Since the start of the year, the escorted touring and river cruise specialist has started paying commission on previously exempt elements such as on upgrades and other ancillary add-ons.
More than three months later, Riviera is starting to see this decision bear fruit. Sales through agents are currently up by 47% year-on-year, while bookings which feature upgrades have jumped by more than a quarter during the past week alone.
Speaking to TTG at the inaugural Riviera Travel Agent Awards in London on Thursday (11 April), head of trade and partnerships Vicky Billing said: “Feedback from the agent committee included some complaints about not paying commission on flights.
"We don’t tend to get complaints, but if we were getting complaints, it was about not paying commission, and rightly so. If you’re a travel agent and you put a lot of effort into selling a business class flight, you should be rewarded and paid commission on that. I recognised we needed to fix that.”
Billing said it “took time” to make the change, but now Riviera doesn’t get any complaints about this issue. She also believes this decision is in-part responsible for a recent surge in long-haul touring sales.
"Traditionally, river cruise has been around 70% of our business, while touring was 30%. But now river cruise is around 56% and the rest is touring," Billing revealed. "People see Riviera and think river cruise, but touring has really grown."
Agents who attended the last Riviera trade engagement committee meeting in February urged the operator to share Net Promoter Scores from customers who had taken a Riviera tour.
"They wanted to know why they should book a tour for their customers,” Billing continued. “For instance, we will visit a hotel at least three times before we put customers in there. We want to make sure that it’s absolutely spot on. We’re that obsessed. The agent committee has said we need you to shout about that more.”
Last October, Riviera launched a new e-learning platform to help travel agents improve their knowledge of the brand. The Riviera Explorer programme has been designed for both experienced sellers and those new to selling Riviera.
More than 2,500 agents have signed up so far, and around 5% of the new-to-brand agents have gone on to make their first Riviera booking, Billing said. She also confirmed attracting new agents was one of the reasons Riviera invested in the new platform, and promised several enhancements would be made soon.
’We try to do everything we can’
When asked how many bookings now came through the trade, Billing said: “In 2019, trade business was around 15%, and at the last count, it was between 26% and 27%. Last year, it was around 24%-25%.
“We’re trying to do everything we can. We know we’ve still got work to do. We work really hard. We’re obsessed with customers and trade partners and getting it right.”
Billing said Riviera is currently recruiting for a country manager for Ireland and a key account manager for the south of England. “We’re always looking for ways to evolve and support [agents],” she added.
