ELEGANT Hotels Group UK office has appointed a new member of staff to concentrate on training as part of its plans to increase business through the trade.
Clare Hickie, formerly a Kuoni travel rep, has been appointed to the position of product training executive and will focus on approximately 50 tour companies and several multiple agencies and niche agencies; Elegant is aiming to build a more active information and support system.
Sales and marketing director Ann Adenius said:”It’s about giving the maximum support to the travel trade, to give them some confidence and excitement in selling our product.”
Hickie will be travelling the UK offering training and product presentations both during and after office hours. In two months’ time, product training manuals will be distributed offering information and regular updates. Educational roadshows, incentive schemes and familiarisation trips are also planned.
The new sales programme is the cornerstone in a recent refocusing effort by the London-based office which saw new directors and new sales and marketing appointments.
According to Adenius, UK demand for upmarket, boutique-style hotels in the Caribbean is stable and makes up the majority of Elegant’s business, accounting for 75%-80% of the group’s revenue. Latest efforts aim to maintain and increase that business and to increase the European and US market in the future.
“We have a good market share but we could do better,” she said.
TABLE: On course: Elegant aims to encourage the trade to sell its product, which include the Colony Club and Tamarind Cove on Barbados