Avoya Travel is celebrating 60 years with 2,100 Independent Agents (IAs), $600 million in sales, 30 annual events and three big announcements.
During a virtual briefing last week, Jeff Anderson, co-CEO, and Phil Cappelli, chief sales officer, shared that the host agency is increasing its commission split, recruiting experienced advisors and launching an online booking platform, all strategic moves that will help the agency accelerate its growth and maintain its impressive 92 Net Promoter Score amid fast-moving technological advancements.
"We are positioning ourselves not just for this year, but for years to come,” Cappelli said.
Here’s what you need to know about Avoya’s new offerings.
Premier Commission Program
Avoya has always maintained that the millions it spends on generating high-quality leads justified a bigger commission split.
But starting in 2025, Avoya agents can earn up to 65% higher commission splits on Avoya Live Leads.
"The value of the Avoya leads is in many cases 75-100% more than the average IA customer,” Anderson said. “And because there is no marketing cost and because they are ready to book, it’s more valuable.”
Avoya Targets Top Producers
To complement the new-to-the-industry advisors coming through Avoya Travel Academy, Avoya is now recruiting experienced advisors to join its Elite 100 (100% commission split) with a new program, tentatively called the “60 Years of Innovation Incentive.”
Phil Cappelli (left) with top-producing Avoya Independent Agents
Credit: 2024 Avoya TravelThe agency is offering 60 top producers a $5,000 quick start incentive and a 100% commission split for $399/month.
The world is going online, but we want to do it the Avoya way — including advisors, and servicing the customer at the best level.
“We feel like we’re a great home for experienced advisors as well,” Cappelli said, adding that these advisors will help their top-line numbers.
The program will launch today. Cappelli says that Avoya will debut marketing around the program, as well as a dedicated site. Prospective advisors will have a chance to discuss with Avoya’s expansion teams to find out if it’s the right fit.
Introducing Avoya Live Bookings
Avoya has created its own online booking engine where consumers can produce quotes for cruises in a modern interface online — and all bookings will then be checked by an IA, who will earn the commission and the relationship.
“We wrote directly to all the major cruise lines, so we have direct connectivity to the cruise lines themselves,” Anderson said. “We don’t have to worry about a third-party system going down. When a supplier makes the change, we can easily match the change in the technology.”
The booking engine has been in beta since August, and has already processed bookings as large as $13,000.
Anderson and Cappelli both emphasized the importance of matching an online customer to a travel advisor, ensuring that every dollar booked through the online platform will be routed to an Avoya agent.
People are capable of booking online — but did they book the best thing? Maybe they booked under the disco. Let’s catch that issue for them.
“The world is going online, but we want to do it the Avoya way — including travel advisors, and servicing the customer at the best level,” Cappelli said.
Travelers enjoy online searching and booking, but Avoya wants to keep humans central to the process, says Anderson. This new system also allows advisors to add air and insurance, and to upsell and show their expertise and value.
“Tying in the advisor makes it a better, more seamless experience,” he said. “People are capable of booking online — but did they book the best thing? Maybe they booked under the disco. Let’s catch that issue for them.”
Cappelli added that the platform is currently just for cruise lines, and that most of the major lines have joined. He also clarified that online bookings made by an advisor’s client will be routed to that advisor.
