The Travel Network Group is rolling out a bespoke training programme to members to help them engage with and attract more clients and to train up new and existing staff.
The Business Development Action Plan, which officially went live on March 18, aims to support the consortium’s 1,200 independent travel businesses in the UK.
The training involves working with business partners and tourist boards and covers three main areas: attracting new customers; managing engagement with existing clients; and controlling the main touchpoints with customers during the booking process.
The training plan was put together late last year when a need was identified among members to help them return to business as normal after two years of working during the pandemic. This included going back to having positive conversations with clients and their own teams internally.
The dedicated marketing training is structured into 20 modules for each member and their team. It includes courses on social media, local marketing, email marketing and data, and online search engine optimisation.
The training will also offer access to an online training academy, with links to additional business skills and personal wellbeing resources.
Chief executive Gary Lewis said the training could be used by members to train up new recruits and develop skills among existing staff.
He said: “After a tough couple of years, the travel industry is making a brilliant comeback, and we are pleased to launch the Business Development Action Plan, to support our members with the tools they need to book more holidays and provide excellent customer service.
“One of the biggest challenges encountered by our members these past few months has been around recruiting new talent and retaining their existing teams. We believe that our training programme can be used as a development scheme for existing teams, or as a new starter training pack, enabling new recruits to be trained with vital industry knowledge.”