Our friends at PhoCusWright have come out with another report revealing that monthly traffic and conversion for travel websites is up in almost all travel categories in the second quarter of 2009, compared to the same quarter of previous years. (Air being the only category that’s down – no surprise there.) Each area showed increases in traffic during the first half of 2009 compared to 2008 and 2007 when the company researched Online Travel Agencies and Travel Suppliers.

According to a PhoCusWright Press Release, the month of June revealed that visitors were strong with year-over-year growth. Almost all categories were up such as cruise lines – up 19 percent and hotel chains were up 13 percent.

“The reliance that consumers have on travel Web sites has not weakened one bit,” says Carroll Rheem, director, research at PhoCusWright in a press release. “Online channels are attracting, engaging and inspiring travelers who recognize that this year is actually a fantastic time to take a trip. Consumers are certainly spending less, but they are not giving up travel, nor are they turning away from the Web sites that offer them the selection and convenience they value.”

There are also signs that Online Travel Agencies and Supplier Web Sites are enhancing their ability to convert online shoppers to actual purchasers.

Don’t get too excited however, there are still a considerable amount of people who visit but don’t purchase according the report. (It’s what PhoCusWright calls “leakage”.) Online Travel Agencies are lagging behind suppliers, who are doing a better job of converting visitors into purchasers over their Online Travel Agencies counterpart. However, the average of actual purchasers is growing in both segments as consumers get more comfortable with the ease and convenience of shopping online. Monthly online conversion rates ranged from 20% for a car rental supplier to 0.2% for cruises booked via an Online Travel Agency.

Online travel agencies have shown a slight increases in hotel and car rental visitor volume in the first half of 2009 compared to 2008 and 2007. The only category to show a decline in traffic from 2008 through 2009 for Online Travel Agencies was air – which is down 15 percent. Still, air conversion has increased significantly over the same time period, according to the PhoCusWright report.

“The online travel ecosystem now supports a diverse variety of transactional and informational sites—each playing a role in how consumers research, shop for and purchase travel,” adds Rheem. “For example, we found that visitation to planning and review sites drives dramatic differences in hotel conversion rates. Understanding the intricate relationships that connect all travel sites is essential to setting the right strategic path.”

Don’t know if you noticed or not, but our September Trip of a Lifetime Sweepstakes has a survey attached to it to find out more about our customers. This ability to collect data gives YTB an edge in finding product and destinations our customers care about, which in turn can convert online shoppers to actual purchasers based on providing products they’re actually looking for.

Technology – Ain’t it grand?!

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Did you feel that? It’s the winds of change.

The NEW YTB booking engine came as an early Christmas present and the upgrade is now official in the US. You may or may not have heard about this and I’m only too happy to update you on advancements and upgrades from the folks in Wood River, Illinois, YTB Travel Network.

I’m sorry to inform some that “Being Powered by Travelocity” is no more. Our new platform is being serviced by Convergentware, out of Canada. (Thus why the beta testing was being done there.) While the relationships we had with both Priceline in 2005 and 2006 and World Choice (Travelocity) in 2007 and 2008 were extremely beneficial in helping the growth of our company, it’s clearly time to step up and not only own the client information, but provide better services to these clients via customer profiles.

Travel Agents are typically connected to one or more GDS systems. Today, travel content can be found outside of the GDS’s and directly via supplier websites or via direct links to suppliers’ back-end systems. (Which YTB is currently working on with its growing list of suppliers and vendors as these vendors create their own infrastructure to do so.)

This new product with Convergentware not only represents multiple GDS systems, (Global Distribution Systems) but they also seamlessly combine such GDS content with non-GDS content such as Web fares, Charter fares and Consolidator fares into one interface. There are air, car, hotel, insurance, tour, cruise and net fare modules for both client and business environments.

Convergent CRS Gateway is a back-end Centralized Reservations System (”CRS”) that is capable of searching and integrating data from the following five environments:

1. The Global Distribution Systems (“GDS”) such as Sabre, Galileo and Amadeus;
2. Travel suppliers directly via Application Programmer Interfaces (“API”);
3. Travel supplier Web sites;
4. GDS New Entrants (”GNE’s”) such as ITA Software;
5. Specialized or customized content via Convergent Publisher.

Convergent CRS technology is a global leader in automating these environments for the entire front-office to back-office reservations process which involves searching for relevant travel content, managing and attaching customer profiles to a particular reservation, and then book all the individual components of a travel reservation, including, but not limited to air, car, hotel, cruise, insurance and tour packages, ticketing specific components of a travel reservation that require ticketing in conjunction with reserving space such as air bookings.

Another nice feature I’m thrilled about is creating integrated quotes, itineraries and/or invoices regardless of where the travel content comes from. I can create and send a complete quote to a client and if they like what they see, all the client has to do is log in and pay for the trip I created for them.

