INDUSTRY NEWS AIRWORLD ALLIANCE APPOINTS NEW MANAGER FOR MIDWEST OFFICE
AIGARS PLACITS
Airworld Alliance has appointed Aigars Placitis as Area Manager for the company’s Chicago office. Placitis has been promoted from within the company where he has played a key sales role for the past six years. Mok Singh, President of Airworld Alliance, commented, “Aigars brings a wealth of firsthand experience with carrier account management. He promises to do an outstanding job in his new position as our company continues expanding in the coming years.” Singh further added that, “Our Midwest office is very important to our revenue results as are our other five strategically placed sales offices in North America.” Airworld Alliance is an airline representation firm headquartered in Los Angeles with additional sales offices located in New York, Toronto, Chicago, Houston and Vancouver. As GSA, the company provides strategic and tactical cost effective solutions for the maximization of passenger sales revenues in the North
American market. A current list of the company’s carrier accounts includes Afriqiyah Airways, Air Botswana, Air Madagascar, Air Malawi, Air Mauritius, Air Zimbabwe, Bangkok Airways, Daallo Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Hahn Air, Hainan Airlines, Kenya Airways, Safi Airways and TACV Cabo Verde Airlines. Airworld Alliance, www.airworldalliance.com
OSSN SURVEY REVEALS HOME-BASED AGENTS’ PROGRESS IN 2010 The year 2011 promises to be a banner year for home-based travel agents, according to the results of the Year-End Member Survey conducted by the Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN). Nine in 10 responding agents (89 percent) reported they are optimistic that their business will increase this year, and 65 percent said their profitability as home-based travel sellers increased last year. In another positive sign for the home-based channel, 91 percent of OSSN agents surveyed find more suppliers supporting home-based agents these days. “These survey numbers confirm what we see every day within OSSN: The home-based agent channel is thriving in today’s economy,” said Gary M. Fee, OSSN’s President and founder. “Home-based travel sellers have greater operating efficiencies and lower operating costs, so they’re well positioned to succeed when times are tough.” Contrary to lingering perceptions that these agents tend to be new to the industry, 52 percent of the respondents have been in the travel business for at least 10 years; another 20 percent have sold travel for at least five to 10 years. Seventy-six percent plan to create a marketing plan for 2011, and 56 percent use a database to track and market to their clients (with another 25 percent planning to start a database this year). Fifty-two percent of those surveyed use the Travel Retailers Universal Enumeration (TRUE) system as their travel industry booking code (followed by 23 percent with the CLIA number and 22 percent with an IATA number). Forty percent have a host agency, and 25 percent joined a consortium in 2010. Thirty percent use airline websites, 30 percent use consolidators, nine percent a host agency, and 22 percent some combination of these methods or alternatives. Twenty-four percent don’t have a website yet, 24 percent get hardly any traffic from their sites, and 12 percent said they need help with their sites. Almost 1,600 OSSN agents around the US completed the online survey in December. (Respondents were limited by the survey technology from submitting responses more than once.) Complete results may be viewed online. OSSN (Outside Sales Support Network), www.ossn.com/ossn_survey/2010yearendsurvey/index.html, www.ossn.com
NEW KUMUKA BROCHURES FOR 2011–2012 NOW AVAILABLE Kumuka Worldwide, offering stimulating tours for over 27 years, is able to map out more than 500 itineraries across 83 countries, a number that increases each year with the development of new destinations, activities and adventures for passengers. The company has announced the release of its full range of brochures for the 2011–2012 season including Escorted Group Tours, Cruises, Coach Tours, Lodge Safaris, Overland Tours, Family Adventures and much more. Altogether, there are seven brochures: Africa & The Middle East, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, Lodge Based Safaris, and Family Adventures. They may be obtained by calling Kumuka toll-free or through email contact. Kumuka Worldwide, 800-517-0867, adventureexperts@kumuka.com, www.kumuka.com 12 • MARCH 2011
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