Dear all,
Welcome to the third edition of The Amadeus Independent: our newsletter specifically designed for the smaller, independent and specialist travel agencies.
It's hard to believe that we are about to celebrate our 20th anniversary! And wasn't it only yesterday when the distribution of travel and tourism seemed such a simple thing: airlines transported travellers, tour operators sold packages and travel agents sold tickets?
And how things have changed over those last 20 years! In today's business environment, you, the travel agencies, have to adjust your business models and make them fit a constantly evolving market place facing the challenges of new rules, new players, and new playgrounds.
Instead of selling travel as a commodity, travel agents are increasingly becoming travel consultants, offering their clients a wealth of experience while maximising their customer relationships. Although the Internet provides travellers with easy access to information and do-it-yourself bookings, it has become clear that travel agents offer tremendous value.
All over the world, the most successful ones of our customers are those that have chosen to become travel consultants, adding value 'where the web cannot reach'.
Rather than just a challenge, this is a great opportunity for you, the expert, to guide your customers, provide assistance and package the very products they are looking for - giving them that quality of service for which they're happy to pay a premium. But in order to do this well, you need solutions that help you increase your operational efficiency which in turn gives you the time to build customer relationships and a business for the future.
In this month's issue...
...We've introduced a new regular feature, which talks about tips from our experts on a variety of topics we'd like to share with you as best practices! This month, May Inkersole tells us all about her experience as an independent business owner and how business differentiation can improve your bottom line; we also looked in-depth at specialisation and how it could be a profitable long-term investment.
We'd love to hear from you - whatever you location. Please share your experience with your Amadeus travel agent community. Send us an email, and we'll feature your testimonial in next month's edition of The Amadeus Independent!
Enjoy!
Michele Pluim
So, read on... and don't forget to give us your feedback!
Michele Pluim
Editor
P.S. Do you have a question or burning issue you would like to see explored in The Amadeus Independent?
Just send me an e-mail at mpluim@amadeus.com
In next month's issue we'll look at various ways to increase customer loyalty by keeping and growing your existing customers and how a good website is key in promoting your business.