North American travel agents now can access MSC Book, a booking platform that the company has used in Europe and has spent a few years adapting for the North American market. Along with a greatly enhanced booking process, MSC Cruises plans to raise brand awareness with a new television ad campaign.
MSC Book takes just four steps to make a booking, with a default to best promotional rates, the ability to compare up to three itineraries side by side and capability to book up to five staterooms at a time. The system lets agents search by departure date, port of embarkation, price range or destination.
MSC Book makes it easy to generate a quote or hold space and book, and a click sends clients pictures, videos and interactive deck plans. There’s also a new reporting dashboard that gives agents detailed revenue and commission reports, and a View Commission option that shows commission details per item in pricing for each booking.
Adding prepaid, commissionable extras such as spa services, specialty dining and drink packages is very simple. Jeffrey Hezfield, director of consumer sales at MSC Cruises USA, pointed out that the system also has great flexibility, allowing agents to easily delete or add features and see a price breakdown at checkout.
As part of MSC Book’s launch, the company is offering an additional 2 percent commission through Dec. 31 for all FIT bookings made on the system by registered agents. For each individual booking through Sept. 30 agents will be entered for a chance to win a seven-night Caribbean cruise in the posh MSC Yacht Club on MSC Divina.
The Details
MSC Cruiseswww.msccruisesusa.com
