Trade-only operator and consolidator Major Travel has launched a marketing platform that helps travel agents to promote deals without losing customers to third-party websites.
Agents using Major’s portal, Major4Agents (M4A), can use the new offers system for free.
The London-based company developed the platform, called Itinese, with technology specialist Concorde Travel Solutions and described it as “revolutionary”.
Agents can create web-based landing pages that allow their customers to explore the details of a product and destination featured in an individual offer.
Users can see regional departure prices and upgrade options for flights and hotels.
Each landing page will be displayed using the brand colours of the agency and will appear on the URL www.mytraveloffer.co.uk which is not linked to any travel brand.
Offers can be promoted on social media platforms with a single click.
Qasim Gulamhusein, managing director at Major Travel, said the service was created in response to feedback from agents who frequently post offers on social media.
“A common issue raised was that the information displayed on a social media post is limited and consumers will often search the web for more information about the hotel, cruise or tour featured on the post,” he said.
“This will inevitably take them to the websites of direct-sell operators. Too often, the agent that promoted the offer and inspired the consumer to book will lose the booking to a direct-sell provider.
“Our new branded offer landing pages will ensure the consumer has access to all the content and information they need without having to go to a third-party site.
“Agents will be able to use the platform to generate an offer landing page for any offer featured by Major Travel.
“The platform also allows bespoke offers to be created which means agents can generate landing pages for their own bespoke deals or even promote offers from third-party operators.
“We have had incredible feedback from a select group of agents using the beta test platform in January and the consensus among them has been that this new marketing tool increases enquiries and increases bookings.”
As the launch customer on the Itinese platform, Major Travel will have three months’ exclusivity before Concorde Travel Solutions allows other clients to use the system.
Concorde Travel Solutions will charge a travel agent £29 per month in subscription fees for up to 10 offers and then a further £8 per month for every additional 10 offers.
Habib Datoo, chief technology officer at Concorde Travel Solutions, added: “As a technology company that works exclusively with travel companies, we were aware from our clients that there was a need for quality travel-related web content among smaller travel companies that lacked the human capital to build their own content databases.
“We have spent over two years creating a database of rich content, images and videos for the world’s leading airlines and cruise ships as well as for over 1,000 destinations, 10,000 attractions, 200,000 hotels.
“For trade-focussed tour operators, the platform allows them to get their offers to market quickly and efficiently through their agent networks with a focus on driving actual bookings.
“By working actively with Major Travel as our launch customer on the Itinese platform, we have been able to talk to their agents and identify specifically what the consumer wants in terms of detail when an offer is promoted to them.”