As MLT Vacations continues to align itself closer to parent company Delta Air Lines, MLT President John Caldwell wants agents to know that the company is as focused on them as ever, if not more so. Senior Editor Michelle Baran spoke with Caldwell as he was gearing up to unveil costly new marketing and social media tools that the company has developed for agents.
Q: What was the impetus for making a large investment in a whole new suite of online and social media marketing tools?
A: We want to be easier to do business with. We want to empower our agencies so that they can work better with us. People wanted to sell us, and it was just taking too long to get out a quality product. [Prior to launching the new marketing tools], the process was manual and prone to errors. This reduces the time and effort and calories burned both for MLT and the agent community.
Q: So why the emphasis on marketing, specifically social media marketing?
A: Many agents are getting much more involved in social media and trying to figure out how to market themselves through social media. It's a bit overwhelming for folks to actually figure out how to monetize that channel. We engaged a company that we believe has the best tool in the marketplace and, like our marketing hub, will allow [agents] to browse our content and transmit it through Twitter or Facebook or whatever they have got out there.
Q: What are MLT's biggest opportunities and challenges ahead?
A: Certainly being the official tour operator for Delta Air Lines is our big differentiator. ... In order to remain competitive, we do have to have competitive programs and pricing. We want to make sure we have the most competitive prices out there for the value we bring to our agency partners. And we want to have the most competitive commission policies.
Q: How is today's MLT, under Delta, different from the old MLT?
A: MLT has evolved from a small operator with a heavy charter air business. We're much more aligned with scheduled air. We don't have charter air anymore. We consume Delta air, and that's a big part of the package. We're knitting together what Delta knows about those customers and planning where they're going. [For instance], we're a big part of when Delta is growing in the Caribbean and Mexico. Obviously, there are other channels, but we're a big part of that strategy. That is a little different than in the past. [Also], we've got Delta marketing expertise inside our company. But I can tell you, the folks that make this company run, they're still doing what they've always done. They're so programmed to take care of the customer.
Q: Agents and the airlines haven't always had the best relationship. Do you feel compromised having to convince Delta to give so much support to the agent channel?
A: I would say that may have been true many, many years ago. I was in charge of our relationship with the agencies at Delta across the country. [Today], we continue to invest and build our relationship with the travel agencies. Delta believes it's a distribution that is critical to Delta's success. Agents do what the airline can't do. We are a big part of that strategy of course because we are so involved with the trade. The MLT University [MLT's annual agent training event] investment for this company is massive. And we are Delta.
Follow Michelle Baran on Twitter @mbtravelweekly.