Virgin Holidays upstage the on-line travel players with a new web self-service tool to help agents...
Virgin Holidays today announced that it remains at the forefront of web travel technology with a travel industry first - the launch of an on-line Self-Service tool for Travel Agents.
Virgin Holidays� registered Travel Agents can now not only make the holiday booking on-line (at www.vhols4agents.com) but can also now access that booking throughout its life and make a range of changes and transactions, including;
- Upgrading flights
- Adding or upgrading a hire car
- Changing customer details
- Upgrading hotel rooms
- Changing the hotel completely or just changing the board basis
- Adding or changing excursions
- Requesting information on tickets or itineraries
- Requesting or printing invoices
This is a first for the travel industry. No other mainstream tour operator allows Travel Agents to not only access their customer�s bookings post-booking but also enables them to make significant changes to personalise and enhance the holiday experience.
Stewart Baird, Sales & Operations Director for Virgin Holidays commented "This is a huge step forward for the travel industry and another nail in Viewdata�s coffin. Travel Agents don�t want to wait in a telephone queue to simply change a name or add an excursion to a booking. Our technology enables them do this and so much more in a simple and user friendly way. We alert Travel Agents to up-sale opportunities and this great tool helps them increase sales revenue and commission earnings".
Virgin Holidays has integrated this technology with its customer relationship management platform, e-piphany, to create a powerful tool not only for its own business but also to enhance Travel Agents� sales performance. It now allows Virgin Holidays to automatically run a report of all bookings to identify where there are up-sell opportunities, such as flight upgrades, a convertible hire car or upgrading a hotel room to an ocean view. Personalised emails can then be sent to individual branches showing special offers by individual bookings, which enable Agents to secure an easy but valuable secondary sale.
Virgin Holidays� Self Service tool can be found at Virgin Holidays� Travel Agent website, www.vhols4agents.com/bookingadmin
Virgin Holidays normally charges a fee of �25 for an amendment to a booking but Travel Agents using the on-line tool can currently make many amendments free of charge until 30th June. After this date amendments will continue to be charged to call centre and Viewdata bookings.
-ENDS-
Press Enquiries: Virgin Holidays Press Office
Tel: 01293 744228/744616
Editors Notes: Virgin Holidays� Self Service tool can be found at Virgin Holidays� Travel Agent website:
www.vhols4agents.com/bookingadmin
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