AS SAVVY consumers
increasingly seek extra
value from travel agents,
one way to attract and retain
customers is through upselling
and cross-selling, whether it’s
on a plane or in a hotel.
“If your customer goes to an
airline’s website for the first
time and perhaps a second
time for additional services,
you need to ready yourself for
the worst because eventually
they will be booking their
entire itinerary on the airline’s
direct channel leaving you
with very little to compete
on,” says Jannine Adams,
senior marketing manager
of Amadeus. She adds
that travel agents offering
ancillary services can compete
effectively with airlines’ own
websites and online channels.
Travelport’s director of
product and customer support
for Middle East and Africa,
Hari Kumar, says upgrades are
just one part of the upselling
opportunity for agents and
technology providers need to
assist agents in increasing
these margins, with the ability
to cross-sell products such as
hotels, cars and attractions
and other add-ons.
“Products such as Travelport
e-Pricing have allowed agents
to compare different options
for their customers on specific
or a range of flights. Travelport
Merchandising Platform takes
this to the next level, where
we are able to offer agents
a comparison table that will
allow them to easily compare
different fares in different
cabins, therefore making the
ability to upsell to a high fare
easier and allowing the agent
to easily communicate the
benefits to their clients,” he
says.
“Agents often sell upgrades
and play an important part
in this,” says Stephen
Forbes, spokesperson for
British Airways. He adds that
agents are able to reissue
tickets themselves on normal
published fares so the process
is streamlined and easy.
Stephen adds that BA allows
agents to upgrade bookings
using Avios points, as long as
the agent is nominated as a
third party. Agents who have
clients on BA’s On Business
programmes can also upgrade
using their On Business
points.
“We offer a free upgrade on
one leg of the trip from Club
World to First. Agents can
offer their clients the upgrade
to First on one sector for the
same fare, making this a
very attractive proposition,”
Stephen adds.
He says while the tactical
offer is published in the
GDS, On Business upgrades
must be done on the airline’s
website or through the call
centre. “The client has to give
permission for the agent to
transact and comply with data
protection rules when using
On Business points or Avios.”
In the hotel industry,
however, the practice of
upselling seems less popular.
“Coming out of a period that
has seen many companies
and clients having to manage
their travel spend, upselling
wasn’t high on the agenda.
With the improvement in
consumer confidence and the
growing demand for travel,
we focus on training agents
to sell and convert the right
opportunities to upsell, as
opposed to just converting on
price as a standard practice,”
says Danny Bryer, Protea
Hotel’s director of sales,
marketing and revenue.
“The Protea Hotels and
African Pride Hotels sales
teams update the travel
agents on a continuous
basis on USPs per hotel, rate
categories that are available
on the GDS, the different
products available and the
value of upselling to clients,”
he says.
Helen Kotze, Tsogo Sun’s
gm of Channels, agrees that
agents play a vital role in
upselling but says upgrades
are not often sold by agents.
She says agents need to
log on to Tsogosun.com and
register as travel agents in
order to sell upgrades to their
clients.
Nicole Hockin, vp of
marketing and public relations
at Nor1, a technology company
that offers upsell solutions
for the hospitality industry,
says Nor1 has signed up hotel
chains such as Hilton Hotels,
Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, and
InterContinental Hotels and
Resorts. “Nor1 emails what
we call an eStandby Upgrade
offer to guests or travel agents
who have made a booking with
participating hotels that have
standby upgrades on offer. A
standby upgrade can cost the
client almost 40% less than
it would have cost them to
book a higher category room
initially,” Nicole says.
Agents can also follow up
with suppliers and request
upgrades on behalf of their
clients, taking note of whether
or not they belong to a
particular hotel’s loyalty or
rewards programme.
Nicole adds: “The point
is, agents should be aware
that from time to time
some service providers and
establishments will offer
a reduced cost upgrade. It
is important to make your
clients aware of this type of
opportunity and offer it to
them.”
