTA model and we have created this scheme in response to this feedback.

You will have read in the trade press recently that our Group, together with Advantage

Travel centres, joined forces in lobbying the big cruise companies in their announcements of further commission cuts to the trade.

Apologies if you didn’t hear of our actions through our internal communications, but we had to respond quickly. We are in discussions with both organisations and will update you when our negotiations have been concluded.

I hope this issue of Insight finds you and your teams well!

With best regards Gary Lewis

Group Managing Director

Corporate Travel

Solutions

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02 Contents Flying high insight 04

TTA member, Martin Johnson from Latin Routes has been named as one of the top travel leaders under the age of 30. Travel Trade Gazette searched the country for high flying talent in the travel industry and chose Martin as one of the finalists.

Pictured: Martin from Latin Routes courtesy of TTG

Martin set up Latin Routes with his Business Partner, Jessica Bain earlier this year. Insight interviewed Martin to find out how he has set up his business, which has made him one of the top leaders in travel under 30.

How was Latin Routes created?

I have always had a passion for travel and I have had a number of jobs in the travel industry. I have travelled to Latin America as part of a gap year and Jess had also travelled throughout Latin America. At the time, it felt like a very underrepresented part of the world and it was always a struggle when people came in to find a suitable and well-priced holiday to match people’s requirements.

Prices were always very expensive and product choice was quite limited which was a shame when it is such an amazing part of the world to explore.

It was over a conversation one day, that we discussed wanting to start our own business and the research into how to go about it, started from there. After 2 years of research, planning and finding the finances Latin Routes was launched in March this year.

What made you want to specialise in Argentina?

We decided to specialise in Argentina as it is a country that we both love and it has so much to see and do. We wanted to set up as a tailormade holiday specialist so people could select where they wanted to go and we could create it for them. However, we also wanted to work with people from a range of budgets so our product ranges from simple and comfortable guest houses up to some of the finest 5* hotels in the world.

We also spent a long time developing our website. We have a great feature that lays out all the places you can visit in Argentina on a unique and interactive map, people can come along and learn all about the different areas and

Pictured: The final 30 top travel leaders under 30 Courtesy of TTG

begin creating their own holiday.

They can then submit their plans to us and we put it together for them, it is something that we feel makes us stand out and has been a great tool for us since our launch.

We also offer Antarctic Cruises as well as they leave from Ushuaia in Argentina. It complements our product really well and we love selling it as much as Argentina.

The best is when people combine the two!

Being selected to be one of the top travel leaders under 30 is a great achievement, why do you think you were selected?

There is a real mix amongst the final 30, including other people who have started their own travel businesses, fortunately in very different areas! There are also people from large companies who have done very well for themselves. Everyone has definitely contributed above and beyond and I think I was selected for going out there and starting a business from scratch, which is developing into a really good

success. I think it takes guts to go out and do it for yourself, especially in the current climate and I think they recognised that.

What are your goals for Latin Routes?

We want to continue to establish ourselves and keep increasing our bookings over the next few months. We have been working hard developing and refining the products we offer and will continue to do so, as well as continue to find ways to enhance our website. We are shortly going to introduce Chile into the programme too. Chile and Argentina work really well together, particularly when you head south to the Lake District and Patagonia regions so it’s a natural expansion for us.

In the long run we will look to expand into other areas of South America, with all the attention on Brazil for the World Cup in 2014 and Olympics in 2016, that would seem to be a natural place for us to expand to, but only when the time is right.

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Do you “like” Social Media?

Are you a Facebook friend?

Do you prefer to tweet? Or perhaps you ignore social media altogether?

Does Social Media work for you?

Social Media and The Travel Network Group

You can’t afford to ignore social media and although it is ‘free’, there is a cost of your time involved in blogging, tweeting and keeping the content up to date, so you need to manage this as part of your overall marketing strategy.

Here at The Travel Network Group we’ve debated the best way to use social media – what do we want to achieve from it? Can it help us improve communication with members? Could it invite negative comments in a very public arena?

There is no guaranteed formula of what will work with social media but the key is making your posts and tweets genuine and relevant in order to engage your audience.

