Thomas Cook is to offer individual bonuses to its agents who sell more of its own-brand hotels and plans to introduce a similar incentive scheme for third-party partners.
The ‘Reach for the Beach’ incentive supports Cook’s focus on own-brand hotels, as well as customer service, with agents also rewarded for improved Net Promoter Scores, a measure of customers’ likelihood of recommending them.
A Cook spokesman said: “The scheme is based on individual sales performance, however, a new element called Reach for the Beach allows staff to collect additional discount points redeemable against Thomas Cook holidays to reward branded hotel sales.”
Cook will also take more staff on educational trips “so they can sample our products first hand and better sell them to customers”.
Details of a different third-party agent incentive programme are due to be revealed in the coming weeks. It is expected to also offer agents additional rewards for sales of Cook’s in-house hotel bands.
Writing recently on travelweekly.co.uk, Phil Gardner, Cook head of commercial sales and relations, said the aim was “to properly incentivise agents to sell Thomas Cook holidays to their customers”.
“Our goal is to create holiday experiences that our own staff are proud to sell and recommend to their family and friends,” he said. “We want independent agents to feel the same.”
Cook has revealed 12 own-brand properties will be sold for the first time in the UK next summer under its Casa Cook, Sentido, Sunwing and Sunprime portfolios.
The first Sentido hotel in Sicily reflects increased demand for Italy. Another will be added in Brela, Croatia, along with Sentido Kaktus on the Croatian island of Brac.
Five new family-focused Sunprime hotels will be added in Majorca, Cyprus, Gran Canaria, Rhodes and Turkey and four adult-only Sunwing properties in Cyprus, Rhodes and Turkey.