Signature Travel Network is rolling out plans for a new messaging tool and turnkey cruise booking engine at a series of six regional management meetings and educational forums held around the country this week. The events will be held in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale and Scottsdale, with more than 1,000 members and hundreds of preferred partners in attendance, the organization said.
With the theme of “Elevate,” each event is divided into meetings over two days. During the management meeting Signature’s executive team will gather feedback from members to shape future plans and share information about the organization’s growth, financial position, and strategic direction. Designed to serve the needs of travel advisors, the educational forum aims to offer a mix of inspiration and practical tips for using Signature’s tools to create efficiencies and increase profitability.
Karen Yeates, executive vice president of information technologies, previewed the new advisor messaging tool powered, which is powered by Kipsu. She also announced a new partnership with Odysseus Solutions to deliver a turnkey cruise booking engine for members. With these two new technological advancements, advisors are able to communicate with their clients using each client’s preferred method of communication. Yeates noted that the new messaging system will allow for communication via SMS, web chat and Facebook Messenger, all through a single web-based program.
The new cruise booking engine provides members with a one-stop shopping and booking tool for all of Signature’s preferred cruise partners. Yeates said Signature partnered with Odysseus on the new tool after Signature’s board and technology committee ask for an engine that would allow members to streamline training and onboarding for online cruise bookings, with a particular focus on easing the process for hiring and training new-to-the-industry travel advisors.
Also at the events, Ignacio Maza, executive vice president of Signature, served as both spokesperson for Crystal Cruises and presented on “What’s New and What’s Next in Asia.” Rachael Signer, Signature’s director of business development, shared updates on the launch of Travel Expert Select, a lead generation travel specialist platform.
New preferred partners to Signature were invited to participate in the Regional Educational Forum partner showcase. Avalon Waterways and Virgin Voyages are the two new cruise partners present at forums. In addition, Signature said it has also added 19 new hotel and resort partners to its collection since the start of the year.
This article originally appeared on www.travelagentcentral.com.
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