Another supplier is recognizing the marketing power of independent agents by offering free tools for them to create their own dedicated websites.
The latest is Oceania Cruises, which recently launched its Co-Branded Agent Website Program enabling agents to promote the line’s itineraries, fares, availability and special offers on separate agent sites with their own URLs.
For a customized site, all it takes is an upload of the agency’s logo and contact and profile information, said James Rodriguez, Oceania’s director of sales and marketing. The program is free to agents.
“We want to get our product into the market widely and hope that travel agents will wear their marketing hats and see this as an opportunity,” he said.
The program “will increase Web presence for independent travel agents” so that when a consumer does a Web search of Oceania Cruises, for example, agents have a chance of grabbing that consumer’s attention, he said.
The site is operated by a third-party company so that leads and customer data remain separate from the cruise line. Information gathered from potential clients on the co-branded website is confidential to the agent and will not be shared with Oceania, Rodriguez said.
The individual agents’ websites are separate from and not linked to Oceania’s site. Content, however, is maintained by Oceania Cruises, ensuring that itineraries, fares and availability and special offers are accurate and up-to-date.
To create a site, agents visit http://cms.worldvacationsgroup.net/signup/oceania/, fill out a request form and upload the necessary information. Oceania will respond within approximately 48 hours confirming that the site has gone live, Rodriguez said.
The new agency website program is a separate program from Oceania’s top-producing agent program, the Connoisseur Club, and the line’s travel agent specialist program. Oceania is a subsidiary of Prestige Cruise Holdings, which also owns Regent Seven Seas Cruises.