Traveltek is looking to build its base of small agents with its white label iCruise technology.
The system is on offer for £75 per month for an introductory six week period and allows agents to have bookability for cruise, flights, hotels and transfers all in one transaction.
The iCruise product is Traveltek’s first foray into off-the-shelf cruise systems, and is being used by 10 clients following its launch last month.
Frank Docherty, Traveltek director of sales, said: “The key thing is it has live pricing direct from the reservation systems of the cruise lines.”
Traveltek’s system offers direct API connections to the main cruise lines and allows agents to choose which cruise lines they want to show.
Leading cruise travel agents Gill’s Cruise, Low Cost Travel Group and Cruise 1st use the Traveltek system, as well as a number of smaller cruise clubs.
Docherty said it was the cruise clubs that are seeing higher levels of cruise bookings because they have savvy customers and are adept at targeting them with appropriate deals.
“Transactions online are going up but at a gradual rate. It’s still just one of the distribution channels. The call to action and conversion is higher in the cruise market than the beach market because customers tend to have done their research on line and just want to book the cruise.
“Out of all our clients it’s the cruise clubs that are getting the biggest level of online bookings because it’s a core proposition. They take the time to understand their customers and know exactly what they want.”
Traveltek said iCruise allows small agents to compete with the larger agents who stack it high and sell it cheap, by enabling them to break into niche markets and promote unique deals.
The Scotland-based technology firm is a headline sponsor of the Ace UK Cruise Convention being held in Southampton today.