Travelers love Hawaii, reporting a satisfaction rating of
98% or higher with their vacations, according to the Hawaii Visitors and
Convention Bureau (HVCB). It may seem as though sharp sales skills aren't much
needed when you’re selling paradise, but there's always room to learn more and
draw more clients to the Islands, according to the bureau, which recently
unveiled an expanded and revamped travel agent online resource center. “Knowing that being a
trusted resource of accurate information is a must for today’s travel
professionals in order to serve their clients, our goal is to ensure they have
the most updated and relevant training available at their fingertips,” said
Robyn Basso, the HVCB’s senior director of travel industry partnerships. “Our
new Hawaii Destination Specialist Program, paired with the robust tools offered
by the resource center, will help agents become successful Hawaii sellers and
grow their business.”
The bureau's revamped travel
agent online resource center features a new official
Hawaii Destination Specialist Program; a Hawaii Cultural Toolkit; a Hawaiian
language audio dictionary, a media center with a video and image library; an activities
and attractions directory; a festival and events directory; an interactive
travel guide; marketing tools; agent newsletters; and wholesaler listings.
For the first time, the specialist program is available
for access on tablets and smartphones.
The program consists of two
certification modules, Introduction to
Hawaii and Selling the Hawaiian Islands. Taken together, agents earn
the Hawaii Destination Specialist designation and have access to benefits,
including webinars.
The second phase of the
program, expected to launch shortly, will feature four separate certifications
covering Oahu, Maui Nui, Kauai, and the Big Island of Hawaii. Agents earn
individual Island Specialist designations upon completion. Graduates of all six
courses will be designated a Hawaii Destination Expert and qualify for more
benefits, including self-guided familiarization trips.
Basso, in an email interview
with Travel Weekly's Home-Based e-letter, said the new program is designed with
the needs of today's agents and technology in mind.
“As the Hawaii
Destination Specialist Program was developed more than 10 years ago, we wanted
to address the needs of today’s travel professional and upgrade the content,
experience and technology of the program.”
She added: “The new curriculum provides a richer, more extensive understanding
of Hawaii as a whole and the six individual islands that make our state the
most culturally diverse place in the U.S. We have enhanced previous website
tools and added new resources to help travel professionals sell in todayʻs
competitive environment.”
Basso said the new technology should enable agents
to complete the coursework more easily.
“HVCB's new
resource center and Hawaii Destination Specialist Program are designed with the
busy travel professional in mind and provides unparalleled resources 24/7.
Content is now delivered in a more user-friendly, mobile-optimized platform
incorporating beautiful visuals, audio narration, videos and, most importantly,
has been segmented to save valuable time. An example of this is our new webinar
library, which enables home-based agents to learn whenever it is most
convenient to them.”