The Travel Network Group’s Gary Lewis says its 800 members can expect increased centralised support over the coming year. Lee Hayhurst reports
The Travel Network Group started its new financial year last week promising to help members compete against the big boys and online self-booking tools.
Gary Lewis, group managing director of the Worldchoice and Travel Trust Association parent, said the next 12 months would be about its headquarters being held accountable and delivering on its promises.
He balks at describing The Travel Network Group (TTNG) as a ‘consortium’, preferring ‘network’ or ‘business services provider’, which has a focus on helping members do more business.
“For members, the old consortia model was about being part of a membership club, but the reality today is a million miles away from that,” said Lewis.
“Of course we have best-in-class commercials and regional events where members get together and the conference, but it’s really about delivering on promises.
“There is a whole raft of those based around how we work to differentiate our members and how we help their bottom line.”
Personal service
The appointment of membership services director Lisa Henning, who heads a new team of seven, represents the latest strengthening of the central team.
All 800 TTNG members will get a named account manager and are expected to sign up to service level agreements.
“There are areas we will make promises on to every single member,” said Lewis.
“The team has been resourced with more people and more credibility in terms of skills and background. I need people at the centre who can have effective conversations with our members to help them make decisions.”
Test run
After unveiling a new growth agenda at last year’s conference in Lake Bled, Slovenia, Lewis said this year’s in Split, Croatia, in October, will showcase the impact the central team is having.
As well as working closely with agents who have already grasped the opportunities, TTNG also owns four travel agencies, which it uses as a test bed.
Lewis said these agencies are in different sectors, reflecting the overall membership of TTNG.
“We have trialled and tested our people and our resources. I can show growth in every single one of those shops in the last year.
“These are stores that are living and breathing in the same markets that our wider membership is living and breathing in and have access to exactly the same things our members have access to.”
Honeycomb system
As well as these centrally managed stores, Lewis cites Triangle Travel and Premier Travel as prime examples of members benefiting from TTNG’s focus on providing “blue chip” business services.
The former, a Worldchoice high street agency, has exploited TTNG’s online marketing expertise and access to differentiated product to find more customers it can turn into loyal repeat clients.
The latter, TTNG’s largest single member with 21 outlets, has taken on the group’s in-house selling technology Honeycomb so that it is now among its top five suppliers.
Lewis said Honeycomb now has 460 members signed up – 400 use it every week to search for product, while 160 make bookings through it as well.
TTNG believes this sort of technology, provided free to members, has to be at the heart of what a modern ‘consortium’ offers its agents to help them survive.
This, along with the Atol Angel system for regulatory cover, is intended to help smaller travel businesses without deep pockets compete on a level playing field.
Crucially, Honeycomb helps members access an increasingly wide range of product, while putting them in control of their margin.
“We have 125% year-on-year increase in members’ usage and consumers purchasing through that particular product.
“Based on feedback, expectations are enormous and we are getting huge support from our members.”
Supplier partners
More business partners are coming on board with product feeds.
About 20 are expected to be added by October, offering a greater range of nett fares on flights and packages.
“We recognise the power of that tool to help members have conversations with their customers that are different to their competitors,” said Lewis.
“We have to be able to offer something different to what the consumer can get elsewhere.
“It has to be quicker and less hassle than the consumer searching for themselves on their mobile phone or tablet.”