Change can be difficult for any company. And Travel Impressions certainly faced some challenges as it migrated to a new platform, worked to improve its call center and encouraged travel advisors to follow along with the changes. But according to the feedback at the 24th annual Best of the Best, the company’s annual conference and awards celebration, company officials as well as travel advisors are reaping the benefits of recent improvements. And now, Travel Impressions has a revamped site to make it easier for advisors to maximize their potential while selling the company’s services.
“We’re off to a good start and have a lot of positive momentum,” said Scott Wiseman, president of Travel Impressions, noting that the migration from its previous booking system, Quest, to VAX VacationAccess came partly as a result of the recent merger between parent company Apple Leisure Group and the Mark Travel Corp. “We really believe in this new platform, and we want to remind agents of what we have to offer them.”
The Best of the Best conference took place in Nov. 21-24 at Secrets Maroma Beach Riviera Cancun, with dozens of top-selling advisors and Apple Leisure Group executives on hand for an array of presentations, workshops and festive events. The positive tone was underscored by the event’s theme: “People. Purpose. Passion.”
Distilling the industry's most comprehensive product portfolio and travel agent resources into a simple layout for quick-reference capability took some creativity — and we're extremely proud of the outcome.
Wiseman said that while the transition may have been trying at times, the adjustments have been successful, and the confidence level of advisors who work with the company today has increased.
In December, Travel Impressions launched a new website designed to improve advisor productivity. The new site aims for greater usability, with tools and resources that allow advisors to review the company’s most popular travel deals and book any package from any landing page. The new site provides seamless integration with VAX VacationAccess, the online leisure travel marketplace that allows advisors to create personalized vacations; review travel industry content and insights; and participate in live webinars.
"Distilling the industry's most comprehensive product portfolio and travel agent resources into a simple layout for quick-reference capability took some creativity — and we're extremely proud of the outcome," Wiseman said.
Travel Impressions has improved its experience for advisors in other ways, too. The call center staff, for example, has increased by more than 200 since 2018, significantly decreasing the wait time for advisors who contact the company. And travel advisors will find lots of other attractive elements in the Travel Impressions portfolio of services, according to Wiseman.
“The self-service features are really robust,” he said. “It’s allowing them to take care of their clients at any hour of the day.”
Indeed, Wiseman stressed that the company’s dedication to the advisor community is evident in many of the recent changes. The Best of the Best conference included multiple workshops that allowed advisors to provide feedback and suggestions, fostering an interactive ambiance with greater communication. The event also included live help desks and stations for reservations and group customer care assistance.
In addition to providing new services and features to travel advisors, Travel Impressions is giving travel advisors more to sell, with 65% growth in domestic inventory over the past year, including 30 new states. The company also reports a 23% growth in inventory in Europe. Advisors and their clients can now choose from more than 30,000 tours, attractions and transfer services, including more than 100 escorted tour options, in destinations that range from Asia to Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.
Mexico, of course, figures heavily in the company’s offerings, which consist of a quarter million hotels and resorts in 1,300 destinations. The popular vacation destination was logically well represented at the event, with executives from AMResorts, Riu Hotels & Resorts and other companies present to share the latest news about property developments and sales opportunities.
The Details
Travel Impressions
www.travelimpressions.com
