Managing director Julia Lo Bue-Said speaks to Lee Hayhurst ahead of the Advantage Conference 2014, taking place from May 15-18 in Dubai
Advantage says a Dragon’s Den-style competition for agents to win £10,000-worth of consultancy services was a good example of a new approach brought in over the past 10 months.
The agency group, under new management since previous chief executive John McEwan left last year, embarked on a reappraisal of the support it offers members.
As part of this it placed a greater focus on working more closely with its members to help them better run their businesses.
In September last year, Thompson Travel owner Sharon Fleming beat two other finalists in a live pitch to scoop the £10,000 prize of consultancy support.
David Moon, head of business development at Advantage, said: “The competition was a springboard for how we now interact with members on a more consultancy-style basis.
“We have done this with Sharon and the other runners-up. It completely endorsed the whole purpose of why we have gone down that route.”
Julia Lo Bue-Said, Advantage managing director, said: “The whole approach is about how we go about engaging with our members now, how we communicate with them, from our tone, to our style and frequency.
“Our job is not to present our members with a list of services for them to buy, it’s to help them do business.
“While we drive a hard bargain with suppliers and the commercial aspect is key, members want help in a more consultative manner.”
Bue-Said said the consortium was conducting more face-to-face meetings with members who need professional advice about things such as how to grasp opportunities and succession planning.
Dubai a popular conference choice among delegates
The choice of Dubai for this year’s overseas conference has proved one of the most popular in recent times, according to the consortium’s managing director.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, who will mark a year in the role this July, said the choice of venue reflected a turnaround in the sector since Advantage opted to not go overseas five years ago.
“In the middle of the recession we brought the conference to Heathrow because that was right at the time, but that did not attract the numbers,” she said. “But we are in the business of travel and our agents want to travel, so the decision about where to hold the conference is key.”
Advantage expects 465 delegates at the conference, half of whom will be agent members.
“There’s a balance between wanting to put on a conference in a destination people want to see and one that is accessible and not too far. It’s surprising how many agents have not seen Dubai
or been there in the last few years.”
The last long-haul destination was Kuala Lumpur 10 years ago, and
Bue-Said would not rule out a return
to such destinations in coming years.
Martina Navratilova to serve a motivational ace
Keynote speaker Martina Navratilova will present an inspiring message to Advantage delegates in
her first major business conference address.
The nine-time Wimbledon singles champion, and winner of 167 singles tennis titles in total, follows a long line of big-name speakers who have rounded off the consortium’s annual overseas event.
Bue-Said said: “With any sports personality it’s about looking at them as a role model in terms of perseverance, all their life experiences and how they came out the other end.
“As a motivational speaker it does not get much better than Martina, with all the challenges she had to endure in the era she grew up in.”
Previous keynote speakers have included Nando Parrado, a survivor of the 1972 Andes aircraft crash immortalised in the film Alive; ‘Queen of Shops’ Mary Portas; and actress Joanna Lumley.