How cool is that?! Talk about customer service.

The Convergent CRS Gateway powers all Convergentware front-end products such as Convergent Online and Convergent Professional. Add the power of Convergent Publisher, with its specialized content, contract and inventory management capabilities, and the Convergent CRS Gateway transforms into the leading customizable, centralized reservations system in the world. (Sorry, no more “gleaning” of travel bookings.)

Hang on…it gets even better.

You heard about the Worlds Largest Travel Party last week with the Worlds Most Popular Cruise Line in the World. This format was just a glimpse of things to come with MONTHLY Travel Party’s all across the country featuring suppliers and destinations each and every month that clients can not only book for themselves, with a Best Price Guarantee, but clients can also register themselves for monthly sweepstakes featuring a free vacation to one of these exotic destinations. Sweepstakes will range from 3-5 day weekend getaways, a 7 day all inclusive, or up to 14 days of bliss at an exotic destination that can be won only from the fine folks at YTB each and every month.

If you have not done so yet, I would highly recommend you subscribe to the Weekly Steals & Deals. (Found at the bottom right hand corner of our Booking Engine.) This is your first step in creating a customer profile and getting yourself registered for these sweepstakes. When you hit our web site, simply register with e-mail and password, and the Convergentware system will keep track of frequent flyer numbers, passport information, home/office and billing information, and other traveler information that you’ll only have to input once as the CRS does the rest.

By the way, are you as tired as I am over these “other companies” who send specials from Chicago to San Diego when YOU live in Atlanta? No longer a problem with YTB Travel Network as Convergentware Publisher will only find specials from your specified city in your customer profile. I don’t know about you, but I’m not all that interested in flying up to Chicago or finding that special to San Diego isn’t all that special from Atlanta.

And some have the audacity to claim we’re not serious about selling travel.

Hard to fathom, I know. But this is just the beginning. As other vendors and suppliers create the backbone to connect with this new platform, you’ll see more and more offerings and ways to combine great travel deals with the best prices, from one incredible travel agency.

And the cost to either RTA’s of YTB or customers for this advanced booking system?

Not a penny more. (In fact, it’s on sale right now.)

Congratulations YTB. You’ve proven yourselves to be a true innovator and leader in the Travel Industry once again.

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I can’t think of a better way to get going again after an extended weekend like we just had than hosting a “Travel Party”. I love weeks like this. Everyone is longing for more vacation time and looking to get back into that relaxation mode. The only difference I can see is possibly replacing “turkey” with “lobster” when it comes to stuffing ourselves. Short breaks like this, spending time with family, (mine who by the way are still here) and getting a break from traffic, time clocks, and office politics remind people how much they need a vacation. I love the sparkle in people’s eyes when the subject of travel or vacations comes up. It never ceases to amaze me how this subject is so universally loved by everyone. I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s told me;

You know, I’ve tried one of those vacations once…HATED it!

No, bringing up the subject of vacations is something everyone loves to talk about, and for some, you can’t get a word in edge wise. Not a big problem, but some do tend to go on and on about how much they just LOVE the destination they came from or the destination they’re looking to head to next. With the economy looming over everyone’s head these days both agencies and suppliers are looking for that edge to help increase both visibility and sales.

This week, both YTB and Carnival appear to have that answer. Apparently, Carnival was pleased with the outcome of last years 24 Hour Cruise Event and has come to YTB again to help boost last minute year end sales to help both our bottom lines. Back in October, CLIA held its annual “World’s Largest Cruise Night”, which in years past has produced fourth quarter sales for both agencies and cruise lines. Last year the month long promotion for CLIA produced some 17,852 cruise bookings, however I’ve yet to see any hard numbers on this year’s event. YTB’s own cruise sale last November produced 12,000 passenger bookings. (Although, critics like to cut the number of “passengers” in half.)

This Tuesday, December 2 at 7:00 p.m. in each time zone, YTB will host the World’s Largest Travel Party in several cities around the country.  All locations are teaming together to host one huge event. The cities include:

• Atlanta, GA
• Baltimore, MD
• Boston, MA
• Chicago, IL
• Dallas, TX
• Denver, CO
• Detroit, MI
• Houston, TX
• Kansas City, MO
• Miami, FL
• New York, NY
• Orange County, CA
• Philadelphia, PA
• Reno, NV
• Richmond, VA
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• St. Louis, MO
• Tampa, FL

At each location, door prizes will include one free cruise certificate (for guests only) and five tickets to YTB’s 2009 National Convention for Reps or Travel Site Owners. Rooms at the live venues will have a party atmosphere with round tables, fun music, snacks, and drinks. (No alcoholic beverages.) The Cruise giveaways for two are for guests only, and you must be present to win. There will be a short video entitled “Cruising, the Best Vacation Value” followed by a live feed from the YTB Home Office via streaming video. After the presentation a flyer with the December 4th Sail-a-thon Cruise Specials will be handed out in addition to the free cruise drawing for each city.

