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My Booking Rewards tips ‘broader, more exciting’ peak season

My Booking Rewards is confident of continued strong growth next year as it tips a “broader and more exciting” 2025 peak season than this year with more earning opportunities for agents.

The global rewards and incentives platform has launched its largest-ever peaks campaign for 2025 with increased cash and points rewards for agents, including several exclusive fam trip places from supplier members.

The campaign runs until March 31, 2025, but chief executive Darren Pearson expects it to continue longer with peak bookings stretching beyond the traditional January and February sales period.

MBR-registered agents are being offered the chance to earn more ongoing, monthly rewards during this peak period as well as be in the running for prizes at the start and end of the campaign.

Pearson said: “This peak season is broader and more exciting and there are more opportunities for agents to bump up their earnings.

“There is more to earn and more bonuses [this year]. Whereas before there might have only been a prize at the end of the peak season, now you can earn rewards during the season [as well].

“Agents might double their earnings with rewards offered on bookings in January, even if they don’t win a place on a fam trip at the end of the campaign.

“There are rotating rewards. Every month agents will be incentivised, where they can earn double rewards.”

During the 2024 peak season MBR reported booking levels in March and April were at the same level as January and February. UK agents earned £197,000 in tangible rewards between December and April, up 61% on 2023.

Pearson expects this trend to continue and extend further this year, potentially into May 2025.

“We recognised during the last peaks the opportunity for peaks is a longer message; it doesn’t have to stop and we decided to support agents earlier and gear up with more prizes and incentives. We will probably see [peak] bookings stretch beyond March in 2025,” he said.

The company launched its peaks campaign earlier this year to capitalise on early, pre-Christmas trading, and also expects more agents to register on the system as a result of word of mouth.

Currently the company has 17,000 UK agent subscribers, with 56% of these proactively logging bookings and producing revenue for MBR’s supplier members. Globally there are 60,000 active agents subscribed.

Each month in the UK, 200 to 300 agents join MBR. Non-bookers drop off the system after several years of inactivity.

“There could be agents out there we have yet to reach who might not be claiming the rewards they are entitled to. There is definitely potential with a constant flow of new sellers, then it’s about converting them into ‘performers’,” he said.

Under the system’s ‘Log Any Booking’ function, used by 41% of subscribers, agents can log a booking and the system will find available rewards, often more than one, from the hotel, tourist board, airline or tour operator. MBR has 1200 hotels on its books.

Pearson said there were no specific targets for agent numbers in 2025 but was confident of continued, strong growth and potential for further expansion.

“Everyone wants to grow but we want the right growth. What I want is 100% engagement; the agent engagement is more important rather than lots more members. We want bookers, not lookers,” he said.

He added: “We are very confident and happy with our growth. Word of mouth is fantastic for us, agents refer us to others. It’s a snowball effect.”

Suppliers can also identify and target their top-performing agents through the system while its new Tag Manager function, introduced this year, allows them to assess the value of a trade event. This tags emails of agents at an event in order to show how many bookings they have made and which retailers are most valuable to invite to or meet at future events, for example.

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