The job of travel advisors just got more rewarding.
Hospitality group Accor has launched HERA, Accor Travel Advisor Program, a loyalty programme for travel advisors. Pascal Visaintainer, Senior Vice President Global Sales Luxury and Lifestyle, Accor, told TTN Middle East in an interview at ATM: “It was developed internally by our sister company Gekko.”
The process from conception to germination has taken the company over two years. “We surveyed advisors to really understand what their needs are, what their expectations are and how we could help them to be more efficient in their daily job.
“We work with them also to understand how we could save them consumer loyalty.”
The digital plan, available now at HERA.Accor.com, offers easy online tools to help advisors not only create new bookings but also keep track of these bookings and review their activities.
HERA also offers comprehensive educational resources on Accor’s luxury and luxury lifestyle brands and hotels, including those under the global lifestyle collective Ennismore. This programme not only rewards travel advisors for their bookings but also empowers them to enhance productivity, performance, and client satisfaction.
The new programme effectively updates the group’s former Famous Agents program, with all previous travel advisor data, history, and Reward Points migrated to the new platform.
As for how it works, travel advisors can use their HERA member ID to earn reward points for every room booked across channels including directly with hotel and through global distribution systems. Each advisor’s activity and history are tracked in the My Points/My Bookings section of the HERA website. They can then redeem their points year-round, for their own travel bookings or by cruising through a dedicated online mall where these points can be redeemed.
It’s also a platform that allows travel advisors to showcase the best of their bookings in the most informative manner possible. This website harbours a reservoir of detail such as map of the street, the view from a particular room, etc. increasing the saleability of the offering.
“We have pictures of each room category and we are working to add 360 views and videos of the rooms, so you will be able also to use it and download it to send it to your client so they can have a look before confirming - it’s a work in progress.”
The plans are in place to sell experiences. “The website has been built around how could we share the story of the hotel,” he adds.
The new project offers members access to more than 270 luxury and lifestyle hotels across 11 brands including Orient Express, Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel, Sofitel Legend, Emblems Collection, Banyan Tree, Faena, and Ennismore’s SLS, SO/ and Delano.
Currently, the programme is available in two languages: English and French. And it has already exceeded its first week forecast, says Visaintainer.
One of the highlights of the platform is the efficiency that it provides the user. “And clients love it…it’s a one-stop shop. They can come they can understand the expanse of the hotel, the location of the hotel, what the hotel could propose. They can make bookings, they can manage bookings, they can make requests step by step, everything on the same platform,” he adds.
Accor, believes Visaintainer, is gaining steam because of the trust factor. “Clients trust us, and we trust them. And we work like that. In the luxury segment, if you don’t have that trust, if you don’t have the flexibility with your clients, you will never succeed,” he stresses.