| Today's Travel News |
|
|
| · October 1, 2003 · |
|
For More About
Where To Go Next |
· Luxury Resort Educational Alliance Formed ATLANTA, GA (October 1, 2003) - Seven of the nation's top independent luxury resorts have formed an alliance, under the name Exclusive Travel Experiences, to provide education and resources to the luxury leisure travel professional. Their mission is to equip the luxury-oriented leisure Travel Professional with the information and resources necessary so that these agents become even more valuable to their clients.
Exclusive Travel Experiences' members are aligned in the Exclusive Travel Collection and are: Blackberry Farm, Walland, TN Ballantyne Resort Charlotte, NC Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach, Cancun, MX The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, WV San Destin Resort, San Destin, FL Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head, SC The Tides Inn, Irvington, VA Three criteria must be met and maintained when being a member of this Collection. 1) The Resort must be the absolute "Top of Class" in their marketplace, meaning that they hold the first place position in their marketplace. 2) The Resort must be leisure-guest focused. 3) The Resort must support the mission statement of equipping luxury leisure travel agents with the information and resources that they need so that these agents become even more valuable to their clients. Since these resorts hold the first place position in their marketplace, they are familiar with the purchase decisions of the affluent leisure market. They believe that at the luxury level of leisure destination selling, the client is always purchasing the "experience" that they wish to receive. The mission for Exclusive Travel Experiences is to deliver the "experience messages" of each of the member resorts by traveling in-person to luxury-oriented agencies, predominantly in the Southeast, Mid Atlantic and the New York City area to personally equip the luxury leisure agent with the tools, resources, and information necessary to communicate these "experience" messages to their clients. Additionally, Exclusive Travel Experiences has created one page "Experience Newsletters" designed to be a one focal point of reference resource for busy agents who simply do not have the time to navigate through 30 pages on a website or sort through the various brochures that a resort offers to be able to be proficient on the resort's experience. These Newsletter pages are presented during the in-agency office visits and can also be printed from www.exclusivetravelexperiences.com/resorts/ or you can email etravele@bellsouth.net and a PDF formatted copy will be emailed to any luxury leisure agent who desires this information. Finally, each of these resorts are committed to make this learning fun and are offering a three-night complimentary stay, every quarter of the year, for the agent who books the most leisure room nights into that resort in that quarter. All the agent has to do, after they book their reservation as they normally would via the resort's reservations department, is to simply email Exclusive Travel Experiences at etravele@bellsouth.net with the basics of the reservation (resort booked, last name of guest, date of arrival and number of room nights) so that ETE can keep tally of the room nights generated by agent and tabulate them at the end of each quarter to see who the award winner is at each resort. "I just returned from equipping luxury leisure agents in Mobile, Montgomery, AL, and Charlotte, NC and Spartanburg, SC in the last three weeks" says Tom LaVaccare, with Exclusive Travel Experiences, "and it was a very rewarding experience. Agents gladly welcomed this type of education and almost no agents are being equipping with and resource information, like collateral materials, in order to better communicate and sell to their clients. Since so many resorts in this country have cut out brochure printing costs, because it is less expensive to post this information on their websites, the agents are glad to be able to provide a quality piece to their clients in lieu of a print out of a website page. I asked every agent, in my wrap-up, if they felt that the personal in-agency training time we spent with them equipping them on these top resort's experience messages was a good use of their time. They all, overwhelmingly, told me that this was an invaluable experience and want to know when I am coming back into town. One agent told me that I saved her 3 months of research time! They also loved the booking contest idea, thought it was a very generous and a good way for many agents to see these fine resorts this year." "The neat thing is that this education is free to the agent, since Exclusive Travel Experiences is funded by the member resorts, and it is in-agency, so that the agent does not have to leave their office and miss a phone call to gain this "experience" training. We also help them think of specific clients that they believe would be interested in the specific "Experiences" presented and then equip them with the experience message that is appropriate for that exact client, answer questions tat the agent may have on the resort experience and provide exact brochure information and any other resources that they need to help make their sale to those specific clients, right there in-agency." Tom further states "The level of commitment that these Top of Class luxury resorts are showing to the luxury leisure Travel Professional is unparalleled. They are truly supporting the leisure agent and want to see them gain more referrals by the way they are able to service their existing clients more effectively. Since every resort in the Exclusive Travel Collection is the market leader in their marketplace, these agents are being equipped with the very best resort experiences today, which should make them even more valuable to their clients. Since they are all Top of Class, no other resort will provide the guest experience, location, and exceptional service that these resorts can offer luxury leisure clients. They are truly the best guest experiences that North America offers. "If we can make an agent more valuable to their clients, we are doing our job." Exclusive Travel Experiences (E.T.E.) is an educational training organization committed to the enhancement of the luxury leisure travel agent, finding the finest like-minded resorts in North America to support the luxury leisure travel professional. E.T.E. offers personal, in-agency training, communicates "point of difference and experience" messages, and communicates the latest offerings of a select group of the finest resorts in the luxury resort industry. The maximum number of resorts in The Exclusive Travel Collection will be no more than 12 in order to maintain its exclusiveness and truly to be effective in the equipping process. E.T.E. continues the agent equipping post-visit to assess and fulfill any new needs and identify any new targeted clients that the agent may have for a specific resort experience that the agent may have so that we may equip the agent so that the agent can secure their new client's business as well. For further information on The Exclusive Travel Collection or any of the resorts mentioned above, contact Tom LaVaccare at 678 366 2205 or visit our website www.exclusivetravelexperiences.com Media Contact: Tom LaVaccare (678) 366 2205 tom@exclusivetravelexperiences.com |
| Produced by Judi Janofsky, Rich Steck and the Golf Press Association |