NEW YORK -- Virtuoso is introducing a new marketing hub, MyMarketing, a central location for agents and agency
owners to manage all of their marketing.
David Kolner, Virtuoso's senior vice president of global
member partnerships, detailed that and other consortium updates during a press
conference at Virtuoso's offices here Tuesday.
Agents can use MyMarketing in a number of capacities. For
instance, they can customize or change marketing messages before they are sent
to clients, or opt into more marketing and order additional materials for their
agencies.
MyMarketing also includes a social media component. It
enables agents to manage and schedule social media posts as well as repost
items from Virtuoso. However, the re-posts don't show up as traditional
re-posts or shares, but instead appear as if advisers posted them themselves,
Kolner said.
MyMarketing and its services are available to all Virtuoso
members free, as part of their membership in the consortium.
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This year, Virtuoso agents and agencies will get the
opportunity to customize their websites. According to Kolner, each agent is given a carbon copy of
Virtuoso.com with their own branding and logo. There have been requests to
further customize the sites, which Virtuoso will enable this year.
Customization options include customized homepage images and
modules, more robust profiles for the agent or agencies, and the ability to
turn off certain aspects of navigation (for instance, if an agent doesn't sell
cruises, they can turn off the "Cruises" tab on the top of the page).
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Virtuoso is rolling out a new 24/7 client-support service
for Virtuoso Air, so agents' clients can call the air desk directly for
assistance. A new Cruise Alerts program is being rolled out this year, alerting
agents if the pricing on sailings has gone down. Kolner said they can use the
opportunity to either provide clients with added value, or try to upsell them
into a more expensive category.
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Two additional hotel programs are being added to the network
this year, Kolner said. Virtuoso works with 1,150 preferred properties, but has
taken steps to make more available to agents in more locations. For instance,
in 2016, the consortium formed an agreement with ABC Global Services, making
its hotel inventory available to Virtuoso agents.
Now, Virtuoso has started a new program with ABC, the ABC
Advantage Program, giving Virtuoso advisers exclusive amenities at ABC's
properties. Kolner said the amenity will be small -- amounting to around $25 to
$50 -- but will be added value nonetheless.
Kolner also announced a new relationship with Booking.com,
giving agents the ability to book Booking.com hotels at the prices consumers
would see, but with a negotiated commission for the agent. While agents can join Booking.com's Affiliate Partner
Program on their own, Kolner said Virtuoso members will benefit from a
commission that is likely higher than they could have negotiated on their own.
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Misty Ewing Belles, managing director of global public
relations, released new growth statistics on the network. Virtuoso now has more than 1,000 agency locations, up 25%.
The network has 17,500 travel advisers, up 15%; 64% of those advisors are from
growth within existing agencies. Virtuoso's annual sales number has increased
to $23.7 billion, up 12%.
"Luxury travel is doing very well," she said.