Vacation.com and Uniglobe Travel have formed a marketing
alliance to move market share.
The consortium which includes nearly 9,000 agencies, and the
franchise organization, which has 300 agencies in the United States
say that the effort will be used to initially increase Vacation.com
agencies’ corporate business.
Over time, it ia also intended to boost Uniglobe’s leisure
business.
The goal is to “move market share to preferred suppliers,” said
Dick Knodt, president and CEO of Vacation.com.
Vacation.com agencies that join the program, at $395 a month,
payable to Uniglobe, will have access to Uniglobe’s PowerPoint
presentations, direct mail and a hotel rate program. Uniglobe’s
sales tools are focused on the midsize corporate travel sector.
Participating agencies must include Uniglobe’s logo on corporate
marketing materials, but will not be required to change their
company’s names.
A spokesman said that 17 to 19 Vacation.com agencies are already
Uniglobe franchisees.
On July 1, the arrangement will move to the next step, called
Uniglobe V. It will permit Uniglobe agencies to benefit from
Vacation.com’s services and preferred suppliers.
One of the preferred supplier benefits in this arrangement, the
spokesman said, concerns Delta Air Lines. Delta is ending all
relationships with leisure-oriented consortiums this month and is
launching a point-to-point agreement plan, focused on corporate
accounts. Delta, along with United, Continental and America West,
is a Uniglobe-preferred supplier.
To join the program, a Vacation.com agency must have a minimum
of $1 million annually in ARC sales and predominantly sell
corporate travel.
However, agencies that are considered too close to a Uniglobe
agency site will not be allowed to participate.