We have had feedback from members who have had success blogging from fam trips or their own holidays – telling their customers about what they have been experiencing.

Whilst it doesn’t guarantee a booking, it helps keep your customer engaged and as your customers like your page, so their like-minded friends may choose to find out more…and so your reach grows.

We’ve been looking at how we resource and use social media to best effect and have launched The Travel Network Group Facebook page and Twitter account as part of our social media plan. The objective is to raise awareness of The Travel Network Group and its brands in the travel trade, and of course you as members are also more than welcome to follow and ‘like’ us!

Placing offers can work but they need to be mixed up with information and genuine interaction otherwise customers switch off, thinking all you want to do is sell to them (which of course ultimately you do) but it is at the end of the day social media, not sales media!

To keep up to date with the latest news from The Travel Network Group ‘like’ our Facebook page – www.facebook.com/thetravelnetworkgroup and follow us on Twitter – www.twitter.com/TheTNG. For members we have looked at ‘Yammer’, a facebook style product where Worldchoice, TTA and ITE members could have their own pages to discuss and debate issues. We could

Turn to page 6 where Laura from ITE shows how social media works for her and also Alan talks about how he engages with his customers in the 60 second interview.

communicate offers, advise changes that members need to be aware of and ask for opinions on specific issues. We were thinking that all staff could be part of this but we’re considering whether this is the right solution for you? Please let us know what you think!

For feedback about Yammer, if you have any other success or nightmare stories that you would like to share or would simply like some advice, please contact us at: marketing@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk

02 Membership Contents insight 06

Using Social Media to raise profile #greatresults Laura Featonby

Following redundancy from a well known High Street Brand, Laura Featonby has taken the route of homeworking with Independent Travel Experts (ITE) as her next career move.

As a busy mum of two young girls, this was as much a lifestyle choice as a desire to have her own business. Laura has made Facebook and Twitter the backbone of her marketing strategy to great effect.

Laura says: “Before joining ITE, I used my Facebook account to keep up with my

“Embracing social media has made a massive difference to my business and I recommend that everyone builds this into their own marketing strategy.”

friends for purely social reasons. Now, I have a much deeper understanding of the importance of social media in business and have made this a key element of my marketing strategy. But this has to be built into my day, like any advertising plan, you must remain consistent.”

For Laura, social media has truly paid off but this is part of her wider strategy that will see her networking locally, using advertising and PR to increase her local profile further and build her brand within Independent Travel Experts.

Laura added; “Embracing social media has made a massive difference to my business and everyone should be building this into their own strategies.”

and still going strong!

Congratulations to Pinnacle Worldwide, based in Northern Ireland. They are celebrating 25 years in business!

We want to hear your story!

Do you want to be a part of the next issue? If you have an interesting story to tell then let us know. It can be anything from tips on business to an achievement.

Get in touch with the marketing team, marketing@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk

Conor Magee, Managing Partner at Pinnacle Worldwide, believes their success is down to the high level of service they offer: “Our clients come back to us time and time again because they value and trust our first-hand product knowledge as well as our skills in designing really exciting itineraries to their specification”.

Looking ahead, Mr Magee said he hopes Pinnacle will continue to grow, especially with the launch of their revamped website, which will give their clients more choice.

Pictured: The Pinnacle Worldwide team celebrating 25 years

Membership 07

Worldchoice welcomes

new members

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ITE celebrating one year in business

In recent weeks, Worldchoice has welcomed two new members into its portfolio: Ascot Travel House and Concierge Travel.

Pictured: Amanda and Paula celebrate their 1st year

Ascot Travel House, which has been trading in Ascot for more than 20 years, specialises in the USA & Canada, whilst offering a full range of destinations.

Simon Everett, UK Manager, Ascot Travel, said: “Without question we were attracted to Worldchoice because of the ATOL solutions on offer. Not only that but also the depth of product available and also the Group’s ambition for the future.”

Peterborough-based White Concierge has also joined from another consortia.

