Windstar Cruises is creating a new outreach for travel
agents to gain more attention for its small-ship brand.
The outreach, to be detailed at the Cruise360 convention
in Vancouver starting June 1, will have four cornerstones, said Joe Duckett,
the vice president of sales and marketing for Seattle-based Windstar. They
include a pledge to keep the product quality high, more education and
familiarization, a new emphasis on timely responses and agent service in
general and improved offerings for group sales.
“We’re a small company that’s been focused on fleet
expansion,” Duckett said. “Now that the new ships are in the fleet, our focus
is on our partners and our channels.”
Windstar doubled its fleet in the past two years with the
addition of three 212-passenger ships from Seabourn, renamed the Star Pride,
the Star Legend and the Star Breeze.
The line is calling its agent outreach Star Promise,
vowing to make travel agents the stars.
Following a survey sent to 20,000 agents, Windstar
identified a few strengths and shortcomings.
Among the strengths was guest satisfaction with the
onboard experience, which Duckett said surprised even Windstar. The first
element of the Star Promise is a pledge to keep up product quality so that
agents feel they can trust sending their guests on the ships.
A second leg in the program is agent education. “We have
a special brand,” Duckett said, “and we have to do a little better job
educating our partners about the Windstar experience and what makes it
special.”
To that end, Windstar is making cabins available for free
familiarization cruises by agents on select European cruises this summer.
Agents will be responsible only for non-discountable amounts, gratuities, port
charges and taxes under the program.
In addition, Windstar is expanding an online academy that
will teach agents about the ins and outs of the brand, one of the few to
operate wind-powered ships.
The initial module will take an hour to complete. Agents
finishing the course in June will be entered into a drawing to win a tablet
computer.
To call attention to Star Promise at Cruise360, Windstar
will be giving away 24 Acer tablets and two cruises in a series of drawings at
its booth on the trade show floor.
A third element of the Star Promise is an expanded groups
program, divided into two tiers of cruises. About a third of Windstar’s 2016
and 2017 sail dates are at Star Group rates, which are discounted 5% from
Windstar’s Savings Fare. Another two-thirds are at Star Advantage rates,
discounted 10%.
In both tiers, agents can qualify for a 1-for-9 tour
conductor credit, a $100 per-person bonus commission once the tour conductor
credit is earned and a cocktail party for groups of 18 or more.
Windstar’s initial webinars this summer for Star Promise
will be focused on the groups program.
The final tenet of the Star Promise program is improved
service to agents, especially delivering speedier answers to agent inquiries.
Duckett said the survey turned up a need to improve
responsiveness, so Windstar has reorganized internally to guarantee an answer
within 24 hours to any inquiry or issue.
“No matter how big the issue may be, we are going to
respond to it no later than the next business day,” Duckett said. “No partner
is not going to have a call returned or an email replied to [for] longer than
24 hours. World-class service isn’t only about the guest; it’s about our
partners. And it’s clear we have to be more deliberate about it.”