If anyone can handle a crisis situation, it’s Steve Gorga, president and CEO of 35-year-old travel supplier, Travel Impressions. Gorga, who grew up on Long Island, N.Y., and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years, will never forget his entree to the company. Just six weeks after accepting a position at the company’s headquarters in Farmingdale, on Long Island, 35 miles outside of New York City, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks shook the nation.
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Steve Gorga, president and CEO of Travel Impressions // © Tony Lopez 2009 |
“It was an unbelievable time to be a part of this company,” said Gorga. “My boss from American Express, of which we are a wholly owned subsidiary, was just coming in for her first business review with me that morning, and I picked her up from the train station at about 9:30 a.m., asking immediately if she knew what was happening. She said, ‘You know, I saw some smoke as I was leaving the city.’ I replied to her, ‘Oh gosh, I need to tell you that this is not a good day.’”
Needless to say, Gorga and his boss did not address the business review that morning; rather, they concerned themselves with the welfare of employees (American Express was headquartered across the street from the World Trade Center) and customers, many of whom were impacted by the terrorist attacks in some way. Actually, it wasn’t until about a month later that Travel Impressions began discussions on mitigating the negative effects that Sept. 11 had on its business.
The challenges for the new CEO were multiple.
“First of all, I was still getting to know everybody’s name and, never having run a vacation wholesaler before, I didn’t understand how the business operated,” he continued. “Then, the business took a sudden drop in volume, and we decided to close our office in Atlanta.”
Success Story
Under Gorga’s leadership, the company embraced key strategies to enable them to forge ahead and, in time, grow Travel Impressions’ profitability and brand substantially. By 2006 and 2007, the company saw double-digit growth and received numerous awards. Now, Travel Impressions works with about 1,800 hotels, 28 airlines and hundreds of groundoperators worldwide. And just this year, the company was designated a TravelAge West WAVE Awards Editor’s Pick for Best Tour Operator, Mexico.
In light of current events, Travel Impressions, much like most other travel suppliers, is entering yet another new stage of business. Most immediately, the company has been scrambling to assist agents and their clients with altering travel plans to Mexico — the destination most affected by the recent H1N1 influenza (swine flu) pandemic and one of the company’s most popular products.
The day after the U.S. declared a public health emergency, the Travel Impressions Customer Care Group established a special hotline backed by additional staff members who have been handling H1N1 queries, travel changes and cancellations.
“Mexico and the Caribbean are our two largest markets, and Cancun is our number-one destination, so we have certainly felt the effect,” said Gorga. “Our call volume to our reservations centers was very heavy during the first week of the influenza situation, and we were in an all-hands-on-deck mode to meet our customers’ needs. We also found that many of our travel agent partners were proactive in reaching out to their customers, making changes if needed and adopting a wait-and-see attitude if travel was scheduled a little further out.”
And, even in a bleak global economy, Travel Impressions has responded by bullishly fine-tuning its core operations, spending more money on marketing than ever before and reallocating resources by hiring new employees in the first quarter of 2009.
“Because of the economy, we are literally getting thousands of promotions from our hotel and airline partners,” he said. “The simple thing we’re doing right now is hiring people to load the promotions, so that when the customer wants to make a booking, we can give him the best terms, price and conditions in
the marketplace.”
The company further differentiates itself from competitors with an instant price-match guarantee — as long as all package components are identical and the wholesaler offers commissions to agents — and a fully commissionable Cancel for Any Reason Travel Protection Plan, which provides enrolled clients with a full refund for canceling travel plans up to the departure time of the originally scheduled flight. Additionally, the protection plan covers agent commissions up to $100 per booking on all canceled, paid reservations.
The Cancel for Any Reason Travel Protection Plan is essentially a selling tool for agents who need extra leverage to retain clients or close the deal with new ones.
“If a customer comes in, and they aren’t so sure about the vacation, the agent can say, ‘Look, let’s get it on the books with this travel protection plan and, in the event that you can’t go, for any reason at all, you will literally get cash back for these non-refundable, published air tickets.’ The agent’s commission is then protected to a certain extent, and he or she can get an extra 1 percent commission for booking online,” Gorga said.
For those who prefer booking by phone or simply need assistance, Travel Impressions has enhanced its customer service department significantly as well. Customer care counselors are available to agents 24/7 and will notify agents about situations that might affect a client’s vacation, such as product changes or hotel renovations.
“We’ve really made sure that our support team is answering the phone on time — 80 percent of our calls are answered within 20 seconds,” Gorga said of his team of about 200 who field phone calls. “We maniacally focus on that to ensure that we are responsive to our agents, and I know our competition doesn’t do that.”
