Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Passport Online Offers Complete Website Solution,
Customizable, Extensive Supplier Content, Social Networking Options
Greg Kott, President & CEO

Beaverton, Oregon – As the travel agency community heads into the traditionally busy holiday travel season, we are all hoping to see strong consumer interest. As consumer shopping habits continue to move to their home and office computer, many agents are looking to start or expand their digital footprint with a more robust website, more social networking options, and more email campaigns to pique their customer’s interest. Passport Online, an internet marketing solutions company for leisure travel agents and suppliers, is seeing increases in demand for all of these services.

NexCite, Passport’s complete website solution, has experienced record numbers of new website registrations this year. Though the new customers were spread evenly among brick and mortar and home based agencies, there was one common theme. In a survey conducted with those agencies who recently signed up, 9 out of 10 were switching to Passport Online from a competitive website program.

“These agencies cited the need for more in-depth supplier content and the desire for flexibility and customization options offered in our website program,” said Greg Kott, president and CEO of Passport Online. Though there were a handful of brand new websites being created, the number of folks moving their sites to our system seems to indicate a new attention being paid to the value of content and quality of websites for travel agency consumers.

“Over the past decade, many agencies have put up a website which might just be a basic page or a few pages of content and let it sit. They have not updated or enhanced their sites. With today's consumer of every product starting their searches on the web, it seems agents are deciding to upgrade their web presence,” said Kott. “This is an encouraging sign that the agents are seeing the value of their website as a shopping tool for the customers. They want to upgrade their sites as part of their sales and marketing strategy.”

At Allways Travel Center, a MAST Vacation Partners member from Janesville, Wisconsin, it was all about control of the site. “I want to gain new customers from my site and get existing customers to write reviews. With NexCite, I am able to make updates and changes easily and the site is simple and professional,” said agency manager, John Sullivan.

Border City Travel wanted the content. “With more than 80 reputable suppliers in the Passport system, my website immediately has strong, sellable content for my customers and potential customers,” said home-based agent Sharon McKee, www.bordercitytravel.com.

And in today’s social media society, the agency website has become an essential component. According to some agents, websites are necessary if the agency is participating in the social media space. For home-based agent Laila Matarwe of Five Star World Travel, a Vacation.com agency, NexCite is her first website. “I felt that having a website was the most cost efficient way to reach people. I have a Facebook page and a twitter account, but you still need a place with all the content!” Her new web address is http://www.fivestartvl.vacationport.net/

Passport’s supplier content is also growing. The company has added 10 new suppliers to its already robust supplier list of major cruise, tour, destination and hotel suppliers. The new suppliers include: Costa Cruises, GAP Adventures, Guaranteed Departures (Travel Alliance Partners), Lindblad Expeditions, Outrigger Hotels, Paul Gauguin Cruises, SITA, Starwood Mexico Hotels and Resorts, Starwood New Builds, and Travel Bound.

As with all Passport Online supplier partners, travel agents who have Passport Online’s NexCite (a full website program) or VacationPort (a web content system) now have access to all content provided to Passport from these suppliers. The agents can customize how individual suppliers are merchandized to their clients on their websites. This system enables agents to feature preferred supplier content, consortia exclusives, or many other preferences an agency might have for their business. Supplier content is also available for agents to include in email campaigns created using Passport’s integrated email tools.

“We are simply providing agents with a complete electronic marketing program, including websites, email marketing, direct to consumer messaging through TripBlip, and comprehensive supplier content so they can provide the most robust Internet shopping experience for their customers,” said Kott. “Website content is about providing options for your customers when they shop on your website. We know that travel agents have a loyal customer base, and we know most consumers start their shopping online these days, so we need to be sure the content is where the eyes are. It is likely the consumers will finish their shopping in a live environment, on the phone or in their agent’s office, but the web is crucial to start the process.”

The expanded Starwood portfolio and the addition of Outrigger Resorts are part of Passport’s ResortPort product. ResortPort delivers a property's rich media and unique vacation content directly to loyal travel agency clients who are actively searching for their next vacation via the agency website. ResortPort enables hoteliers to control the presentation of their properties within any Passport Online offer or promotion that includes their resort. Hoteliers participating in ResortPort have a dedicated online presence on agency websites.

Passport Online, this month, was recognized with the Silver Travel Weekly Magellan Award for its ResortPort hotel and resort web content program.

The 2009 Magellan Awards received entries from top travel organizations and professionals worldwide and the quality of the work was outstanding. Being selected a Magellan Award Winner is a tremendous achievement and proves you represent a high standard of excellence within the travel industry.

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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