A digital ‘brochure rack’ bringing more than 90 cruise line brochures to agents’ desktops is being launched by Clia UK & Ireland.
Claimed to be the first of its kind in the world, the digital initiative provides information from more than 60 cruise lines.
Agents can download, search and share the e-brochures with customers, some of which are only available via this method.
Software service provider Widgety has created the system which will initially be exclusively available to Clia agent members.
The search programme allows agents to look for specific information across the entire digital brochure rack including filtering by company, name of brochure, the year and geographical regions.
It is readable and downloadable on PCs, mobile and tablet devices. The high downloadable speed means that a 196-page, full colour brochure can be ready to read in just five seconds, Clia claims.
UK and Ireland director Andy Harmer said: “Brochure Rack is an invaluable tool when selling cruise holidays.
“Agents have never before had such access to cruise brochures all on one website and all searchable within a matter of seconds allowing our member travel agents to instantly share relevant pages with their customers either in store or via email or on social media.”
He added: “This is the perfect solution for travel agents as it gives them access to the cruise lines most up to date brochures, providing relevant information with high quality photos and imagery, and all within a matter of seconds.
“This week is Clia Cruise Week so it’s particularly fitting that we are able to launch such an invaluable and effective tool, the latest in a number of new resources added to our website this year, all of which are key to the successful selling of cruise holidays.”
Widgety creator and founder Damian Gevertz said: “We designed Brochure Rack to help agents find all the latest brochures, from their key lines, in one single digital place.
“We wanted to make it as quick and easy as possible for them to find the information they really needed to successfully sell more cruises; it has to be useful but also visually stunning.
“Brochure Rack complements the fantastic imagery in each of the operator’s brochures without ever taking away from that content. It simply replicates the traditional brochure shelves found in a retail store, but in a sleek digital format.”
He continued: “We are pleased to continue supporting Clia UK & Ireland with our unique online resources for travel agents.
“Our partnership has helped us to amass the largest online cruise database, consisting of copy, images, video and more. Widgety can power travel websites, allowing access to up to date content without the need to source the data directly.”