The president of InteleTravel told UK partners this week that the company is “about to announce an important acquisition in the UK of a tour operator to allow us to package our own product”.
Speaking on a visit to London, James Ferrara said: “This will allow us to custom design that product and take more of a role in our own destiny and that’s important for us.”
Addressing cruise line and tour operator partners, he added: “What we’re trying to do is offer the most powerful distribution in the travel business and at the same time, take advantage of the synergies, the combined purchasing power, and of our scale to create a fully-integrated enterprise to serve our partners, our employees and our members in the best possible way.”
Ferrara hinted he was waiting on the Civil Aviation Authority to complete March Atol renewals for the deal to go through.
He continued: “Operating at this scale allows us to do some great things. We have delivered across all our markets, a points-based, sophisticated loyalty programme which allows our advisors to earn points on behaviours that lead to their success and which are important to our business model.
“It allows them to build points that are redeemable against fashion, electrical goods and travel -and the agent response has been incredible. We’re going to continue to hone this strategy.”
Ferrara added that InteleTravel had also promised a mobile app for its advisors in the first quarter.
“We may miss the deadline by a week but the app is in Beta testing,” he said, adding: “We will roll it out to agents soon. It’s an incredibly sophisticated tech marketing management tool.”
Ferrara concluded: “When you do business with us, there are more possibilities that you’re even thinking about. More capability, more channels to connect with agents and customers; to create innovative strategies and ultimately create more market share.”
UK managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes added that InteleTravel advisors in the UK had recorded a great start to the year.
“We’re 47% up on sales, our average transaction is 5.5% up, and cruise represents 12% of our revenues – and it’s only March! This is all about the true spirit of partnership and your belief in InteleTravel,” she said.