Avoya Travel (No. 36 on Travel Weekly’s Power List) has launched a booking engine that allows consumers to book their own cruises. Your reservation will then be sent to your Avoya advisor.
The Avoya Live Bookings engine joins host agency lead generation tools such as Live Leads and Smart Leads.
“The lead is great, but we challenged ourselves and said, ‘What could be better?'” co-CEO Jeff Anderson said at a media briefing. “What more valuable things can we create?”
Avoya Live Bookings gives consumers access to AvoyaTravel.com’s complete booking tools. The reservation tool is still in beta testing.
Since beta testing began in August, the booking engine has generated more than $600,000 in total revenue, including individual bookings of $10,000 or more, Anderson said.
Anderson said Avoya has direct connections with major cruise lines and created its own booking tools. Although still in development, the ultimate goal is to “build the world’s best reservation engine for cruises.”
When a reservation is made online, it is passed on to one of Avoya’s independent contractors, who earn a split of the commission. Advisors help travelers with flights, insurance, and hotels. It also gives you the opportunity to cater to your customers’ future travel needs.
“The largest (booking) we’ve ever had was $13,000 for a high-yield product,” Anderson said. “So if you do some simple math, you’ll see that there’s a comma in that fee check.”
Avoya works with the Advisor Testing Group. Cappelli said that as the reservation tool becomes more widely available, Avoya will consider how it determines which independent contractors get reservations.
“This is a breakthrough in terms of sharing reservations with a group because we appreciate the service and support that advisors can provide for reservations,” Cappelli said.
Avoya targets experienced advisors
Avoya has over 2,100 advisors. While host agencies have targeted new advisors in recent years, their strategies are changing as they look to hire experienced advisors.
Sponsoring institutions invite experienced advisors to join the Elite 100 program. Advisors in the program keep 100% of their commissions on their own client trips for $399 per month (Avoya keeps a portion of sales from the lead generation program).
To attract experienced advisors, Avoya is offering a $5,000 “quick start incentive” to up to 60 top producers, Capelli said.
Aboya said its network fees have increased 32% year-to-date. For Elite 100 agents, commissions increase by 44%.
Avoya has also introduced a Premier Commission program, paying advisors higher commissions on leads obtained from the Live Leads program.
This week’s virtual media briefing follows the Avoya Travel Conference, held aboard Norwegian Joy from September 25th to October 2nd. The host agency is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