Helen Burgess, Membership Director of The Travel Network Group, has said that they have seen a surge in membership enquiries at Worldchoice since the new ATOL regulations were enforced. “We have developed a real competency in providing our members with solid solutions for the new ATOL legislation, and this has led to a record number of membership enquiries,” said Mrs Burgess.

It’s hard to believe that it has been over a year since we launched our Independent Travel Experts (ITE) membership model at the Strength and Vision conference. ITE has had a very successful year and have recruited enthusiastic homeworkers that have a proactive approach to travel. To celebrate their one year anniversary they hosted homeworker dinners in Manchester and London.

Going forward ITE is now working to double the number of homeworkers and to continue to develop the business bringing in new initiatives in marketing and in commercial terms to support their homeworkers.

Ready, Steady... bake the winning dessert!

Travel Agents from all over the country were invited to take part in the Celebrity Cruises Masterchef Competition 2012.

TTA member, Carol Kirkham from Kirkham Travel won the competition by entering her themed recipe of Celebrity Chocolate and Pear Temptation – a chocolate and pear cheesecake served with a cardamom poached pear with a Belgian chocolate sauce.

Pictured: Gill from RCCL got treated to the “award” winning dessert

Pictured: Carol on deck with her prize.

After receiving over 3,700 votes Carol was successful in getting through to the final live cook-off which took place in Southampton on the Celebrity Eclipse.

Carol had to cook her dish in the ship’s galley and competed against two other contestants. Gill Roslyn, who is Carol’s Key Account Manager from RCCL said: “I am so pleased Carol won! Her recipe was delicious. I even got treated to the dish when I paid a visit to Carol’s agency. Carol’s dessert was definitely better than my attempt!”

(left to right) Anthony Wilson – Celebrity Cruises Executive Chef, Winner Carol Kirkham – Kirkham Travel, Michael English – Head of Sales UK and Ireland Celebrity Cruises, Fay Thompson – last year’s winner

Not only did Carol impress the judges, but she also won a Celebrity cruise holiday which Carol is going on next year for a well deserved break.

Back Row (left to right) Karen Dawe, Fiona Rafferty, Carol Kirkham – Kirkham Travel (winner), Front row (left to right) – the judges, Anthony Wilson – Celebrity Cruises Executive Chef Fay Thompson – last year’s winner Michael English – Head of Sales UK and Ireland Celebrity Cruises

Pictured: The finalists with the judges.

02 Conference Contents insight 08

Book your conference place now!

Places are going fast, so don’t forget to book to make the most of the conference. We have a limited number of Lake View rooms available. To secure your place, simply email: membership@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk Delegate Rates: For 17th & 18th May £40/night single; £80/night double.

Additional nights can be booked at £80/night single; £160/night double.

Flights: we have secured a charter flight with Adria, the Slovenian national carrier, from Stansted to Ljubljana on Friday 17th May, returning Sunday 19th May. This flight can be booked at £170 (PLUS taxes), a 50% deposit is required.

Headline Sponsors The Travel Network Group is proud to have the following Business Partners headlining, you can meet and network with these key suppliers at the conference:

holidays

Event Sponsors C:1 M:19 Y:100 K:0 R:255 G:204 B:0 Hex: #FFCC00

C:85 M:48 Y:35 K:10 R:41 G:108 B:132 Hex: #296C84

C:65 M:57 Y:56 K:34 R:81 G:81 B:81 Hex: #515151

C:22 M:100 Y:54 K:7 R:185 G:30 B:83 Hex: #B91E53

Business Partner Forum: A2BTransfers, All Leisure Group (formerly Page & Moy), All of America, APT Touring, Atlantic Holidays, Attraction World, Balkan Holidays, Bedsonline, Bedswithease, Cox & Kings, Destinations of the World, Explore Worldwide, Fred Olsen, Funway, Getabed, Great Rail Journeys, Holiday Autos, Hurtigruten, Insight, JTA Travel Group, Keycamp, Kirker, Leger, Mark Warner, Medhotels/Flexible Trips, MSC Cruises, North America Travel Service, On Holiday Group, Regent Seven Seas, RCCL – Azamara, The Holiday Team, MedHotels & TrustTrips, Thomas Cook (Tour Ops), Totalstay, Travelcube, USAirtours, Viking River Cruise, Wendy Wu, Western & Oriental, YouHotels.

