McAuley, the two operators’ managing director, believes the travel agent’s view is an important one when it comes to deciding what product to offer. “I’m always conscious that you don’t just take the internal perspective,” she says. “So in June, we visited over 400 independent agents and on average spoke to two employees in each.”
Among the topics foremost in
her mind was how agents perceive Travel 2 when it comes to touring holidays – a product that, while fashionable, is often misunderstood.
Touring, she says, might be a Harley Davidson trip through California, a self-drive motorhome or an escorted trip through Vietnam. “We have some work to do to get across to the agent how much product we have,” she adds.
The research found that 75% of agents had booked a tour with Travel 2, while of those who hadn’t, 22% said they’d “never think” of the operator for such a holiday, and 7% said they didn’t know it was offering them.
Chance to expand
“So there is still opportunity for us to expand,” she said. To this end, an addition to Travel 2’s touring range is Wendy Wu Tours – the first time the Asia specialist has been available “via a dedicated wholesale distributor”, McAuley says proudly – describing the partnership as “a real coup”. Another “big name” is also due to be signed soon.
McAuley wants Travel 2 to be known as a “one-stop shop” for touring and has a good reason for agents to book, having increased the incentive per booking to £35 until the end of October. Previously, incentives were part of T2 Rewards and amounted to “about £10”.
Touring is a “significant” part of Travel 2’s business, and its Asia focus sits well with this type of holiday, although Gold Medal’s strength centres more on its US expertise and is considered “more mainstream” by agents.
“There’s a huge amount of buzz about the word ‘touring’ and it gives agents the ability to showcase their expertise. Plus it has a high ticket value,” McAuley enthuses. “There’s some work to be done on defining what Travel 2 touring is and what it encompasses,” she concedes.
Cruise is another area that McAuley, with her background at Silversea, is naturally keen to explore. Travel 2, she believes, can also become a one-stop shop for cruise, offering the airfare element and the pre and post tour. The cruise revolution has already begun at the operator.
“During the peak, we saw a 31% increase year-on-year,” she says.
A river cruise brochure was produced in April, and by the end of the year a luxury and expedition ship programme will be out.
“Brand awareness is strong, but we need to better segment our market, which we will do with our luxury programme,” she explains. “It will drop in time for the peak and be supported on the road.”
Brand perception
The research also delved into how both brands were perceived.
“The fact that they have the same owner was not a concern – agents viewed them as very separate,” says McAuley. “A lot of them still don’t make the connection between Travel 2, Gold Medal and dnata.”
This, McAuley argues, reinforces the need to keep the two UK brands separate. “Would we ever merge? No, that is absolutely not the intention,” she insists. “We know that each brand has its own loyal fan base, but I am also conscious that we have been operating in the same space, so I want them to make the best of their points of difference.”
She is adamant that all the cost savings after the two brands were brought under the dnata name four years ago have been “worked out” and that there is no more upheaval to come.
So what’s next? “I want to do some research on marketing, and we have started to dig a little on how important brochures are. We’ll also pick some agents and see how we can market using social media. I’m a massive fan of research, particularly when we have a captive audience that offers feedback willingly – why would you not harness that and use it?”
