BILLINGS, MT — Austin Adventures is tipping its hat to travel agents who have contributed to the doubling of this company’s travel agent bookings over the previous year. If increased early activity and bookings are any indication, 2018 stands to be another record breaking year for agent bookings.
Dan Austin is the founder and visionary director of Austin Adventures, the world’s leading multisport adventure company for families and adults. He attributed this aggressive increase to a new generation of savvy agents who better understand the adventure travel market and appreciate the “value-add” of an Austin Adventures vacation. “Combine that with the increased efforts of the Austin Adventures team to embrace and appreciate the agent community and you have a formula for success,” said Austin.
“We are excited to see years of effort paying off and agents booking more and more adventure travel. It is a pleasure to work in this community of travel professionals to educate and enlighten on the value of working with proven and established tour operators,” Austin emphasized.
Being a member of Virtuoso Network as a Preferred Tour Operator and Partner also helps. This network of top agents and providers is where busy professionals often turn for help when arranging the complicated itineraries typical of adventure travel. They are also the go-to resource when booking travel at the 11th hour. “We’ve seen a ton of last-minute agent requests and reservations this year and we are all too happy to help,” added Austin.
“We are really happy to see the growth and success that Austin Adventures has made with the Virtuoso Network. It takes time for new partners to get entrenched, but the relationship and overall business is growing nicely due to their marketing, communications, sales training efforts and exceptional quality of their programs,” said Cece Drummond, CTC, Virtuoso Managing Director of Destinations and Experiences.
The 29th annual Virtuoso Travel Week held Aug. 11-17, 2017, in Las Vegas hosted a record-breaking 5,693 travel professionals from 103 countries. Austin Adventures received overwhelming response to the over 800 meetings its staff conducted here.
As incentive to do business with the company, all agents regardless of affiliation receive an extra $100 bonus per guest when they book their first Austin Adventures trip. This is on top of a 12 percent commission paid to all travel agents. In the case of group or private trips, the company offers a competitive net rate that agents can sell for increased margins.
“With Austin Adventures, both my travelers and I feel like the only clients on the roster! Every guide and every experience feels tailor-made — and every one of my travelers comes home saying that theirs was the trip of a lifetime! Can’t wait to work with you all again!” said Pam Goodwin of The TravelPlanner
Another agent had this to say about her experience, “From the first call to post trip follow up I knew I was in great hands. You folks took one of my best clients and his family on the trip of a lifetime… they are still raving about how well they were taken care of and how seamless everything appeared. And to consider how quickly it all came together! My heroes! You are ROCK STARS!” exclaimed Daria Kaldawy of Protravel International LLC.
Austin explained that his company has the most straight-forward commission policy in the business. “We pay 12% commission on all agency bookings and will never come between a travel agent and their client. Furthermore, we have a policy in place ensuring you receive commission for every trip your customer books, year after year. We will gladly pay agents the appropriate level commission for trips booked directly by their clients with Austin Adventures. Our only requirements are that the client confirms the agent relationship and that the agent can take over the reservation within 30 days of the client’s date of deposit.
In addition to this commission policy, Austin Adventures attracts, trains and maintains travel agent bookings and relationships by providing free familiarization tours to agents who have sold multiple Austin Adventure trips. Agents may also enjoy FAM trips for 50 percent off of the listed price (25 percent off a companion’s rate). Throughout the year agents enjoy relationships with Austin Adventures’ staff through one-on-one trainings, quarterly agent-focused webinars, deskside visits, sales materials, PDF’s of trip pre-departure information documents with all the details and a special travel agent-only website portal that outlines information and sales guidelines. Every sales person on Austin Adventures’ team is trained to assist and take agent bookings.
For the travel agent portal please see https://www.austinadventures.com/about-us/travel-professionals/. To help plan, Austin Adventures’ 2018 catalog can be ordered ONLINE or call 1.800.575.1540. For a full roster of 2018 trips please visit http://www.austinadventures.com, call (800) 575-1540 or email info@austinadventures.com.
About Austin Adventures — Based in Billings, Montana, Austin Adventures has spent more than 40 years building an international reputation as a top provider of luxury, small group, multisport tours for adults and families to the world’s most captivating destinations. Creative itineraries feature exceptional regional dining, distinctive accommodations and all-inclusive rates and services. In addition to scheduled group departures, Austin Adventures offers customized trip planning and a money-back satisfaction guarantee.