ORLANDO --
Vacation.com, at its annual conf. here this week, announced a
number of initiatives.
" In a first for the consortium, the Vacation.com
CruiseCentre will launch a unique product available only to member
agencies.
The land/cruise
Hawaii program will depart in December and will combine two nights
at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel with seven nights on Norwegian Cruise
Ls new Pride of America. It will be accompanied by a Vacation.com
concierge available for both the land and sea portions.
" Vacation.com will release AgentNet 5.0 in October, an
upgrade to its AgentNet leisure travel selling platform. The new
release will enhance the functionality and add content to the
group's signature desktop, said Bobby Heiser, executive vice
president, sales and marketing.
The 5.0 version is a
precursor to still more enhancements to be rolled out in 2006 with
a view to ultimately providing the platform to a Vacation.com
consumer Web site.
Dick Knodt,
president and CEO, was reluctant to put a date on a consumer site
launch except to say, if all goes right, a preliminary version
might be in sight by the end of 2006.
" Vacation.com rolled out MarketEdge, a program
designed to gather sales transaction histories from member
agencies. The purpose is to refine the group's direct marketing and
put the group in a stronger position when negotiating with
preferred suppliers.
The groups
Engagement CRM program requires participating agencies to provide
client names and contact information. MarketEdge is the next step,
Heiser said, to more effective and focused marketing.
By knowing previous
buying habits, it's easier to project future purchases and the most
promising targets for promotions, Vacation.com said.
MarketEdge will also
highlight where members are not selling preferred suppliers and
when there is no suitable preferred product in a particular market.
MarketEdge is in beta testing with a handful of
agencies.
Vacation.com also
launched Engagement CRM in Canada.
To contact
the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Nadine Godwin
at [email protected].