In the ever-evolving landscape of the global travel industry, collaboration and partnerships play a pivotal role in driving growth and success. One such partnership that holds immense potential is the one between tourism boards and travel agency consortia.
By working closely together, these two entities can leverage their unique strengths to create impactful tourism experiences that benefit travel advisors and their clients.
Understanding Travel Agency Consortia
Travel advisor consortia are associations or networks of independent travel agencies that unite to pool resources, share expertise and enhance their negotiating power with suppliers. These consortia provide a unified platform for member agencies to access exclusive deals, training, marketing support and technology solutions. By joining forces, travel agencies can offer enhanced services to their clients and stay competitive in the market.
Tourism boards have a golden opportunity to enhance their brand and funnel travel business through consortia. Below are some tips for cultivating the best relationship with travel agent networks.
1. Foster Open Communication Channels. Establishing transparent, open lines of communication is crucial for effective collaboration. A consortium usually offers a dedicated account manager to liaise with each tourism board. Those individuals must become your trusted partners; they communicate a tourism board’s needs and will listen to ideas. Consortia are often quite flexible and adaptable.
2. Share Data and Research. Sharing relevant data, such as traveler demographics and booking trends, can help both parties gain insights into market dynamics and preferences. This data-driven approach can inform decision-making and guide strategic initiatives.
3. Coordinate Marketing Efforts. Collaborative marketing campaigns and promotions offer a platform to spotlight a destination's distinctive attributes. And great results can come from harnessing the expertise of both the tourism board and the marketing reach of the consortium.
It’s key to ensure alignment among all stakeholders, including member tour operators, airlines, cruises and hotels within the consortium. Additionally, the inclusion of destination management companies (DMCs) proves to be crucial. These entities cater to the diverse needs of travel advisors and their clients, thereby significantly simplifying the process of promoting trips to the destination. It's vital to remember that the tourism board's role is to facilitate partnerships, enhancing the destination's brand recognition and driving travel bookings.
4. Train and Educate. Offering training programs, destination familiarization trips and workshops can enhance the knowledge and expertise of travel agency staff regarding the destination. Well-informed travel advisors can better promote and sell the destination to potential travelers.
5. Bid to Host Consortia Events. Many tourism boards work with consortia to help them facilitate familiarization trips, which are essential. As much as those are important and productive, consortia are always looking for a new destination for their events.
A Case Study Between a Travel Agency Consortium and a Tourism Board
The collaboration between the Jordan Tourism Board, North America (JTBNA) and Travel Leaders Network (TLN) serves as a noteworthy example. JTBNA’s initial assessment of Jordan's status within TLN revealed that while several tour operators offered Jordan tours, it wasn't a destination of significant interest to the group’s travel advisor members. In 2015, Jordan bookings through the network amounted to $1.1 million, and there were no DMCs from Jordan associated with TLN.
With the guidance and support of the TLN marketing team, JTBNA’s collaboration with the consortium began to flourish. We participated in numerous TLN events, conducted various training sessions, implemented attractive incentives and diligently worked toward elevating Jordan's brand recognition as a preferred tourism destination for TLN travelers.
As a result of our efforts, in 2019, we partnered with TLN leadership to host the TLN International Summit in Petra, Jordan. The event proved to be a resounding success, leading to a remarkable increase of more than 170% in bookings to Jordan during the following quarter alone.
The success of this endeavor hinged on the proactive approach of the tourism board in seeking information and intelligence to identify untapped potential within the consortia. Furthermore, the credit goes to TLN, as they extended support from various departments. This collaboration involved close cooperation with senior management, the event planning team, the marketing team and the product development team to fully harness the power of destination marketing through the network.
As a result of our joint efforts, there are now three DMC members from Jordan associated with TLN, and bookings to Jordan reached an impressive $38 million in 2022. This remarkable transformation stands as a true success story, exemplifying the importance of cooperation between destinations and consortia in unlocking the full potential of the tourism industry.
