Become a Home Based Travel Agent

An Interview by Joanie Ogg with Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, OVC’s President, John Bloodworth
www.CruiseShipCenters.com/OVC
888-601-7447

Congratulations on opening your host agency, John. So what makes you different from other host agencies?

Well first of all, we focus on the success of our mobile agents. Another major difference is that our mobile agents enjoy the capability of booking all travel products from a single booking engine and are paid commissions on every product they sell including air, hotel, car rental, cruises and land packages. There are more and easier ways for an at-home agent to make more money.

Our sole mission is to build our mobile travel agents’ businesses. We center our efforts on supporting our mobile agents and provide them with the Expedia® CruiseShipCenters® systems and tools so they can stay completely focused on their clients and building their businesses.

Consumer facing, personalized website is exciting to customers and easy to use for the agent.

After reviewing your offerings, I see that you have some unique systems and tools for the agents. Can you share more about them with our readers?

Every mobile agent gets a consumer facing website customized to display the agent’s name, photo, phone number and email address combined with the Expedia CruiseShipCenters, OVC brand. This creates a personalized virtual storefront equipped with an online booking engine that is seamless and simple to navigate. Expedia CruiseShipCenters, OVC provides each agent with proprietary technology that automates everything they need to manage their business including booking and invoicing clients, managing payables and receivables, researching destinations, preparing customized itinerary emails or flyers, follow up letters and welcome home messages.

This back office system called Cruise Desk® contains real time revenue and commission tracking reports and houses a complete client database management system with full customization for specific client preferences, a training suite providing both product training and system training and marketing templates covering every aspect of selling and servicing clients.

Marketing includes Personalized emailed newsletters,
Dream Voyages© magazine, notification of last minute deals and more

That’s very important for agents working from home today. How do you support your agents with marketing and building more clientele for their respective travel businesses?

This is another area where we have unique advantages. For example, personalized, permission-based marketing pieces are sent automatically to the agent’s client list from the agent including free e-mail newsletters based on customer destination choices, Dream Voyages© magazine, notifications of last minute special offers and more. This proprietary suite of innovative, web-based promotional tools allows the agent to develop a “Customer for Life” experience with their clients. All of the marketing is linked to the mobile agent’s personalized website and email address to maximize sales and ensure that the mobile agent is always in control of their clients.

Basically, our host agency is built around the idea that exceptional marketing grows business. We start by making it easy for new and experienced agents to build their book of business through the most recognized brand in the industry. We back them with a 24/7 agent support system and personalized Customer Relationship Management tools that return proven results.

Spoken like someone who really knows the business…which I know you do. I am really pleased to e able to share your host program with our readers. Tell me about your executive team’s experience.

Between the three of us, we have over 100 years experience. So we really understand how to be a successful agent and how to help others build their success. As you know, previous to opening Expedia CruiseShipCenters, OVC, I was CEO of Thomas Cook Group, plc in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a member of The Board of Directors at MyTravel Group, plc and President and CEO of MyTravel, USA and the Cruise Division which included CruisesOnly, CruiseOne and CruisesInc. Ed Rudner who is Chairman of Expedia Cruise Ship Centers, OVC was a co-founder of Alamo Rent a Car, former President and CEO of Certified Vacations, CEO of Renaissance Cruises and founder of Online Vacation Center Holdings. Adolfo Sanmartino, Vice President of Operations, began his travel career with Gold Coast Cruises and was a senior executive with MyTravel’s Cruise Division in Delray Beach and Orlando. Adolfo’s experience in developing and managing travel websites including SEO, SEM, CRM programs and background in booking and financial systems adds significant strength to the management team.

It looks like a very robust program, John. What plans do you have moving forward?

We plan to grow quickly by leveraging the most powerful brand in the business and providing mobile home based agents a stable host environment. They will be paid high commissions on all products twice a month via electronic funds transfer and never have to worry about competition from their host agency. Our goal is to give mobile agents the opportunity to build satisfying careers while enjoying the flexibility that comes with being self employed. With this formula, we will be successful, the agents will be successful and their clients will recognize the benefits of working with a travel professional backed by one of the best known brands in the travel business.

If an agent wants to get more information about joining your network, what’s the best way to get in touch with you?

We’d love to speak with them. They can call me directly at 888-601-7447 or online at www.CruiseShipCenters/OVC.

Joanie Ogg CTC MCC
Joanie Ogg Marketing Group
Editor

Joanie Ogg is a thirty-five year veteran of the travel industry and has been involved with the independent contractor evolution since 1988. She is the principal of Joanie Ogg Marketing Group, which specializes in consulting and speaking on the topic of Home-Based Travel. She also provides marketing and sales for wide variety of products under the umbrella HomeBasedTravelAgent.com.

A demonstrated industry leader, Joanie most recently served as the President of the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents (NACTA) and TravelSellers. She and her husband Tom acquired NACTA in 1996 and sold it to The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) in 2000. Joanie’s tenure in the travel industry includes owning and operating one of the first successful host agency models. She has owned and operated several storefront travel agencies (both commercial and leisure), as well as a Hawaii wholesale tour company.

Her decades of success have garnered her numerous accolades over the years. Her accomplishments have been recognized by receipt of two Lifetime Achievement Awards from major trade groups, being named as one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in Travel” by Travel Agent magazine on several occasions, voted as “Travel Agent of the Year” by the readers of Travel Trade magazine, and has been recognized by many other industry organizations throughout her tenure in the industry. In 2008 Joanie Ogg was inducted into the CLIA Hall of Fame, an honor held by some of the most influential executives in the travel industry.

Joanie is a Master Cruise Counselor (MCC) and a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC). Joanie has co-authored two popular travel industry books for cruise specialists and home-based travel agents and has authored hundreds of travel trade articles. She has inspired tens of thousands of travel agents attending her presentations at trade events, cruise seminars, international trade gatherings and numerous local educational venues throughout the United States. With a time-honored background and forward-looking vision, she is often featured as a speaker at many of the travel industry’s major conferences and events. Joanie’s speaking talents are widely sought as a travel industry emcee by the most recognized travel organizations. She has emceed such events as Cruise-A-Thons, ASTA’s CruiseFest, The Trade Show, The Travel Institute Forum and all of NACTA’s National and International Conferences.


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