Travel Agent - December 22, 2009 - (Page 30)

COVER STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 added Rose Snyder, UTC’s vice president and general manager. “Magellan360 affiliates will have access to Uniglobe programs, including business and marketing planning assistance, marketing tool kits, expanded support help-desk hours and the ability to network with more than 750 Uniglobe agencies in 40 countries.” Pam Miller, president of Magellan360, will join UTC to facilitate a smooth and seamless transition. “One of the many aspects that solidified our decision to sell the operation to Uniglobe is their complementary business model and corporate culture,” she said. “Despite their size and global reach, they are a family-owned business rooted in the values and principles of delivering exceptional customer service based on dependability, integrity and initiative.” On the technology side, The Travel Zone (www.thetravelzone.com) signed a worldwide partnership agreement with Uniglobe Travel International. The move will include setting up new hosting and fulfillment operations across the globe for Uniglobe’s regions. Uniglobe currently has 700 locations across 30 countries. Each fulfillment center will receive a customized version of The Travel Zone’s Agent RC technology platform, which includes booking tools, content, language preferences and regionspecific back-office interfaces. The Agent RC system has special value for host agencies’ management of outside agent networks. New fulfillment centers will be created to serve Southern Africa, South Asia, Austria, the British Isles, Canada, China, Germany, Holland, Italy and Switzerland. “The U.S. market has seen exponential growth in the home-based and hosting market segments,” said William Almonte, president and CEO of The Travel Zone. “The Travel Zone and Uniglobe intend to combine their expertise to offer a powerful worldwide hosting solution.” “We see the hosting and outsourced fulfillment as an opportunity that could be implemented globally,” said Amanda Close, Uniglobe vice president of global operations and regional services. “As a result, traditional agencies and home-based agencies would have the opportunity to streamline their operations and focus on 30 | TravelAgent December 22, 2008 growing their businesses.” The Agent RC technology platform is a web-based, hosted solution that offers travel agencies of any size a complete turnkey system to manage host/fulfillment operations at an affordable monthly subscription cost, which the agency can then resell. Agencies can customize the entire application with their own branding, content, booking engines and information. Other Noteworthy Deals Radius Travel and Transport (www.radius travel.com) of Omaha acquired Abacus Travel, based in the Boston area, in January. Abacus had $100 million in sales and 100 staffers and was rebranded as Travel and Transport, specializing, as did Abacus, in business travel management. Another interesting deal is online travelselling giant Expedia’s (www.expedia.com) recent alliance with Canadian franchiser From Far and Near CruiseShipCenters (www.cruiseshipcenters. One trend worth watching is the entry of com). This suggests that overseas companies into the North American new technology will be market. Travelzest (www.travelzestplc.com), combined and blended by a UK-based specialist travel group, acquired online players who also the Canadian luxury cruise retailer The Cruise want the offline skills of Professionals (www.cruiseprofessionals.com) personalized service and in June, for a reported $10 million. The comknowledgeable staff that pany employs 41 travel professionals and was agencies provide. Expedia CruiseShipCenters designed to expand into markets outside North now has 107 retail locations and 1,600 cruise America—especially the luxury cruise market. consultants. Travelzest, Travel Counsellors and Flight Centre In October, the merger are all international firms who entered the of New York-based Pisa North American market. Back in the U.S., DenBrothers Travel (www.pisa ver-based Andavo Travel brothers.com) with Southern California-based (www.andavotravel.com) and Salt Lake City-based Worldview Travel (www. worldviewtravel.com) was Christopherson Business announced. The company Travel (www.christopherhas an estimated $200 sontravel.com) announced a million in annual sales and merger in January to form a will be led by Ricci Zuker$250 million travel manageman, founder of Worldview. ment giant. The goal was to A Virtuoso member specialstrengthen the two compaizing in luxury travel, the nies’ marketing positions, Amanda Close, VP of global company has more than 100 realize business efficiencies operations and regional independent contractors. and exploit buying power services, Uniglobe Travel Center Both agencies will retain and technology gains. Both their own name identities. Another example of confidence is offered by Altour (www.altour.com). Admitting the current economic uncertainty suggests an inevitable slowdown for the travel industry, Altour, one of the leading travel agencies serving the affluent market, said it continues to actively Pam Miller, seek acquisitions. president, In the past 18 months, Magellan360, Altour said it has completed five acquisitions in both domestic and international markets and remains undeterred by the current financial climate. With total sales of $535 million in 2007, Altour is among the largest independent agencies serving the luxury and mid-market travel niches. It has 700 employees and offices in 21 countries—and it continues to grow. Barry Noskeau, Altour’s executive vice president, said that the company’s goal is to increase sales to $1 billion through organic growth and acquisitions. http://www.altour.com http://www.radiustravel.com http://www.radiustravel.com http://www.thetravelzone.com http://www.expedia.com http://www.cruiseshipcenters.com http://www.cruiseshipcenters.com http://www.travelzestplc.com http://www.cruiseprofessionals.com http://www.pisabrothers.com http://www.pisabrothers.com http://www.andavotravel.com http://www.worldviewtravel.com http://www.worldviewtravel.com http://www.christophersontravel.com http://www.christophersontravel.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - December 22, 2009

Travel Agent - December 22, 2009 Reality Check Contents Online Now From the Editor Mexico: The Riviera Maya has Hotels for Every Taste and Style Europe: The Brand-New ME Barcelona has an Exciting and Stylish Vibe These Europe Deals Can Get your Clients Moving Las Vegas: Big Plans are in Store for Sin City Next Year Caribbean: Even in a Down Economy, Almond Resorts is Growing Cover Story: Industry Deals of the Year Tips to Weather the Economic Storm Julia Aliseo Specializes in Cruises Social Networking can Spur Growth Niche Cruises Offer Great Deals Industry Reacts to Mumbai Attacks Travel Counsellors Ramps Up for ‘09 Change is Underway at Air Jamaica Uniglobe Travel Center Expanding Agent Access Editorial Index Advertising Index In the Spotlight Special Supplement: Caribbean Travel.com

Travel Agent - December 22, 2009

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