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| John Caldwell, president of Delta Vacations |
Travel Agent recently attended the 23rd annual Delta Vacations University, formerly known as MLT University.
In total, 2,000 travel professionals attended Delta Vacations University this year, of which 51 percent of those attendees had never been to the event before. This year was also the first that the educational conference was held in Atlanta, GA, at the Georgia International Convention Center.
During the event, Travel Agent spoke with John Caldwell, president of Delta Vacations, Tina Igilo, senior vice president of marketing of Delta Vacations and Elizabeth Moriarty, vice president of product development of Delta Vacations, to get a look at how Delta Vacations is fostering its luxury product, the future of Delta Vacations, the airline and the future of the University.
As for what is performing well and growing for Delta Vacations, Caldwell points out both Mexico and Europe. Caldwell explains that Europe is seeing a 20 percent growth year over year and Delta is increasing seats to Mexico, so more growth will follow in the tropical getaway. Moriarty also noted that Delta Vacations has been putting attention into growing the United Kingdom.
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| Delta Vacations University |
Delta Vacations is also helping agents book more luxury products. Travel Agent attended the “Luxury” course at the University and sat in as agents received tips on how to sell luxury hotels and products. In all, members learned how to spot an affluent client, how to filter out luxury hotels and how to sell Delta Vacations’ specific luxury vacations, including booking the client in First Class or in Delta One Air.
“Luxury travel has become more attainable for a growing range of travelers due in part to the economy, so we’re working hard to provide our travel agency partners with the tools they need to service this growing market segment in a very targeted way,” says Caldwell.
Moriarty also gave some advice for agents looking to sell luxury, which included encouraging the agent to be confident with the ins and outs of the amenities and the overall product.
“Luxury continues to be a growing and important segment for Delta Vacations. Our travel agency partners and their clients continue to demand high-end products and services and because of that, more than 80 percent of our total revenue comes from hotels rated four-star and above,” said Caldwell.
And as far as how the industry plans to continue to increase the luxury sector, Caldwell points to a recent agreement with Preferred Hotels & Resorts.
“We’re continuing to add high-end properties to our list, which includes a recently signed agreement with Preferred Hotels & Resorts. This partnership will allow us to offer 650 luxury four- and five-star independent properties in Europe and other locations worldwide,” explains Caldwell.
Luxury isn’t the only sector of the business experiencing new growth. Looking forward for the airline, Delta is set to serve Havana, Cuba from Atlanta Miami and JFK starting December 1, 2016.
This means Delta will resume operating nonstop, scheduled service to Cuba for the first time in almost 55 years.
Agents participating in the University had a range of 40-minute classes to attend throughout the two-day event. The classes were lead by several different tourism boards or members of the Delta University team that had recently visited the location. Travel Agent sat in on several of the classes, including a memorable class about Prague and Budapest.
The class included a breakdown of accommodation options in the city, including the Boscolo Prague, a member of the Autograph Collection; Intercontinental Prague; Marriott Budapest; and the Boscolo Budapest, another member of the Autograph Collection.
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| Classroom learning at Delta Vacations University |
The classes would also include destination coverage and flight information for agents. Other classes offered included business development classes where members would learn to use social media productively, sales-specific classes for both the new and more seasoned agents, and workshops where agents learned to reach different clientele, like Millennials.
As for the future of the Delta Vacations University, Caldwell explained that the classroom sizes will be larger next year to accommodate more members.
“We are very bullish about next year,” says Caldwell. The event will be held in Atlanta gain next year on September 16-17.