On Thursday, December 4th, there will be a live webcast from 5 -10:00 pm Central from the YTB Headquarters in Wood River, Illinois. Phones will be open all day till Midnight Central Standard Time as well.

RTA’s have an opportunity to invite friends and family over for this Carnival Cruise Night on December 4th to watch Coach, Kim, and Scott, along with many guests, through a live webcast sales event. There will be dozens of cruise specials and a live team ready to take reservations. Travel customers can also choose from 18 different Gift Certificate options available for online purchase through December 31, 2008. Certificates are valid for a 3, 4, 5, 7 or 8 day Fall Cruise for Two and most include all Government Taxes, Fees and Gratuities. ALL certificates are upgradeable if desired and are valid for up to 18 months. Upgrades are never a problem at the time of booking, simply pay the difference.

It’s nice to see Carnival and YTB teaming up again in this way. I’m not aware of any other supplier who teams with a single agency such as this, but then again, no other single agency has the potential to reach as many customers at one time as YTB does. It’s very unique to our model and our company.

It’s all in an effort to “Be Number 1 with The Number 1!”

Happy Sailing!

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I posted last week about Carnival’s Q2 Earnings Report, and found another article in Travel Weekly this weekend which goes right to the man in charge and puts Gerry Cahill in the hot seat. We found last week that Carnival is doing less direct business and relying more on Travel Agents to keep them afloat during the wave of feul price increases and muddy waters concerning the travel industry as a whole.

If you’re in YTB, you know about the informative call we had at the beginning of June with J. Kim Sorensen, (President, YTB International and CEO, YTB Travel Network) and Mike Julius, (Regional Vice President of Carnival Cruise Lines) to kick off Carnival Month. Our RTA’s also found that Cruise Month has been extended with Carnival alongside a special booking contest that was kicked off with both Kim and Ann Sedgwick, (Business Development Director with Carnival Cruise Lines) with our widely popular Cruise Night last Thursday night and the “All About Cruising” DVD we all downloaded. (First prize will be an all expenses paid 12 Day Mediterranean Cruise with air.)

The strong foundation and technology YTB has invested into providing us the very best resources for those of us out in the field are second to none, and many outside of the company (aka: clients) found this form of getting everyone together not only exciting but a very successful way to promote cruise sales.

Just why Carnival would do something like this with YTB was found in the Q&A with Gerry Cahill when he stated: “They can help us on the marketing side. They can also have the ability to reach customers we don’t reach.”

With thousands of RTA’s getting just 3 or 4 couples together last week for this Cruise Night, Carnival had the ability to reach tens of thousands of potential customers all over the country at one time which Carnival may not have been able to reach otherwise.

Talk about bang for your buck! One night, one company and you cover North America, Canada and the Caribbean to boot.

It’s good to see that Gerry Cahill’s business decisions are starting to pay off, and it looks as if he certainly knows what he’s doing as he stated in the Travel Weekly article “It’s not hard to do. We have the ability to track how much profitability we get from every channel and every agent. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist for that one. I did an analysis of what I think are the most efficient ways for us to distribute things, and I made certain decisions as a result of that.”

With the Cruise Night from last year being revamped and redone to help Carnival stay profitable and keep their place as “The Most Popular Cruise Line in the World” YTB is producing large numbers for Carnival once again. Sure, last week was a little different, but the goal is the same, and that’s selling our core product with our preferred supplier who “gets it”. Terminating your relationship with a company the size of YTB can be detrimental to your business health, so you simply implement minimum booking requirements to answer the “critics” who claim all we do is take advantage of the product, while still saving your bottom line and working with a company who has been a Pinnacle Award winner the last three years in a row.

Not bad for a “bean counter” if you ask me, and certainly not what some had forecasted a few months ago.

Carnival has been a HUGE supporter of YTB from the very start, and I’m pleased that the new management sees the value in what we as a company has to offer.

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YTB was either moving forward with considerable growth and positive impact in the Travel Industry in 2007, or we experienced problem after problem – hit after hit, depending on which side of the fence you view our company. Travel MLM’s certainly had its share of attention in 2007.

Discount airlines and full fares alike also got considerable attention with meltdowns in 2007. You can find story after story about American Airlines, JetBlue, Skybus and United who went on the fritz. American Airlines was rated worst as of mid 2007 for leaving more than 15,000 passengers stranded on tarmacs without water or working toilets for hours. More recently, United Airlines has cancelled more than 1,100 flights since December 23.

