TRAVELMANAGERS’ new Fastbook wholesale platform is helping travel advisors to understand their clients better, General Manager Cruise Jeff Leckey has told CW.
The platform was launched around last year’s TravelManagers’ conference a year ago (CW 13 Sep 2024), with Leckey revealing its adoption rate has been “incredibly high”.
He said to CW at this year’s annual meeting in Nusa Dua the Fastbook technology can spot an opportunity to move a passenger from one fare category to another, allowing TM’s Personal Travel Managers (PTMs) to identify what suits their passengers best.
“We always say ‘suiting the right client to the right cruise’, but it’s also suiting the right type of fare and the right inclusions as well,” Leckey explained.
The result can often see a passenger move to a balcony or a mini-suite for as little as $5 a day, unearthing value that can often otherwise be hard to spot.
“It’s great from a PTM perspective to be able to offer your customers better value…it really adds value to what your services are,” Leckey explained.
The TravelManagers cruise head believes this aspect of Fastbook will become even more important as new entrants to the sector – particularly from the hotel industry – bring different offerings to the slate.
“It’s understanding the product as well, because as you get more into that yacht space, it’s not as all-inclusive as perhaps Regent Seven Seas Cruises, or Crystal, or Explora Journeys, because it is very much based on the hotel model of ‘user pays’.
“People need to understand what the inclusions are on a Ritz-Carlton versus Scenic.” MS
Pictured is Leckey (centre) with the TravelManagers cruise team.
