Luxury Escapes burst onto the Australian travel industry landscape just over 10 years ago. In the decade since, it has provided innumerable travel deals for millions of members globally, amassed millions of social media fans, and even started its own television series. If that weren’t enough, Luxury Escapes is now turning its attention to the wholesale market with the launch of its Agent Hub.
With a March launch planned for the platform, Luxury Escapes’ Senior Manager of Agency Distribution Chris Brandon tells Karryon in an exclusive interview that travel agents will now be able to earn commission on the world’s best travel deals.
With access to exclusive offers and worldwide inventory, he says agents will not only have access to savings for their clients but will earn commission in their pockets too. You can register to be among the first to hear about the upcoming launch here.
While Luxury Escapes already has a number of agreements with agency groups across Australia and New Zealand, with the new platform, it aims to significantly expand upon its current b2b offering.
Speaking about the current portal, Brandon says, “whilst we do not have an agency-specific platform, we still find a lot of agencies using Luxury Escapes”.
“Despite it being labour intensive, agents would see the value in booking our unique products for their customers,” he adds.
“We are excited to be in the final stages of developing a bespoke platform specifically built for agents, which will not only be easier to use and save time but will have a greater depth and breadth of products.”
According to Brandon, Luxury Escapes’ new platform will be a place where agents can “manage bookings, adjust net payments, all those sorts of things”.
“We want ease for the customer, ease for the agent – to be able to book a range of different products,” he says.
Batting for the agent
Now working in a full-time capacity on Luxury Escapes’ wholesale initiative, Brandon knows a thing or two about working with travel agents. For around 17 years he plied his trade at Flight Centre Travel Group, starting as a frontline advisor before moving on to a variety of roles within FCTG. So Chris is perfectly placed to help drive the company’s launch into the wholesale market.
“The biggest request we get is for our Limited Time Lux Exclusive [deals]; the ones we’re known for, our exclusive packages, particularly to Bali, Maldives and Thailand. And a lot of domestic market deals as well,” he says. And these aren’t the only exclusive offers that agents will have access to.
“We are also giving access to our Lux Exclusive Tours, Luxury Escapes’ own product range that can’t be booked anywhere else,” Brandon adds.
Many of Luxury Escapes’ exclusive cruise products will also be available wholesale.
“As an example, we have exclusive rights for Riverside Luxury Cruises as well – for its distribution in Australia. So we will be making that available to agents too,” Chris adds.
“So there are quite a few levels of commission… on a full suite of products. So even things like our Ultra Lux product, which are our really high-end, hand-selected products, where the customer gets transfers from their home and those sorts of exclusive inclusions… [Also] on our homes and villas. So all of our product range, which is what makes it pretty exciting.”
Luxury Escapes can’t announce commission levels now “because they are still being finalised, however, we can confirm there will be the ability to earn commission on all products”, Brandon says.
The best deals?
He’s also confident of Luxury Escapes’ overall proposition.
“When we put a deal to market, it’s the best out there. On those selected products, on the Limited Time Lux Exclusive offers, there is no better deal in market. Hand on heart, we’ll say that.”
“And even talking to hotels… hotels still absolutely value the travel agent and their ability to channel business. So, if we can use that distribution channel and help guide some more sales via them, it’s a win.”
Brandon also believes the timing of the launch couldn’t be better.
“We’ve got a sizable database. We know that customers may walk into an agent and request our product as well. At the same time, we’re getting agents requesting access to our products, so it’s probably just like the perfect storm – the time’s ideal right now,” he says.
“We just want to support all agents… independents, large agency groups. We are looking at individual agreements with independents, agency level agreements. The doors are open.
“That’s why I’m really excited about this launch and this role… because I feel like it’s bringing together an OTA that was largely viewed as a competitor. But we do know we have got some amazing product that the customers in Australia want and travel agents want so it’s just sort of joining the dots.
“We want to make it easy for the customer and easy for the agent. And we just see it as a good time to really support the agents and make our product more accessible to our customers.”
Last month, Luxury Escapes released its annual ‘Travel Trends’ report, which reveals an outlook on travel in 2024 and the destinations, experiences and ambitions defining its year ahead.