Travel Counsellors to push Phenix further
Sophie GriffithsTravel Counsellors is hoping to see 70-80% of the company’s business done through its in-house system Phenix within the next three to five years, the group’s managing director has revealed.
Speaking to TTG, Steve Byrne said around 40% of Travel Counsellors business was currently conducted through Phenix, but the company had grand ambitions to boost this considerably.
The system, in which Travel Counsellors has invested £10 million since its inception 10 years ago, enables members to act more as tour operators and develop their own direct relationships with suppliers, which Byrne said helped improve overall customer service.
“The primary reason [for Phenix] is to help Travel Counsellors, and to help their customers. It means that if members want to put in personal requests on behalf of their clients, they can do this directly with hoteliers. They can make sure that itineraries are personally tailored to their clients.”
Byrne insisted that external tour operators which “add value” to the company shouldn’t feel threatened by Phenix’s growth. But he warned that others could be culled.
“Phenix is still growing, and those suppliers that are still specialists in their division and still add value are what Travel Counsellor members need. Where the tour operators have been aggressive in driving commission down and we’re not seeing their business grow [we will no longer work with them].”
“Some 30% of our business is direct with hoteliers at the moment, and I would like to grow that.”
Steve Byrne
He added that the plan was to now focus on expanding the range of specialist destination management companies within Phenix to help agents create more complicated itineraries for clients. “We want to be able to create bespoke driving holidays in Italy, or special culinary holidays – we want DMCs that can create genuine authenticity.”
Byrne said he was also keen to expand on direct relationships with hoteliers. “We’re starting to see more business with hoteliers that we have direct relationships with rather than just wholesalers.
“Some 30% of our business is direct with hoteliers at the moment, and I would like to grow that.”
Cruise has also proven big business for Phenix, with plans to continue building this, Byrne said. “Travel Counsellors can already dynamically-package cruise itineraries and I would expect this to grow. We want to create more bespoke itineraries.”
It comes as Byrne said the company had seen its “best ever year in recruitment” in 2016 with 1,496 members now signed up – up by 100 compared with last year.
Its global business is also growing – of the 1,497 Travel Counsellors, 930 of these are based in the UK, while 60 are in Ireland; 170 in Holland; 140 in Australia; 140 in South Africa; 45 in the UAE and 12 in Belgium – a country which Travel Counsellors launched in only last year.
Sophie Griffiths
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