Become a Home Based Travel Agent

An Interview With Chris Flores
IP&S Program Manager
VTC Program Manager
Airline Reporting Corporation

By Joanie Ogg CTC, MCC
 

It’s December and the year is coming to an end.  How do you sum-up 2010? 

2010 was a great year for the VTC Program.  We experienced 40% growth year-over-year, with over 1,400 VTCs welcomed into the Program since 2007.  The VTC Advisory Board successfully assembled twice in 2010, and provided strategic direction for the Program.  We introduced an ARC MarketPlace bonus commission program for VTCs in Q2.  And we have some exciting things planned for 2011.

Before we go into these “exciting things” you reference, can you tell the readers what you attribute the VTC Program’s success to in 2010?

We’ve been fortunate in that our current VTCs have been spreading the word about the Program and its benefits; we know VTCs are joining as a result of referrals from their peers in the industry, and there is a strong sense of community that is growing among the VTCs. This was very evident at the Travel Weekly show in Atlantic City this past October.

I also attribute VTC growth to the hosted agency community.  We are seeing more and more hosted agents make the decision to operate independent of a host agency or start their own business and establish their identity through the VTC Program. 

And lastly, Marriott.  Marriott’s support has been tremendous.  Their commitment to the travel agency channel is evident.  They’ve supported two VTC recruiting campaigns this year which were both very successful, and I look forward to working with them to not only build the VTC Program base, but to help build their business as well.

Talk more about some of those exciting things planned for 2011 and when we can expect to hear about or see them.

Unfortunately, I cannot share details, but I will say that in early 2011 our VTCs will have an opportunity to take advantage of new products and services that will most certainly help their business and their bottom line.  This initiative has the full commitment of ARC and the VTC Advisory Board, so this will not be a simple value-add.  This introduction will be, in my opinion, sizable.

Give the readers a hint.

I wish I could share more, but my lips have to remain sealed.  Your readers will hear about everything soon enough. 

Since I’ve gotten all I can get from you on this topic, let’s talk about areas of improvement.  Where can you improve?

We need to continue working on building our VTCs’ business.  ARC MarketPlace and Agent’s Choice are the two core products offered to our agencies.  Product utilization only comes after an agency understands why the product is meaningful to their business.  A majority of our VTCs understand the value, but we do not have 100% utilization.  Now, 100% product utilization is probably unrealistic, but that’s what we strive for. 

ARC MarketPlace transactions have been on the rise with VTCs and the bonus commission promotion we launched in April really helped.  The content on ARC MarketPlace is vast and the revenue potential for VTCs is there.  There is still a good group of VTCs who have yet to book on ARC MarketPlace.  We obviously have to focus on growing VTC usage through education and training to maximize their earnings potential.

Additionally, Agent’s Choice penetration into the VTC Program has been very positive, but service fees and credit card processing still seem to be a challenge for a lot of agencies.  We recently launched a campaign focusing on the affordability of Agent’s Choice compared to other merchant alternatives and we’ve seen the needle move a bit.  We need to continue to communicate the message of the ease of credit card processing and the importance of service fees to the VTC.  We’ll get there.

Lastly, we need to continue to improve on our reach.  We’ve been successful with regard to growth, but the agency market is big and we have a lot of ground to cover.  I’m a regular on HBTACommunity.com and from time to time I see threads about other agency programs and it’s not uncommon for the VTC Program to be left out of the conversation or thread.  It looks like we still have lots of work to do to get the word out about the VTC program.

Competition or misinformation?  Which would you like to talk about?

Misinformation.  It’s getting better.  We get more and more visitors at our booths when we are at shows.  They want to hear the truth; they want clarity, hence the “Clarity” campaign. 

The most recent bit of misinformation I heard relates to an agent’s ability to work with other organizations outside of their host agency.  I heard it most at the Travel Weekly shows in Fort Lauderdale and in Atlantic City.  Some agents feel that they aren’t permitted to become VTCs (one even said they weren’t allowed to talk to me) because of their agreement with the host agency.  I can’t comment on a host agency’s agreement, but the thought of an independent contractor not being able to do business outside of that host agency agreement puzzles me.  These hosted agencies are independent contractors.  They are not employees.  What am I missing?

Perhaps there are terms in the host agency agreement that prevents a conflict and the VTC Program can be construed as a conflict.

Perhaps.  Again, I can’t comment on a host agency’s agreement.  But if indeed there were terms that prevented commerce with the VTC Program, I’m left scratching my head.  Why would a host agency not want one of their hosted agencies or independent contractors to have the option of establishing their own identity in order to build their respective businesses?

Any final words for 2010?

2010 had a lot of ebbs and flows.  I spoke with more agencies that were doing good or better than expected than I did with agencies who were taking a hit.  Remain positive in 2011.  Plan, execute, and evaluate.  Plan, execute, and evaluate. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask that your readers consider the VTC Program if they already haven’t.  Visit www.arccorp.com/vtc for more information the Program, the toolkit which includes ARC MarketPlace and Agent’s Choice. 

Also, I’d like for your readers to be on the lookout come early 2011.

And as always, feel free to reach out to me directly at cflores@arccorp.com.