Most of the competition hasn’t designed a travel program specifically for gay and lesbian travelers, either. After reading articles in travel trade publications about an emerging gay and lesbian market, Travel Impressions launched its Gay and Lesbian Travel Program in 2008 with TravelImp.com/GayTravel, an online vacation source for booking gay- and lesbian-friendly vacations across the globe.
And, about five years ago, Travel Impressions decided to change the way it focuses on its agent customers. The company started working with agencies and agents (including the growing segment of home-based agents) in a way that would help drive their businesses. The wholesaler introduced a highly targeted business development service with a staff of on-call business development managers. Via meetings or phone appointments, the business consultants will work with agents to develop customized strategies that can help the agent attract and retain customers, compete in the world of technology and improve profitability.
The wholesaler also reaches out to agents by hosting about 20 agent appreciation events per year in the U.S. The events typically take place in larger cities and include a mini trade show, updated tools, product news, agent awards, prizes and more.
Upcoming West Coast appreciation events will be held in Denver on Sept. 15, in Orange County, Calif., on Sept. 16, and in Los Angeles on Sept. 17.
In a move to expand its reach to agents outside of major U.S. cities, the company launched its first virtual appreciation event earlier this month. It included a Webinar presentation, agent awards and prizes.
“From the attendee comments we received online, it went extremely well, and we believe that this is a new way to reach more of our customers in a way that does not impinge on their time but allows us to still share information and recognition,” said Sallie Rawlings, senior director, corporate communications.
Strength in Diversity
The company once exclusively known for Caribbean and Mexico vacations will continue to diversify its product in 2009. This summer, Travel Impressions will offer JetBlue Airways flights and family-friendly packages to Vail Resorts’ Colorado properties, which will include lodging, transfers and activities such as rafting, hiking and horseback riding. Families and groups can also take advantage of new ski destinations being added this year, such as Winter Park and Beaver Creek, Colo., and the Deer Valley area near Park City, Utah.
In the fourth quarter of 2009, the company will launch vacations to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Clients can expect to choose from approximately 75 hotels in Australia, 25 hotels in both New Zealand’s North and South islands and 10 hotels in Fiji from Denarau Island to the Mamanuca Islands. Travel Impressions also plans to offer rail tours from Uluru to Sydney and Brisbane, Australia, featuring stops at the Blue Mountains, The Great Dividing Range and Ayers Rock.
But it’s not entirely a year of expansion for Travel Impressions. In March, the wholesaler announced that it will no longer manage Delta Vacations — which changed management after Delta Airlines merged with Northwest Airlines — beginning on July 6.
“You never like to lose a piece of business. I’m not going to sugarcoat that. But I totally understand what happened from a business perspective. Why third-party something if you could do it in-house?” Gorga explained.
The good news is that the company learned a great deal from the preparation and management of Delta Vacations, and added ski destinations, Canada and New Orleans to its product line.
Travel Impressions’ decisions to augment existing products and add additional destinations came with much consideration and research — each quarter, for example, the wholesaler sends out an extensive, 26-question survey to its agents.
“One thing we do really well is listen to our agents, and those surveys tell us where to focus,” he said. “About four years ago, we heard that our documents were the worst in the industry. So, we spent well over $1 million to make them the best. This year, I’m proud to say, the MAST Travel Network recognized Travel Impressions for Best Client Documents and Trip Presentation.”
Gorga added that he reads every e-mail that arrives in his inbox, which averages about 150 a day. “I consider myself highly accessible in the industry — travel agents that work with me know that I respond to them. In fact, my e-mail is [email protected], and I welcome anyone to send me an e-mail if they have any questions or want me to work with them.”
Don’t be surprised if you hear back from him either.
“I’ve been working with travel agents for my entire career, and I know that they probably have one of the toughest jobs in the world.”
Travel Impressions hopes to make that job just a little bit easier.
Web Exclusive
Read a Q&A with Travel Impression's Melissa Krueger.
Contact
Travel Impressions
800-284-0044
www.travimp.com
Travel Impressions’ Gay and Lesbian Travel Program
800-284-0044
www.travimp.com/gaytravel
Aid to Agents
Travel Impressions wants its agent partners to close the sale and, to assist agents, it offers several resources and marketing tools. One of the most valuable and, perhaps, least known, marketing resources is its business development strategy service.
A staff of approximately 50 business development managers is available, free of charge, by phone or for face-to-face meetings to listen to agents’ needs, fine-tune a specific business model and match individualized strategies for the agent or agency to the tools that Travel Impressions provides. For example, if an agent is interested in capitalizing on the growing family travel segment, a business development manager will work one-on-one with the agent to develop this niche and help establish the agent’s credibility in the marketplace.
The business consultants can also teach agents how to use and market themselves on social networking sites, such as Twitter.com and Facebook.com, and set up customized Webinars for agencies.
Any agent who books a Travel Impression vacation has access to this free service.
