Nigel Osborne
Nigel Osborne has helped Trafalgar Tours, Insight Vacations, Auto Europe and Virgin Vacations build their business, usually by increasing sales through the agent channel. Travel Weekly's Kate Rice talked with Osborne, who recently became vice president of sales and business development for Keytours Vacations International, which specializes in highly customized tours.
Q: There seems to be a trend toward specialization among tour operators. Why is that?
A: Peter Yesawich [vice chairman of MMGY Global] has a great presentation, and his stats show that people are looking for more customized travel and more control over their vacations. Another trend is multigenerational travel. So tour operators are getting more bespoke and customized. The bigger tour operators seem to be looking at reinventing themselves to get a bigger share of the smaller groups. They want a bigger share of the bespoke market because there are only so many times you can go on a coach tour.
Q:What does the consolidation of the retail channel mean for tour operators?
A: As the agency distribution channel has shrunk -- agencies today are merging or being acquired by bigger travel management companies who provide technology -- agencies can produce more for tour operators. Before, tour operators got bird-droppings business from many agencies. You'd get two bookings here, two bookings there. And retail distribution costs were high. Now, less is more: Tour operators get more business from less agents, and costs are controlled.
Q: A lot of your jobs were about selling to travel agents. Why do companies as varied as Trafalgar, Auto Europe and Virgin want to sell through travel agents?
A: Consortia in general give tour operators license to hunt for business. [They distribute] products to their member agencies with marketing and communications [programs]. So the tour operator gets economies of scale in marketing.
Q: What do agents get from tour operators?
A: Agents get synergy, product consistency, price consistency, better prices due to volume, marketing help -- client referrals and push marketing and destination experience. And most importantly [they get] cash flow and commissions and spend less time booking the products.
Q: What's your secret for increasing a tour operator's business?
A: It's service, being a little different, paying attention to detail and communicating properly. Everyone says, "Do email blasts," but we give people information the way they want to receive it. We ask agents how they like to receive information.
Q: What's an example of how you've made a tour operator a little different?
A: At Virgin we used a blueprint for doing unique and tailor-made itineraries. I wanted us to stand out. My first test was Downton Abbey [tours]. We packaged tailor-made Harry Potter and Downton Abbey tours and they all sold out. ... So we launched Virgin to the retail trade. And that gave me my stripes to go on to Keytours, where we are now developing this [concept] full scale. And from the travel agent point of view, we're able to give travel agents their technology support. But Keytours also has individuals who have traveled and lived overseas, so they can hand-hold agents with booking these tailor-made private journeys.