Online Travel Training is calling on travel agents to help their industry peers during the pandemic by putting together their own videos of top tips and advice.
The agent training company saw traffic and registrations increase threefold during from March to May as agents turned to online training while on furlough during lockdown to top up their product knowledge.
The firm is now planning to increase the content on its website by hosting peer-to-peer training videos from the new year so that travel agents can pick up ‘on the job’ advice from industry colleagues.
Agents are being urged to put together ten-minute videos of themselves on a subject they are knowledgeable on. For example, a cruise specialist could offer tips for agents who have just started to sell cruise holidays.
Managing director Julia Feuell said: “We are conscious that a lot of agents have been displaced by the pandemic; they may be on furlough or sadly have been made redundant.
“We cannot offer money yet but we feel this the perfect time to launch peer-to-peer training because people have the time and a hunger for information, and we can connect them personally with agents doing the videos.”
Agents could boost their own networking opportunities or profile by taking part while for those watching the videos could help boost their sales or marketing knowledge and their CVs, said Feuell.
For agents based in London, the company has converted one of the rooms in its offices into a studio where agents could potentially record a video, while the videos could also have destination content or presentation documents added by OTT.
Videos will be vetted and Feuell is hopeful of a strong response. “We are in an industry in which people naturally like to help each other and there is an awful lot of knowledge out there and helping each other goes hand in hand in a pandemic,” she added.
In addition, OTT is encouraging more suppliers to work with the company to offer virtual training during the pandemic as they cannot hold traditional roadshows currently and reach agents “with doughnuts”, a reference to sales reps taking treats to agents on face-to-face visits.
OTT has also set up its first offices in Australia, Germany and the US to promote courses tailored to those markets and plans similar tie-ups with marketing agencies in France and the Netherlands as it looks to focus on several key markets.