ORLANDO -- In a candid moment at the Travel Weekly Internet
Conference here, executives of some of the largest agency groups
described how they were helping their agency members the most --
and the areas where they needed to improve.
During a panel discussion called "Bricks-and-Clicks Groups,"
Philip Wolf, president and chief executive of PhoCusWright, asked
representatives from the Uniglobe Group, Vacation.com, Travelbyus and
WorldKey to relate some of the compliments and complaints they hear
at their member meetings.
Michelle Desreux, senior vice president, global operations, for
the Uniglobe Group, said Uniglobe's strengths were in its good
marketing and its template-driven Web site for agents.
The weakness? "We're trying to help [agents] filter through
technologies," she said.
Uniglobe is on the lookout for technologies that agents can use
to improve their business, she added. "I'm here, not only to speak,
but to listen."
"In marketing, we do a splendid job," agreed Dick Knodt,
president of Vacation.com. What the consortium is working on, he
said, is generating new, quality customer leads for their agency
members.
Peter Rooney, senior vice president of distribution at
Travelbyus said Travelbyus recently rolled out its new Web site,
and between February and April had built 450 sites for its members.
"They're thanking us for delivering on that promise," Rooney
said.
But where Travelbyus "failed miserably" was in focusing on the
product side and not on the retail travel network. "I'm happy to
say that distribution again is tops," he added.
According to Jim Tyner, chief executive of
WorldKey/TravelInStore, their agencies have a high degree of
contact with their clients and with WorldKey. Some agencies feel
like WorldKey is doing a great job maintaining that close touch
with them -- but others feel WorldKey isn't doing enough, he
said.
During the discussion, the panelists talked about how agency
groups have changed by improving their economies of scale and
marketing, helping agents build Web sites, acting as a referral
service for new clients and adding to their intranet and extranet
services.
"Not only are consumers starved [for information], so too are
agents," said Desreux. With the agency groups like Uniglobe, she
said, "You can get an intranet where product is available...
[destination] specialists within the organization."
Two out of the four groups -- Travelbyus and TravelInStore --
have dropped the "dot-com" from their names. "The market doesn't
recognize dot-com" said Rooney. But the panelists agreed
bricks-and-clicks is a necessary business strategy: Agencies should
have some sort of Web integration.
Desreux said that consumers automatically assume that every
travel service has Internet capabilities. "It's kind of like saying
'bricks-and-fax'," she said.
"Customers want bricks, they want clicks, they want everything,"
added Knodt.