Benjamin Coren spends a day at the Frozen roadshow at Disney’s London office to find out
Nearly 60 travel agents attended the Frozen roadshow at Disney’s UK office in London last month.
Following a day of training, and business and product updates, they enjoyed dinner at PizzaExpress and saw the Mary Poppins musical in the West End.
The company held six Disney Destinations roadshows and seven Disneyland Paris events in 2019, which were attended by about 1,250 agents.
Max Mason, head of commercial for Disneyland Paris, said: “It’s important for us to get in front of agents and get out to the regions. The feedback we get from the trade is that not many suppliers come and see them because of their location.”
Roadshows are held across the country in locations including Newcastle, Exeter, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham and London.
As well as a trade and product update, a different event was held in each location. In Bristol, agents saw The Lion King, while in Nottingham it was Disney on Ice, and in Newcastle and Exeter, Frozen 2.
Mason said: “We use our four business development managers’ Facebook and social pages to invite agents. They are led by business development manager Michelle Westwood and their pages have 8,000 followers.
“The investment we make in the trade is continuing – trade distribution remains as important as it’s ever been.
“Travel agents are selling our brands and introducing first‑timers. They are very important for Disneyland Paris in terms of first-time business.
“We impart our knowledge to them, whether it’s at roadshows or through our Disney Stars online training platform. It means they’ve got the tools, knowledge and confidence to sell to customers.”
Disney produces a travel agent guide covering Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney World Resort and Disney Cruise Line. Disney also offers price parity for Disneyland Paris, so agents will not be undercut by customers booking direct.
Mason said: “We recognise agents do a lot of work investing their time in our brand product.”
What agents said about the roadshow
“It’s great to find out the latest information, to give customers a different reason to come back to Disneyland Paris.”
Paul Wells, homeworker, Midcounties Co-operative
“I love everything about Disney – and put that across to customers. We can tell them what’s going on when they want to visit.”
Julie Painter, personal travel consultant, Hays Travel
“I like to keep up to date and share what I learn with colleagues. Disney always has magical things going on.”
Kate Marsh, travel advisor, Tui, Colchester
More: Disney appoints new UK sales chief and creates trade role