Home Travel News

Flight Centre pushes USA sales

Brand USA and Flight Centre are pushing for more sales to the US, with the launch of the second phase of their joint marketing campaign.

Brand USA and Flight Centre are pushing for more sales to the US, with the launch of the second phase of their joint marketing campaign.

 

The campaign is designed to increase the number of Aussie tourists in the US and promote destinations around the country.

This will be achieved through collective marketing encouraging travellers to book US holidays through Flight Centre Travel Group’s major brands – Flight Centre, Escape Travel, Student Flights and Travel Associates, and Flight Centre’s in-house wholesaler, Infinity Holidays.

USA

Campaigns will focus on road trips, live entertainment and the great outdoors.

Commencing last month, the second phase will run through to June and features seven major promotional campaigns.

Campaigns will focus on Brand USA key themes for promoting travel in the US including road trips around the country, live entertainment and the ‘great outdoors’.

“This partnership will support our mission to drive the dispersal of travel throughout the USA from Australia and New Zealand.”

Ollie Philpot, Brand USA director

The first phase of the two group’s agreement ran last year and saw a 22 percent increase in US bookings through Flight Centre.

Meanwhile, the 1,500 travel agents across Australia and New Zealand who are actively participating in the USA Discovery Program – Brand USA’s online-training platform designed to highlight ways to experience the U.S. – now have a new specialist badge to complete Las Vegas, America’s “Entertainment Capital.”

USA 2

Brand USA, the destination-marketing organization for the U.S., created this online training to deliver experiential travel information under a number of themes, which together offer a well-rounded perspective of what the U.S. offers travellers.

The USA Discovery Program provides agents with a series of modules that allow the agents to earn badges, designating them as experts in specific U.S. travel specialties. USA Discovery training also enables agents to become more aware of cross-selling opportunities for their U.S.-bound customers.

Agents who receive the Las Vegas specialist badge will have a range of knowledge about the city that spans accommodations, dining options, night life, and must-experience attractions and destinations, such as the legendary Las Vegas Strip. Agents must first complete the Regional Expert Badge before completing any of the specialist badges, such as the Las Vegas badge.

The Las Vegas badge – the first to highlight a U.S. city – is the 11th badge in a line-up that includes Regional Expert and these nine areas of specialisation: Winter Sports, Big City Buzz, Great Outdoors, Coastal Escapes, Music/Culture/Heritage, Fly-Drive, Food & Drink, Family Holidays and Cirque du Soleil.

Australian travel agents who have earned the Regional Expert badge are also eligible to participate in the inaugural USA MegaFam 2015 – presented by Brand USA and Hawaiian Airlines. Agents must register online (at www.usadiscoveryprogram.com.au/register) to qualify.

What techniques do you use to sell US to your clients?