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SHAPING YOUR Conference 2013 17-19 May

Lake Bled Lake Bled’s natural beauty truly offers a unique setting for you to enjoy and discover a destination that offers something for everyone; whether your customers are looking for adventure or a place to relax in the spas.

www.slovenia.info

Suitable for all seasons In winter, there are lots of winter sports centres catering for skiers and spas for those who want a more relaxing break. In summer, Slovenia is popular for water sports on rivers and lakes. There are also opportunities to enjoy horseriding trails, paragliding and ballooning.

For golf lovers there are 10 golf courses set in a variety of different landscapes. And, for the romantics, weddings can be hosted in the famous church in the centre of Lake Bled, shown in the picture below.

Programme of Events The conference will give you an opportunity to meet with other travel professionals, listen to keynote speakers and also the chance to meet with Business Partners on a one to one basis. Here is just a taster of what you can expect from the conference, more details will be confirmed over time.

Friday 17th May

Saturday 18th May

Sunday 19th May

PM Delegates receive a local welcome to Lake Bled Welcome reception and party at Park Hotel

AM Meet the sponsors

Opening Plenary

Business Partner Forum Lunch PM Breakout sessions inc.

TTA tour ops workshop

Business Partner Forum

Gala Dinner and awards

The Big 20 Event

AM Guest Speaker Workshops

Closing remarks

Tour of Lake Bled

M Social Media Let’s get talking about the conference, follow us on Twitter @theTNG. For conference news use #lakebled13

02 How Contents to... insight 10

How to…

make PR work for you

In these challenging times when advertising budgets are tight, one of the best and most effective ways of marketing your business is through the use of local Public Relations (PR).

PR means getting stories written or broadcast about your business in the local press, business media, trade publications, radio, television and other media outlets depending on the audience you want to reach. PR is an information message about your company.

The public can be cynical. They have lots of advertising messages directed to them on a daily basis. But, when people read media articles, hear or see something about your company in the press, they tend to take them more seriously than they do advertisements, especially, if you get a third party – a customer or expert of some kind – to comment positively in an article about your company. That lends you enormous credibility because it is not coming from you.

Getting coverage in your local papers can cost you nothing; you simply need to build relationships with local journalists.

Given that we operate in such a dynamic and colourful industry, there are lots of great stories that you can provide to your local paper: the latest popular destinations; new brochure launches; new resorts available; special deals, etc. Not only this, but people love to read about travel.

One of the key ways to develop a relationship is to increase your value to the local journalist. Gaining a reputation for understanding them and how they work, will pay dividends in the long-term.

The best way to communicate with a journalist is via email. So call your local paper/radio station and find out who the contact is that covers travel. Get their details, and if you can, speak to them and introduce yourself and your business.

Top Tips • Take some time to learn to write a press release.

• A picture tells a thousand words – so try and send a good photograph with the story.

• Don’t always trust email. Always make sure the newspaper has received the email.

Once you have sent the story, give the journalist a quick call to make sure they have received it.

• Be quick. Don’t waffle. Don’t pretend the reporter is your best friend and inquire about his/her health/holiday. Get to the point and get off the phone. They’ll thank you for it.

• Always say thank you. Journalists don’t get a lot of thanks or feedback. A quick note or phone call doesn’t take a minute and it will give them a nice warm feeling at no extra cost.

If you would like further help with your PR activities, email Alexis Coles-Barrasso, The Travel Network Group’s PR & Communications contact at alexis.coles-barrasso@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk

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Ending your career on a high!

Being in the travel industry for over 20 years means you get to meet a range of customers with different holiday requirements. Clare Fitzpatrick from Brunlea Travel ended her career on a high with a staggering £85,000 booking for a family of four to go on a Prestige Holidays trip.

Clare’s last day in the travel industry was on Friday October 26 and said it was one of the biggest bookings she had ever made. Clare decided to leave the travel industry in order to work in a school which her two sons attend.

