By Laura Del Rosso
SAN FRANCISCO -- Austin Associates/Coast Travel, the consortium
that recently sealed agreements to acquire two regional consortia,
is launching member services that include sending weekly e-mail
specials to clients, said president Norm Cotton, speaking at the
group's annual conference here.
The acquisition of the consortia, the 75-member Five-Star Travel
in Denver and 200-member Travel Design Associates of Santa Clara,
Calif., boosted membership to 700 agencies.
Among Austin/Coast's new initiatives is a sales tool for members
that turn over their lists of client e-mail addresses: weekly
"Chalkboard Specials" that will be sent to those clients, offering
discounted cruises, tours and packages from the group's preferred
suppliers.
Cotton said it may be a challenge to convince some agency owners
to turn over their clients' e-mails, but he believes Austin/Coast
members have a high degree of trust in the organization's
integrity.
"We will sign a guarantee that these e-mail addresses will stay
within our walls and not be used for any other purpose," he
said.
Austin/Coast will customize the weekly e-mails with the member
agency's name and contact information. The only way clients can
book the offers is by contacting the agency; there will not be any
links to suppliers or other Web sites, Cotton said.
An accompanying weekly e-mail to participating agencies will
include booking details about the specials.
Austin/Coast will manage the lists and send the specials each
week to the agency clients and, as the program develops, provide
enhancements, such as sending promotions based on where clients
live and their interests.
Austin/Coast has modest expectations for the program, which is
expected to start in the first quarter of 2003. Cotton said the
group is looking for about 50 agencies to provide at least 50,000
e-mail addresses in order to start the ball rolling on the
Chalkboard Specials.
Austin/Coast also will sell advertising space to vendors for the
e-mail promotions.
In other news, Cotton said Austin/Coast has decided not to buy
iTASN, the host agency that works closely with the consortium, and
run it as a division.
"It would have created some conflicts, and it's a business we
didn't want to be in," he said. "It's a better opportunity for us
to support them and let them run their business."
Originally, the plan was for Austin/Coast to start a "super
agency" that would serve as a host firm for members that decided to
give up ARC accreditation but retain their independent business
identity.
Formerly known as Global Express, iTASN, a Framingham,
Mass.-based agency, will remain a member of the Austin/Coast
consortium and a preferred vendor to the group, Cotton said.
Cotton said Austin/Coast is not actively looking to acquire
consortia but would not rule out purchases "if the right group with
the right fit" came along.
He said the consortium, which is strong on the West and East
coasts, would consider expanding in the Midwest, where it does not
have many members.