Record growth and a multi-year strategic vision are predominant themes at the 11th annual Avoya Travel Conference. The sold-out event is taking place this week at Hotel Maya in Long Beach, CA.
Attendees include Independent Agents of the Avoya Network, industry executives and supplier partners.
Executive Vice President Jeff Anderson tells TravelPulse that this year's event celebrates record growth both in terms of travelers as well as the number of agencies that are selling. And the numbers speak for themselves.
The family-owned Avoya saw double-digit sales growth in 2017, with gross revenues of $410 million. Additionally, new Independent Agencies are joining the Avoya Network at historically high rates. Of particular importance, is the new-to-travel segment, which has done exceedingly well. With the company partnering with CLIA on a professional development program designed specifically for them, performance levels of the new Independent Agents are as good as those with years of experience.
Anderson kicked off the first general session in his signature high-energy style. He led the way for speakers that included Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support and service at Royal Caribbean International; Brett Tollman, chief executive of The Travel Corporation; Ellen Bettridge, president and CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises and Gary Murphy, Vice President of Sales and Co-Owner, AmaWaterways.
All provided product updates and praise for top producers in the audience, some who had reached the $5 million mark in sales.
But, Avoya's own announcements created the most excitement. Among them, the company announced it has embarked on a seven-year growth plan designed to shake things up a bit.
Calling it the MARS initiative (acronym to be announced), the plan will roll out in five 18-month phases from June of 2018 to November 2025. Objectives include building deep collaborations with all partners, inspiring everyone to explore more and creating what Anderson describes as "life-giving" technologies.
It's not surprising that technology is a big part of the mission. The company has long been an innovator on that front and now has the patents to prove it. Its groundbreaking Travel Agency Operating System, Agent Power, with its 24/7 Live Leads functionality and much more continues to evolve. The online membership platform launched a year ago continues to gain new features.
As excited as Anderson is about creating new efficiencies with technology, he doesn't lose sight of a key truth.
"Technology will never replace good service. Booking engines don't care why you're going on vacation," he said.
During a spirited press conference on day two, Avoya Network executives spoke on a number of topics. Among them, rebating, which becomes a hot issue every few years.
"It results in such tremendous churn in the time spent booking and rebooking," said Avoya Network Co-Founder, Van Anderson. "Some clients go to three travel agents and end up on the same deck on the same side of the ship. And, they're going to travel anyway. Imagine if that time could be spent focusing on people that hadn't decided to travel."
The company also plans to expand its product portfolio. Cruises constitute 70 percent of Avoya Travel's business, but they're increasing their presence in the resort market, as well.
"Our product portfolio in the next seven years will radically resemble what people are doing. In addition to the traditional things that an agency might be selling, there's a lot of other cool stuff that has come out of nowhere in the past few years. Lots of things we're looking at from a product perspective. We have to pretty much touch everything," said Anderson. "I don't want to sell the same thing everyone else does. We want to provide distinct experiences for Avoya travelers. Our goal is to be the number one vacation platform in 2025."
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