I am aware of one airline, JetBlue, who responded by creating its own Passenger Bill of Rights and took responsibility for its own Customer Service. Unfortunately, this is an arrogant industry and many others have been slow to embrace the idea of putting the customer first. New York recently passedits own air travel protection act for flights leaving or arriving in the state. Airlines at JFK are required to provide water, refreshments and clean toilets if passengers are stranded on the tarmac for 3 hours. The Federal Government is also advising something called “Slot – Auctioning” to relieve congestion at JFK. A good thing right?

Not so much.

Many of the full fare airlines went to court to fight this act! Even IATA stepped in to tell the Bush Administration that their slotting idea was nothing more than an e-Bay approach. (I’m not well enough versed at the time of this post about this plan by the way to inform anyone if it is or is not.) It’s hard for me to even fathom this type of arrogance and lack of respect for another human being. While I’m not trying to discount some of the claims and issues towards YTB, at the same time fresh water and personal hygiene seem, at least to me, create new levels of concern.

Many on both sides of the fence are aware that Kim Sorensen was named in Travel Weekly in December as one of 33 most influential in the Travel Industry in 2007. Some however, may not be as familiar with another name on this list, Kate Hanni. Hanni contends that airline greed is the real problem and she is adamant in her belief that it will take a Government mandated Airline Passengers Bill of Rights to rectify the situation.

If the full fares want to move business operations to a third-world country where there are no working toilets and clean water, go right ahead. But this is America and here we have first-rate standards of hygiene. We also have a voice. It will be interesting to see how all this unfolds and if or when any “Passenger Bill of Rights” is implemented.

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In 2005, Atlanta based couple joined YTB International, Inc. as their Host Agency, enabling them to open their own travel business from home. Two years later, the company is now recognized by Travel Weekly as Leading Travel Agency in their 2007 Power List.

Atlanta, GA, – Just Picture It Now, an independent representative of YourTravelBiz.com and BandBVactions.com, a home based travel agency of YTB Travel Network, Inc. announced today that it’s parent company YTB International, Inc. has been named as one of the country’s leading travel agencies in Travel Weekly’s 2007 Power List. As part of the Power List, YTB was ranked 35th among all travel agencies and included in the top 11 leisure travel agencies. YTB International, Inc. provides Internet-based travel booking services for travel agencies and home-based independent representatives in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

The yearly ranking included gross sales figures, ARC sales; travel related subsidiaries; percentage of sales from business, leisure, etc.; corporate structure as well as other matters.

Figures that Travel Weekly was able to verify through YTB include:

2006 Sales: $226.1 Million

- ARC sales of $52.1 Million
– $91.7 Million of sales fulfilled by third parties
– $175.2 Million of sales from hosting outside agents.
– 80% of sale from leisure, 10% from business, 10% other.
– 300% growth in sales and representative for each of the last three years.

Other leading travel agencies named in this year’s Power List are Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, AAA, and American Express Travel Services.

Doug Bauknight, owner of Just Picture It Now, and BandBVacations.com added that the Host Agency, based just outside of St. Louis, is just 6 years old, and fulfill these large numbers with a team of RTA’s that are Home Based Independent Travel Agents. “Every time we open our mouth and tell someone that we own our own Travel Agency, the very next thing out of their mouth is “Really, can you get me a deal to _________?” Doug adds “This ranking simply shows how simple and viable our business model really is.”

Doug’s growing team would certainly agree. “If you had more time and more money…what would YOU do?” asked Chris Pappas, a team member based in Las Vegas. “I love that line! I already know what the answer is going to be.” Other team members have even been able to land large group cruises for family reunions, class reunions, Sunday School classes, even some company trips. “There are large commissions involved with group travel,” Doug adds “And now that the word is out how easy it is, it’s snowballed throughout the entire team.”

Combining the fun of travel with the speed of the Internet, multiplied by the power of referral marketing to provide the ultimate home-based business solution, YTB is taking
the industry by storm.

An advantage-rich, home-based business built around the Internet with an extremely lucrative compensation plan, YTB has become “The Choice” for over 100,000 to date. “In today’s marketplace, many companies seek your time and attention, each claiming that their opportunity is the best.” Doug adds in closing. “It’s great to see that the industry is not only taking notice but agrees.”

About Just Picture It Now

Is an Independent Marketing arm of YourTravelBiz.com and primary focus on marketing on-line travel agencies through a nationwide network of independent business people, known as “Reps.” Providing Internet-based travel booking services for travel agencies and home-based independent representatives in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

About BandBVacations.com

Is a home based travel agency also known as an RTA. (Referring Travel Agent) a division of YTB Travel Network, Inc., who establishes and maintains travel vendor relationships, books travel transactions of on-line travel agents (RTAs, now numbering over 100,000), collects travel payments and licensing fees, and processes travel commissions. Each RTA sells travel through a personalized Internet-based travel Website.

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