CCRA President Dic Marxen announced at the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) conference in Las Vegas that CCRA’s Global Network Division has signed its first seven global distributor agreements in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. This extends CCRA’s international presence to over 10,000 new travel agencies in 19 countries.
Led by Peter E. Pincus, president of CCRA’s Global Network Division, CCRA has transformed its business model from one of the largest hotel distributors in the U.S. and Canada to a global travel consortium, CCRA said.
CCRA reports it first announced its Global Network Division in December 2010, with goals of becoming a leading travel industry provider in the global market. Since that time, CCRA’s Global Network Division has been aggressively building and establishing new distributor relationships abroad and has significantly surpassed the company’s original goal of entering five global markets and reaching approximately 500 new agencies by the end of 2011.
CCRA now forecasts entry into 40 countries with reach to over 50,000 new agencies by the end of 2012 – including new distributor relationships made in the U.S. and Canada.
Global Network distributors that have already signed with CCRA include: Club Travel representing Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia & Zimbabwe; Sonata Travel, in Poland; Spring Travels in India; Costamar Peru in Peru; Costamar Colombia in Colombia; Costamar DR in the Dominican Republic and Grupo Global in Venezuela.
CCRA said it is also in final negotiations with four additional distributors and will announce these new agreements once the contracts are signed.
“Since the beginning of the recession in 2008, CCRA has continued to grow by investing in technology and enhancing our product offerings; global expansion is the next logical step in our company’s development,” said Marxen. “The creation of a Global Network allows CCRA to bring its experience and expertise to an entire new audience of both customers and suppliers. We will be distributing our products globally through APIs and 'direct connects' from many suppliers, as we continue to make this new content available through our proprietary reservation portal, CCRAtravel.com.”
Pincus added, “CCRA’s global distribution model allows CCRA to open international markets for our travel supplier partners quickly and efficiently. Before the end of 2011, we will deliver a new audience of over 30,000 qualified travel buyers to our network of travel suppliers. CCRA is now positioned as a leading distributor of travel products to a global network of travel buyers/consumers.”
In addition to CCRA’s already well-established U.S. hotel and supplier programs, dynamic booking engine for travel professionals and the established after-hours 24/7 call center in the nation – the company said it now plans to create new products and service offerings to boost travel agency and hotel revenues worldwide.
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