Spain-based Riu Hotels and Resorts has launched Riu Specialist, its first official certification program for U.S. travel agents.
"The travel agent community is important to us," said Sergi Ruiz Pique, Riu's vice president of business development and partner marketing for the U.S. and Canada. "This online specialist course is designed as a tool and resource for our agent partners to sell any Riu property in Mexico, North and Central America and the Caribbean."
Riu's portfolio includes more than 100 properties in Bulgaria, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, the Caribbean, Mexico, Latin America and the Hotel Riu Florida Beach in Miami.
The company will open the 600-room Riu Plaza New York in Times Square in the fall of 2015.
Of the total, 15 properties are located in the Caribbean in Aruba, Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Jamaica; 17 are in Mexico; one is in Costa Rica; and two are in Panama (the all-inclusive Riu Playa Blanca opened April 4 on Panama's south shore).
"More than 60% of our total business to this region comes through travel agents," Ruiz said.
The training is accessed via www.riuspecialist.com. Agents must be members of the Riu Partner Club, the company's loyalty program, to take the course.
"More than 14,000 agents in the U.S. are members," he said. "If an agent is not a member, it is easy to sign up and become a Riu Partner and then start in on the specialist course."
The course is divided into six chapters, highlighting the main elements of Riu's properties and its three brands (Classic, Palace and Plaza) plus key facts about each Riu destination.
Graduates receive a certificate, plus access to the latest product news and promotions and a certificate for a two-night stay, based on future bookings.
The www.riu.com consumer site has no link at this time to specialist agents, but "it will come," according to Ruiz.
Agents have a dedicated site at www.riuagents.com when booking clients.