Advantage has promised to offer its members more directly contracted product as it looks to take more control and offer its members greater diversity.
Speaking on the first day of the consortium’s annual overseas conference in Dubai, managing director Julia Lo Bue-Said (pictured) told delegates the work has started in the cruise sector.
But she said the group would look to add more land-based product to its new Atol solution so agents have product that is differentiated and protected.
Bue-Said admitted Advantage was behind the times and that this should have been in the market before now, but pledged to increase availability.
“It’s the start of increased availability of product under our Atol. This is the future of our business. I do not mean we are not supporting third party suppliers but frankly at the moment we are not in control of our product.
“You will start to see more product from a hotel perspective, you will start to see us invest in that. We will contract directly, we will start to deliver to members. We need to deliver diversity and that’s absolutely top of our agenda.”
Bue-Said added that further improvements would be added to the group’s online Travel Gateway booking system, with 34 in total planned.
Sales through this channel have grown 90%, she said, and the overall business it transacts is now worth £6 million annually.
“It’s not the finished article,” she said, “it’s not for everyone and it’s not perfect but it’s our investment in making sure we have something for the future.
“We are delivering a product that will ensure members can sell efficiently and will give them access to content that’s not always available.”
Bue-Said also vowed to make Advantage more accountable to members by being more transparent and honest about how it has performed against key performance indicators.
Members will start to receive strategic updates on developments and Advantage has also introduced a ‘benefits statement’ for every member setting out the value of being a member.
“The statement illustrates all the value you get from Advantage. Some of it is difficult to quantify, some of it is intangible, but it starts to quantify what you get back.”
Bue-Said added the group currently estimated that on average members receives £16,000 in value per year being a member.
“You will start to understand it’s not about words, but it’s about how we perform… clarity about what we are about and where the organisation is going.”