She said she had a “fantastic team” at Brunlea Travel, adding that she was very sad to leave.

Pictured: Clare celebrating her booking

Clare Fitzpatrick from Brunlea Travel ended her career on a high with a staggering £85,000 booking for a family of four to go on a Prestige Holidays trip.

Worldchoice Plus opts for 100% Financial Protection

Gary Lewis told Insight: “Members have been individually consulted and are supportive of this initiative as it offers clarity to consumers and an opportunity to differentiate themselves in their local marketplace.

In October the Group announced that it will be moving The agents will remain part of Worldchoice with their financial security to customers all of its managed-services agents that trade under the provided via an individual trust account Worldchoice Plus brand over to TTA membership in order trade with operators via a TTA number.

Worldchoiceand100% Financial Protectio They will also be able to apply for an ATOL for them to offer 100% financial protection and make use ##### license under the TTA franchise scheme of the 100% financial protection badge. with the CAA or use the solutions provided to members under the Group’s own ATOL.”

#####

Worldchoice Blue Logo c100 m0 y10 k9 Pantone 313

“Worldchoice agents have been requesting a non-ABTA model since the merger with TTA, and we have created this scheme in response to their feedback.” he added. ##### If you think you might be interested in taking advantage of this revised Worldchoice Plus model, please speak to Black Logo your membership team (Worldchoice) or your account manager (TTA). #####

White R

##### “Members have been individually consulted and are supportive of ##### = Place holder for your unique membership number this initiative...”

c1

02 Cruise Contents Specialists insight 12

Make cruise your speciality

by Stephen Joyner, Cruise Club Manager

We all know it has been another very challenging year for our industry, but recent figures reveal that almost two million more people around the world took a cruise holiday last year than in 2010 – an increase of 10%! According to official figures the number of Ocean Cruisers topped 20m for the first time. This proves that Cruising continues to be a growing market and a great market to be in!

Pictured: Members of the Cruise Specialists at the ACE Conference with Stephen Joyner

“Being a member gave us automatic membership to ACE, we had been paying for this already, but not using it to its full potential and now we complete the training modules to increase our knowledge.” Cruise Specialists Member, Tracey Strand from HPB

Across The Travel Network Group in 2012, the cruise sector continues to be very important. Over the last 12 months we have seen a rise in interest for exploration cruises, with itineraries that include everything from the Northern Lights to seeing the Gentoo penguins in Antarctica.

River cruises have also seen an increase in sales with the strong favourites being the Danube and Rhine. Looking at next year the Duro and Elbe looks like they are going to give the old favourites a run for their money as customers get more adventurous.

So what’s in store for 2013? Well we all know it’s going to be another tough year. However, early bookings for cruises in 2013 are encouraging – we just need to keep momentum going and maximise the most from the cruise lines sales and incentives. If you are not a cruise specialist already, you may like to consider becoming one.

The benefits are detailed below:

Take advantage of the benefits of being a Cruise Specialist • Automatic sign up to ACE membership • Additional Cruise Marketing – Mini Cruise Brochures, Digital Cruise Brochures, Personalised email offer templates, window banners etc

• Networking Events – exclusive cruise workshop and events to build new relationships with cruise lines and increase product knowledge

• Information – regular updates on trading focus, industry developments and special offers, ship visits • Dedicated support of a Cruise Manager

• Ad hoc uplift bonus commissions, staff incentives

If you would like to know more about the cruise market or you are interested in becoming a Cruise Specialist, please contact me on stephen.joyner@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk or call 01733 390900, option 3.

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Keeping ahead of thegame Keeping ahead of the game is always a challenge; the key to success is to be proactive.

Tim from Barton Knott Travel identified there was a need to keep his current records up to date to allow his Travel Agency to effectively market to existing customers. Tim said: “Like most Travel Agents, we receive a whole raft of (sometimes) tempting travel offers but we had no efficient way of communicating to our customers. Many of these offers have a limited shelf life so rapid response was key. Email was the platform to allow us to be able to do this but we had to first get our customer’s email addresses and to do that, we had to be offering something in return”.

