The recent 3rd annual Travel Planners International (TPI) conference at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, featured new initiatives to assist TPI member agents build their businesses, the host agency reports.
Included was a new TPI E-Marketing Program allowing agents to send promotional offers directly to their customers. Agents select a promotion, upload their contacts, and click to schedule the e-blast, which goes out with the call-to-action directed back to the travel advisor.
Another initiative was a Interactive Group Cruise Space program to simplify agents’ search of TPI’s blocked inventory. A new feature allows agents to export the list as well as create promotional flyers. Current inventory includes groups on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent, Carnival, Princess, Holland America, and Uniworld.
TPI also reported its new headquarters will be completed in January 2015. The 11,000 square-foot office building will provide space for an additional 23 employees, plus a 40-seat training room for onsite and virtual sessions including the ability to live stream the Orlando TEAM program meetings to all agents across the TPI network.
The TEAM Program was created to bring partner training to TPI agents on a personal, local level. To date, 20 TPI Agent Ambassadors have conducted more than 70 meetings, trained more than 1,000 agents nationwide, with more than 30 TPI preferred partners participating. Five more Ambassadors are expected to be brought on by year-end, TPI said.
The conference program included 65 training sessions, more than 90 preferred partners for networking, seven ship and four site inspections, CLIA and Sandals certification training, a trade show and roundtables.
TPI also announced the 2015 TPI Extravaganza will be held at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, September 23-27, 2015. The 2014 conference was emceed by Joanie Ogg, principal of Joanie Ogg Marketing Group.
Visit www.TPIextravaganza.com