G.T. Dhillon Vice President, Global Travel Industry Relations Carlson Hotels, Americas 1
Carlson Wagonlit Travel and the World of Intermediaries
Objectives of Session To review strategies on how to maximize room revenues through the Travel Agency channel Through Travel Agents for Leisure Travel Through Travel Management Companies (TMCs) for Managed Business Travel To highlight how our partnership with Carlson Wagonlit Travel will yield premium performance 3
Agenda Organizational Update Travel Agency Strategy Results Travel Agent Flow Chart Travel Management Companies & Consortia s CWT Look To Book Top 10 4
Global Organizational Update Revenue Generation Fredrik Korallus Global Revenue Council Marketing & Loyalty Heather Passe Sales Shelly Irrgang Travel Industry Relations GT Dhillon Distribution & Res Svc Chris Brosnahan Revenue Optimization Fred Deschamps TMC & Consortia Samantha Jones Look To Book Heidi Veire GDS & OTA s Audrey Murante 5
Global Travel Agency Strategy To grow our market share (vs. the segment in general and vs. our comp set) To grow our room revenues through the Travel Agency channel To control/minimize our distribution costs To distribute our product via any and all distribution channels that are cost viable 6
Agency Intermediated Travel Managed Corporate Travel Leisure Travel Traveler Traveler SBT T/A Look To Book Agency Visits Marketing Agent Look To Book Agency Visits Marketing TMC TA GDS GDS Carlson Hotels Hotel Check Out Legend SBT: Self Booking Tool T/A: Travel Agent TMC: Travel Management Company GDS: Global Distribution System PFP: Pay For Performance Carlson Hotels Hotel Check Out Commission PFP Analysis Commission PFP Analysis 7
What is a Consortia? Membership organization. Independently owned travel agencies Business mix is typically 60% leisure / 40% business Who are they? CCRA, Travelsavers, Thor, ABC Global Services, Hickory/Custom Travel Systems, Travel Leaders, and Travel Graphics. 8
Benefits of our Relationships Our relationships with TMCs and Consortias provide the following benefits to hotels: Hotel product on the shelf Screen biasing / positioning Access to agencies, point-of-sale messaging and marketing opportunities BTC (Business Travel Center) visits 9
Best Practices for Working With TMCs and Consortias Know who your top agencies are (reports can be accessed via Connect) Make sales efforts on these top agencies (i.e. go visit them, educate them on your product/brand) Invite them to come stay at your hotel a valuable selling tool Participate in the right programs that have potential for your hotel / market Make sure your parity rate is priced appropriately versus your comp set (there are several tools in the industry that can help you do this effectively & efficiently) Market your hotel s promotions to/through the TA channel Monitor production on an ongoing basis so that there are no surprises when business shifts 10
Advertising Opportunities Hotel Programme Shopping Tool Audience Over 20,000 Travel counselors Millions of frequent travelers Creative options Banners Button Map Advertising costs From USD1,200 per quarter 11
Agency Intermediated Travel Managed Corporate Travel Leisure Travel Traveler Traveler SBT T/A Look To Book Agency Visits Marketing Agent Look To Book Agency Visits Marketing TMC TA GDS GDS Carlson Hotels Hotel Check Out Legend SBT: Self Booking Tool T/A: Travel Agent TMC: Travel Management Company GDS: Global Distribution System PFP: Pay For Performance Carlson Hotels Hotel Check Out Commission PFP Analysis Commission PFP Analysis 12
Look To Book: Program Re-branding 2 page ad in CWT Times 13
Look To Book How does the program work? Earning All rate codes eligible for bookings made through GDSs or brand web sites Members earn 10 points per USD for consumed room revenue Members can redeem points for: Airlines miles Free nights Pre-paid Cards Operationally easy for your hotel 3% hotel fee for room revenue on consumed Look To Book stays 14
Look To Book Reports LTB Promotion Summary Report LTB Monthly Top Agent Report Report Location: Carlson Connect > My Applications > KNT - Reports 15
Top 10 To Do s 1. Start a Travel Agency Plan for your hotel 2. Find out what your hotel s GDS, TMC and LTB contributions are 3. Consider purchasing data tools sold by TravelCLICK (Hotelligence) and Rubicon 4. Make sure your TMC/Consortia parity rate is priced appropriately 5. Maximize the CWT relationship 6. Visit a travel agency 7. Know who your top Look To Book agents are - thank them for the business 8. Check and update your GDS content and images quarterly. Verify that your negotiated rates are loaded and bookable for 2011. 9. Consider TMC/Consortia marketing/advertising and GDS placement/advertising opportunities (are they right for you?) 10. Commit to learning more about the Travel Agency segment 16
G.T. Dhillon Vice President, Global Travel Industry Relations Carlson Hotels, Americas 17