Being a Worldchoice member, Tim receives marketing material and took advantage of the prize draw forms to collect email addresses as well as a chance for one of his customers to win a prize. The form is specifically designed to get relevant information from each customer to help build a database. Tim requested the artwork from the Marketing Team and got 2,700 printed at his local printers.

And to top it all off Barton-Knott Travel have received bookings directly from sending out the form. After all forms were sent back, Tim sent his competition forms to the Worldchoice Head Office where his forms were entered in to the prize draw.

A few days later, Tim got a call from Worldchoice to congratulate him on one of his customers being the lucky winner of the £1000 holiday voucher.

Maintaining a database takes a lot of time to get right, however, the results are well worth the time and money invested. Keeping your database up to date will allow you to send out targeted marketing to the right customer – which increases your chances of getting a booking.

Pictured: Tim with lucky winner Miss Margaret Saunders

What were the results?

On average you are lucky to get a 1-2% response rate from direct marketing activities. Tim’s results are impressive to say the least: Total mailers sent out= 2700 Total received back= 450 (250 new email addresses) Total response rate= 18%

Trekking away to raise money Mark Kempster of CTT Group and a team of intrepid agents recently achieved their goal of trekking to Machu Picchu and in the process raised over £17,000 for Charity.

The trip was divided into two. Three nights and four days on the Weavers Trail and three nights and four days on the Inca Trail.

Mark told Insight: “The first part on the Weavers Trail was a physically more challenging experience and the weather was not that great with plenty of rain. By contrast, the second half of the trip on the Inca Trail the weather was better, which made the trekking easier.”

insight 14 Honeycomb

bringing you the best solution for your business Honeycomb continues to grow and develop, with new features and benefits being added regularly. We are committed to delivering a DP system that will bring all our members closer to our suppliers, providing ATOL solutions and enabling members to maximise profits.

Honeycomb is an on-line search and booking engine that enables members to access a wide range of products, including: flights, cruise, accommodation and transfers. You can sell items individually or combine them together as a package under our ATOL license.

There are many benefits you can get by using Honeycomb. One of the main benefits is getting ATOL protection on all flights and flight inclusive bookings.

The current release of Honeycomb is a basic system. It will be competitive on price where we have net rates. We are currently working on including more feeds from Business Partners to increase the variety of product available.

We still have work to do on usability and implementing new feeds, particularly car hire, but our priority has been to get a functioning solution out in time to enable members to comply with the new ATOL regulations.

To find out more contact: admin@honeycombholidays.co.uk

New to Honeycomb Over the past few months, we have been working on:

Top 3 reasons to use Honeycomb • You can DP – using TTAFS Atol 10300 – all bookings are Gold Plated and are cheaper than ATOL Angel.

• You have flexibility – it’s up to you how much more commission to add.

You can also decide whether to add an administration fee or a discount! Giving you the ultimate flexibility to increase your earning or secure sales.

• You can search multiple suppliers at once – for example it’s the easiest place to search for 10 cruise suppliers.

Honeycomb Suppliers Flights

• News feeds – Holiday Autos car hire feed and Med Hotels transfers.

Jetset, Major Travel, Monarch, Gold Medal, Travelport – Lowcost (BMI, Easyjet & Jet2) Travelport – Net, Travelport – Published

• Usability features changing the transfer search process.

CRUISE

• Adding the price breakdown – you can see your commission when the results are returned.

• Adding a refresh button to the products in the travel plan – this means you don’t have to search for the product again to get the up-to-date price.

CCS, Costa, MSC, NCL, RCCL

Accommodation MedHotels, Travelcube, Innstant Travel

TRANSFERS A2B Transfers

“We have found Honeycomb to be user friendly and has enabled us to quote and book dynamic packages for our customers quickly with ease and professionalism.” Adrian Cumpstey, Upton Travel – Worldchoice

Honeycomb

Other benefits include: User Tips Here are some handy tips on getting the Live availability and net fares. most out of Honeycomb: • Pay Honeycomb for low cost carrier flights, eliminating the need to hand over the client’s credit card or your own company card to the airline.

