Travel Agent - August 18, 2008 - (Page 109)

Tripology Links Agents to Clients IF YOU WANT TO RECESSIONPROOF your business, market your skills to new clients and increase your profitability and productivity, Tripology (www.tripology.com) might be just what you need. Tripology is providing a growing number of traditional and home-based agents a costeffective way to increase sales and profits with qualified travel leads. You, as the agent/specialist, maintain control of the leads you want. The traveler, in turn, benefits from your expertise and personalized services. By matching travel professionals to high-intent travelers, Tripology adds up to a cost-effective way to build business, expand marketing reach and build a client with a time-saving, cost-effective medium to stand out from the crowd and find exactly the types of clients they want to work with,” he says. IMPACT User-Friendly Tripology is easy to use, both for the agent/ specialist and for the consumers. To begin, travel specialists log on to www.tripology. com/agents to create their profile, selecting lead filters based on the exact types of trips that they specialize in booking. Travel agents are able to indicate minimum budgets, specific destinations and lead times, as well as numerous other criteria. The agent’s profile is then reviewed, confirmed and accepted by Tripology, at which time the specialist starts to receive leads. Consumers visit Tripology.com and complete a detailed trip request form indicating their desired travel destinations, budget, tours, activities and lodging preferences. When Tripology receives a consumer request, the lead is assessed and priced according to the length and complexity of the trip. The average lead is priced at $5. When there is a match between what a consumer specifies and an agent’s preferences, the agent receives a “lead alert” via e-mail, with the details of the requested trip. If the travel specialist is interested in pursuing the lead, they click the “accept” link. Only the first three agents who “accept” a lead are then given the client’s contact information. The agent then contacts the client directly to provide their specialized knowledge and personal service in planning and booking the consumer’s trip. Tripology specialists may also opt to receive “exclusive leads” by uploading detailed itineraries that are found through Tripology’s search engine and often featured on the site’s home page. After viewing the trip, interested travelers can be put in touch directly with the agent who can help them. The agent retains the details of the traveler for follow-up marketing as appropriate, Peters notes. It also gives the agent the choice of suppliers to be used and allows dynamic packaging of a trip as appropriate for the clients. Agents can alter their individual profile as needed. Peters sees new opportunities ahead for Tripology, including more use by agency consortia and host agencies and independent home-based agents that want to grow business. “Tripology is proving its value to professional agents and to the traveling public,” he says. “It’s a practical solution for agent/specialists to showcase their expertise and for consumers to link up with highly qualified specialists.” —GEORGE DOOLEY CONNECTING YOU For other online tools that can be useful to agents, visit www.travelagentcentral.com/tech M ARKETPL ACE For Marketplace Advertising Information contact one of these account representatives: CHRISTINA RASMUSSEN (East Coast, Caribbean and Latin America) Phone: (212) 895-8215 Email: crasmussen@questex.com BRADLEY LEVINE (West Coast, including AK and HI and Western Canada) Phone: (216) 706-3796 Email: bradley.levine@questex.com Marketplace Advertising requires prepayment. Payment must be received by the classiﬁed closing date. VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS accepted. John Peters, president and CEO of Tripology base. Since its launch in June 2007, Tripology has processed more than 40,000 consumer trip requests—20,000 since March alone. “The online travel world continues to be fragmented, and it is becoming increasingly more difficult for travel specialists to gain online exposure amid a sea of socialnetworking sites and booking engines,” says industry veteran John T. Peters, president and CEO of Tripology. Tripology, he continues, gives agents a new way to combine the power of the Internet with their professional expertise to grow their businesses. “Tripology provides travel professionals TOUR OPERATORS August 18, 2008 TravelAgent | 109 http://www.tripology.com http://www.tripology.com/agents http://www.tripology.com/agents http://www.travelagentcentral.com/tech http://Tripology.com http://www.russianconsulting.com http://www.russianconsulting.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - August 18, 2008

Travel Agent - April 18, 2008 Online Now Contents From the Editor Pacific/Asia: Visitors to Ubud will Discover the Essence of Balinese Art and Culture Special Supplement: Malaysia Travel Planner New Zealand: There is Plenty to See and Do Throughout the West Coast of the Southern Alps Europe: Beauty, History and Culture Combine in Valencia, Spain Caribbean: Scrub Island is the BVI’s First Development in 15 years The Wyndham Rio Mar’s $40 Million Makeover is Well Underway in Puerto Rico The Latest on Grenada, a Caribbean Up-and-Comer Mexico: Big Hotel Plans are in the Works for the Riviera Nayarit Florida: Loews Portofino Bay Hotel turns Orlando into Italy Las Vegas: Dinner at these Restaurants Can Get your Clients into Vegas’ Hottest Nightclubs Cover Story: Medical Tourism Special Supplement: Destination Weddings Specialist 3.0 Hotels: Everything Old is New Again at New York’s Algonquin Cruise: Short Cruises Keep your Clients on the Move for Less Group Travel: Disney makes Exotic Locales Friendly for Family Travel Car Rentals: How Much Insurance Does your Client Need for a Rental Car? Agency Profile: Corporate Travel Sales are Rising at MTravel.com, a Division of Montrose Luxury Travel Expo Agenda: Fam Trips, Deals & Incentives, Calendar Hyatt comes to Curaçao New Hotels and Resorts in Asia CLIA Tightens Qualifications for ID Tripology Links Agents to Clients In the Spotlight Agent Access Editorial Index Advertising Index Trendwatch

Travel Agent - August 18, 2008

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