Supplement to Travel Trade

By Steve Tracas
President & CEO

While the power of partnership is evident among many industries, there is perhaps no greater example of the importance of building strong, mutually beneficial business relationships than in the travel sector.
Wielding the buying power of North America’s largest vacation selling network, Vacation.com has secured an unparalleled advantage in the ever-competitive world of travel that benefits Vacation.com members with increased sales and profitability.
Our membership is diverse, representing all regions of North America and agencies that specialize in cruises, tours, and unique destinations around the world. And our management team consists of experienced professionals with backgrounds in agency ownership, cruise line management, GDS operations, and marketing, among others.
Our superb team is dedicated to serving our members’ needs and, most importantly, to helping members earn more money. If our members do not succeed, neither do we. By focusing on preferred supplier sales, members reap the benefits of higher commissions, better offers for their clients and improved marketing support. The bottom line: shifting market share to Vacation.com preferred suppliers will yield greater results and keep members ahead of their competition.
The unique value of membership in Vacation.com, however, is not merely the preferred supplier relationships we garner as a result of our volume purchasing power — it’s what we do to make sure our members reap the full benefit of these relationships. Among our points of differentiation from other organizations is the fact that Vacation.com takes an active role to ensure the continued success of our members.

We bring The Power of the Partnership to life for our members through services and programs that are truly outstanding. Here are just a few:

• The industry-leading EngagementTM marketing program allows sophisticated marketing directly to our members’ customer base at a level far beyond most agencies’ capabilities. With exclusive supplier promotions, Vacation.com uses state-of-the-art Cohorts targeting technology on our consumer database of over 5 million names to provide a significant return on investment for member agencies. Engagement is simply unmatched.
• Our AgentNet members-only Extranet site features robust technology platforms that provide seamless access to the full range of content and booking tools.
• The Vacation.com CruiseCentre offers even greater financial gains on cruise and tour products that often comprise exclusively held group space or exclusive itineraries, such as our Vacation Vignettes, unavailable to non-members.
• Our unrivaled Education & Training program hosts dozens of events, seminars, and workshops, including our annual International Conference and Trade Show.
  • A sales force, including eight business development mangers in the field and a team of inside sales managers to personally address your unique business requirements.

Coming this fall are two new benefits to enhance even further the value members derive from Vacation.com.
First is a customized Vacation.com version of SIREV for our valued Canadian members. SIREV is a popular agent shopping and booking tool for packages, airfares from consolidators and charter companies, Webfares, and hotels from most major Canadian ITC and FIT operators.
Scheduled to launch in November is EZGuiderTM, a totally new online leisure selling platform being developed exclusively for U.S. members of Vacation.com. Available at no cost, the tool will give users the ability to research, plan, quote and book comprehensive cruise, tour, insurance and ancillary travel products in an all-in-one, easy to use Internet based system. Members will be eligible to earn performance-based booking incentives from select preferred suppliers when booking through the tool.
Within Vacation.com, The Power of the Partnership is alive and well. We have evolved far beyond the function of an ordinary consortium and continue to this day to reinvent the role of a travel marketing organization.
To learn whether Vacation.com is the right choice for your agency, call (800) 843-0733, E-mail sales@vacation-corp.com or visit www.JoinVacation.com.