• Pay via ACAS (Worldchoice) or TAPS (TTA).

• Free to use – we are committed to not charging a booking fee or ticketing fee for the first 3 months, but we do charge a failure insurance fee of £8.36 per passenger. This includes APC, Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance and Travel Disruption Insurance.

• You can save and then recall any previous quotes made for customers.

• Change your password – the passwords we supply you with are computer generated and are not the most memorable!

• Select what you need – when searching for flights tick or un-tick the ‘direct flights’ check box to limit/expand the search results.

• Use the flexible dates feature – customers can become more flexible when they see the price differences.

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Testimonials: It is an excellent reservation tool which enables me to make the most of the margins available – even increasing them very easily if I think the market will bear them.

Peter Weller, Wallace Arnold Worldchoice ‘I like the way you can create and store different itineraries, and the way you can easily see how much commission you will earn on each different element. I think it’s a great system and an important tool for my business!’

Claire Body, Independent Travel Experts

• Search using a city code – rather than a specific airport to increase the search results i.e. searching for flights from LON instead of LGW will return flights departing from all London airports.

How to sign up…

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60 seconds with... 16

insight

with Alan “Travelboy” Hughes Setting up your own business can be very rewarding, and Alan “Travelboy” Hughes is the perfect example. After setting up his home working business with ITE, Alan has been nominated for numerous awards by visiting clients in their homes, offices or a venue of their choice.

How long have you worked in travel?

I have been in travel for 12 years, working in High Street agents and now I am an ITE member, where I work as a mobile Independent Travel Expert.

Describe a typical day as an ITE member There is no typical day being an ITE member, every day is different, which adds variety to the week. I wake up and check to see whether I have any emails, messages or offers. Then I update my Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I have created an online character called “Travelboy” which is now incorporated in to my everyday work.

A big part of what I do is to offer a home/ office visit service, this way I get to know my clients better. It is more convenient for my clients if I go to see them and allows me to offer a much more personal service. I visit a variety of businesses such as Beauty Salons and Hairdressers. After my visits I chase any enquiries and check in with my Admin Department for update on tickets and travel arrangements.

Do you use social media?

Being a homeworker, I take advantage of online marketing, especially social media. My online character allows me to engage with my current client base and also gets the attention of other potential clients. I regularly update both Facebook and Twitter with offers and quirky posts to increase engagement on both sites. I get a lot of my clients sharing my posts with their friends, which often lead to group bookings.

On Facebook I do many posts, it is important to keep the content fresh. One of the most successful posts is my A-Z destinations where I post three different offers. (I even get people in the street shouting out destinations they think of beginning with that letter!)

It’s also important for me to showcase the variety of travel arrangements I can book, for example, I had a great offer on some theatre tickets to see Wicked, I posted the offer on a Wednesday and named it “Wicked Wednesday”.

Networking plays a large part in what I do, I am pleased to be the “Welcome drink” partner for the Free2Network Business Awards. Other plans in place include a funday with a local zoo to promote safari/animal holidays, which I’m really looking forward to.

Twitter has given me lots of opportunities to promote what I do to a large amount of people. I regualry use the hashtag to get noticed and also retweets. Recently, a Radio 1 presenter tweeted about stag do ideas, I replied with a suggestion and he retweeted my post to a fanbase of over 100,000 followers.

Pictured: Alan at one of his events he sponsors

What other marketing activities do you do?

I also use the marketing provided by The Travel Network Group, along with my own marketing material. I distribute the marketing material to local businesses to get my name out there as much as I can. These are all effective as they are constantly in the public eye. The recent Explore campaign leaflets and posters have been great to use in local businesses. I have recently just done an incentive with a fitness camp where the overall winner of the fitness camp won a £600 holiday voucher to spend with myself, plus spending money!

Pictured: Promoting ITE in local businesses

We are always looking for members’ stories... if you would like to feature in our 60 seconds please email the Marketing Team: marketing@thetravelnetworkgroup.co.uk