Travel Weekly called agents in and around Leicester to get their views on programmes to Latin America. Agents reported that as demand for the region was relatively low and bookings could be quite complex they valued specialist agent-friendly operators most.
See how Hayes and Jarvis, Cox and Kings, Latin America Travel and Journey Latin America compared.
Compiled by Julie Baxter
*****
Agents award stars for:
* Brochure design and ease of use
* Operator service
* Programme support
* Client feedback
* Product popularity
All agents remain anonymous and no additional information will be given out.
Top Operator: Hayes and Jarvis
Brochure: Holidays Worldwide.
Description: 292-page worldwide brochure including 27 pages of Latin America holidays previously presented in a dedicated brochure. Includes Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and the Galapagos, Guatemala, Peru and Venezuela.
Reservations: tel. 0181-222 7844 (dedicated Latin America res team); Istel HNJ or Fastrak HNJ.
Agents’ verdict: “Not the most classy-looking brochure but easy to follow and informative.”
“Clients know the name and we use this regularly for middle-market bookings to the area.”
“Product is well priced and includes all the popular places in the region.”
“Staff are friendly and supportive if you ring with a complex enquiry and the viewdata system is quick and easy to use for a simple single-centre booking.”
“Prices are cheaper than others but product is a bit less flexible.”
Rating: *****
Cox and Kings
Brochure: Latin America 1999.
Description: 76-page brochure of tours and tailor-made holidays to South and Central America including Peru, Ecuador, the Galapagos islands, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize, Cuba and the Dutch Caribbean.
Reservations: tel. 0171-873 5000.
Agents’ verdict: “A lovely-looking brochure, very appealing and makes you want to go.”
“Product is upmarket and very good quality. It can be expensive but you get what you pay for and client feedback is always good.”
“A mix of tailor-made options and tours which offer plenty of flexibility.”
Rating: ****
Journey Latin America
Brochure: Bespoke Holiday Journeys 1998/1999.
Description: A series of three brochures that covers group tours; tailor-made tours and a detailed range of product to the Galapagos islands. Includes Mexico, Central America, Latin Caribbean, South America, Galapagos and Antarctica.
Reservations: tel. 0181-747 8315.
Agents’ verdict: “A stylish, good-looking brochure that is easy to follow.”
“A specialist company that we would think of for Latin America but tend not to use often.”
“Clients occasionally ask for this if they see it advertised in newspapers but we do not usually have very good brochure supplies.”
Rating: ***
Latin America Travel
Brochure: Latin America Travel.
Description: 24-page brochure of primarily tailor-made holidays to Argentina, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Uruquay, Bolivia. A new 64-page brochure is due out at the end of April and will include Venezuela and Guatemala.
Reservations: tel. 01483-860088.
Agents’ verdict: “We have the brochure and it is one of the top four we would consider for Latin America, but I haven’t really studied it in much detail.”
“It comes to us occasionally but there is very little other contact with the company and we tend to forget about it a bit.”
“I’ve worked in the industry 10 years and I’ve never heard of this operator.”
Rating: **