Universal Orlando Resort has launched a customer service
team dedicated solely to travel agents to help with bookings and answer
questions.
The team gives agents a number of resources through a
dedicated call center, a live online chat on VAX VacationAccess (Universal's
booking website for agents) and a text-messaging service.
Fernando Flores Kato, vice president of Universal Parks and
Resorts Vacation, said the destination has seen growth and success in the last
decade, a good deal of which could be attributed to the travel agency channel.
"Because of the depth of knowledge and how much they
add value, we think that the customers that travel and book through a travel
agent are much more aware and know what to expect from their vacation,"
Kato said. "They tend to be happier about the result because they've been
properly informed, and they've been given the tips, and they've been given suggestions
on how to add on different experiences within their vacation to optimize that
experience for them."
While Universal has historically worked with agents -- and
last year launched an agent certification program -- Kato said the resort
reached a point where it felt it needed to dedicate more resources to that
distribution channel.
Currently, there are 20 seats on the agent customer service
team, and Universal has the ability to add workers during periods of high
demand, according to Kato.
The team will handle any incoming requests via phone, chat
or text. Requests will go to the first available team member, he said. The
internal platform displays the travel agent's history of conversation with the
Universal team, so the Universal representative handling each request is
quickly brought up to speed.
Universal's call center can be reached at 1-800-224-3838.
The online chat can be accessed on VAXVacationAccess.com, and agents will
receive a number they can text from Universal. For more information, visit
UniversalTravelAgents.com.