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quarterly to all of our hotel partners worldwide. |
Agoura Hills, CA 91301 |
www.ccrainternational.com |
Director of Supplier Strategies, Central Region |
Director of Supplier Strategies, Eastern Region |
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Programmer/Analyst, RFP Services |
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Jill Noel
Advertising Coordinator contact Supplier Strategies |
CCRA Travel
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For 2009 |
2009 Sales Kit
Summer Issue
In
This Issue: |
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CCRA experienced yet another year of expansion for our travel agent Another area of our business growth emerges from the large numbers of home-based travel agents who have discovered the CCRAtravel.com booking portal as their ideal alternative to the traditional GDS. Our ability to deliver reliable commission settlement for all their hotel bookings has made CCRA the leading booking tool for home-based agents. We hope you’ll continue your partnership with the CCRA Hotel Program and strengthen your sales potential to the independent home-based travel agent audience. The deadline for 2009 online enrollment is September 5, 2008, which Is not too far off. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. You may note that CCRA has increased RFP enrollment fees for the first time in 4 years, however, the pricing for annual Marketing Packages has not increased. Consider gaining the best value for your marketing dollar next year by enrolling at the Premier or Select level. You’ll save 60-65% on an entire year of marketing costs! Visit: www.ccrainternational.com/partners for more details. |
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Your CCRAtravel.com booking portal listing will be prominently highlighted with a CCRA Club symbol next to your hotel name. Attract more interest and win more bookings when you display the CCRA Club Level symbol. CCRA will debut the Club Level program by January of 2009 and advertise to our travel agent members the benefits of choosing a Club Level property for added value. Exclusive Rates - Provide a rate that is exclusive to CCRA and at least 5% off lowest published rate Exclusive Amenity - Provide an exclusive amenity or service that is included under the CCRA rate code. Suggestions: guaranteed room upgrade, free breakfast, discounts for restaurant or spa services, or increased loyalty program rewards. Below is a forecasted screen image to illustrate how a CCRA Club Level partner listing will appear in CCRAtravel.com in 2009.
Tips for best results from your Club Level CCRAtravel.com listing: Remember to load your complete hotel description and amenities when you load your hotel rates into the GDS, wholesale channels, or Hotels.com. This simple step directly affects the presence of your hotel profile on CCRAtravel.com. This is an instant marketing opportunity to show travel agents what your hotel has to offer. When agents click on your property name, a property profile window opens, showing the full description and list of amenities, meeting facilities, room descriptions, etc. Don’t miss the chance to inform the travel agents' decision making when it matters most... at the point of sale.
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CCRA announces an exclusive Club Level partner program for hotels interested in an enhanced Club Level listing to distinguish your property. To be eligible for the Club Level program, your hotel must need to offer a value add or special amenity that is exclusive to CCRA members. Agents strive to provide added value to their clients in every booking they make. By creating an exclusive for CCRA agents, you can assure your property listing stands out with the Club Level listing.
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We are excited to get busy with peak summer season travel, however CCRA marketing has been in high demand since that little word “recession” has surfaced in the travel media. The good news is plenty of people still want to vacation, they just want to spend less. Your hotel doesn’t have to settle for low sales without taking action. To assist you with a quick, easy-to-execute promotion, we are introducing a Hot Deals listing that will be prominently displayed on our CCRAtravel.com portal sign-in page, and our two company websites for members, and for the Reservation Center 24/7 Call Center agents. A familiar and popular concept, the HOT DEALS page promises to be as big a hit as our Travel Agent Specials page. Both of these opportunities – HOT DEALS or Travel Agent Specials can be distributed almost immediately, and both are available for individual hotels or chain level promotions. All that is needed to execute either of these promotional opportunities is your special offer text, and our ability to verify that your special offer is bookable in the GDS. So, load those rates, and contact a sales director to learn how cost effectively and rapidly we can promote your property. Need some ideas on what grabs travel agents’ attention? Recently, the special offers that draw the most activity are super low rates during select dates, free upgrades at check in, free breakfast, or family vacation packages. |
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Vacation.com’s 10th Anniversary Conference & Trade Show
The CCRA International leadership team took part in a highlight event of the year – Vacation.com’s 10th Anniversary Conference and Trade Show in Las Vegas. At this well-established show, CCRA has built a reputation for a high impact presence every year, with the support of our top hotel suppliers. At a general session for Vacation.com members, CCRA president and CEO, Dic Marxen presented the advantages of the CCRA rate program, and recognized several of the top booking agencies among the Vacation.com membership. CCRA also presented five training sessions over the course of the three-day conference, and hosted one-on-one demos throughout the week in the Preferred Supplier Experience Room. The real excitement and spectacle took place in the CCRA Pavilion, where once again a capacity crowd of agents flocked to the booths of our hotel partners. The afternoon of prize drawings was lively, and over $20,000 in hotel stays were awarded to our CCRA Pavilion visitors! Congratulations and many thanks to our 2008 booth sponsors for making CCRA’s 10th annual Vacation.com show so successful! Next up - we look forward to THETRADESHOW presented by ASTA in Orlando in September. |
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CCRA Expands Home Based Agent Audience According to PhoCus Wright's “Travel Agency Distribution Landscape: 2006–2009" report, completed in cooperation with ASTA, ARC and CLIA, today’s home-based travel agents truly play a significant role in the future of travel sales. The study reports there are 31,000 legitimate home-based agents (not hobbyists), representing 28% of all travel agents. This group sells more than $9.7 billion a year in travel with a focus on leisure, cruise and FIT tours. Over 50% of this group are totally independent, and 44% are affiliated with an agency or host agency.
This year, we have drawn thousands of home-based travel agents to sign up each month to book on CCRAtravel.com. We continually host record attendance of home-based agents in our weekly online trainings. For your hotels, that translates to more agents accessing your rates, and more bookings to be expected through CCRAtravel.com! CCRAtravel.com Hits Home Agent@Home Magazine (June issue: Building Your Tech Solution) spotlighted “As most everyone in the travel industry knows, Marriott still does not accept certain industry codes. So I use CCRAtravel.com to book any Marriott stays for my clients and I get paid my commission every time. Thanks CCRA!” “Our agency does not use a GDS and when my agents had to book hotel only stays, many commissions went unpaid. We gave the CCRAtravel.com hotel booking engine a try, and now 100% of our hotel commissions have been paid and on time!” |
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Marketing Opportunities | CCRAtravel.com | CCRAinternational.com | ReservationCenter.net |