Illustrating its longstanding commitment to the travel agent community, Karisma Hotels & Resorts unveiled a formidable arsenal of new tools and incentives at its seventh annual Gourmet Inclusive Vacation Consultant (GIVC) Awards, which recognizes the company's top-producing agents.
Most notably, Karisma will debut a new agent portal and booking engine by Jan. 1 - and agents who book through the portal will receive 19 percent commission on all room categories, said Sabrina Filatow, Karisma's national sales director during the event's marketing forum at El Dorado Royale in Mexico's Riviera Maya.
"This is a tool customized for you, where you can take bookings and earn 19 percent just by placing this booking engine on your Web site," Filatow told an audience of 160 cheering agents.
For all intents and purposes, the agent portal consolidates all the information and tools agents need to sell Karisma properties in one place. "The portal is serving everything up to agents in a beautifully presented manner," said Filatow. "They'll have a snapshot of everything: their points, their room nights, their status and their certificates. It will manage of all their tools in one central location."
Agents will be able to record bookings, apply certificates to bookings and track their sales, points and rewards. Agency owners and managers will have the ability to view their agency network's booking activity and history. "It provides them with a snapshot of their agents' status, how many bookings they have and their rewards - they can see everything," said Filatow.
The site will also provide travel sellers with access to business cards, customized flyers and templates, e-brochures, video spots, Webinars, tutorials resort fact sheets, social media kits, live Karisma Facebook and Twitter social media feed, an events calendar and the ability to request fam trips. Agents will even be able to book ground transfers with Lomas Travel through the site.
The Karisma consumer site, meanwhile, which lists agents by state, will also now list them by zip code.
In other technology developments, Karisma has cobranded its Memorable Moments wedding site for agents with the retailers' information, logos and calls to action.
Karisma has also entered into a marketing partnership with David's Bridal, the largest bridal retailer in the U.S., enabling agents to become David's Bridal Gourmet Inclusive Vacation Consultants in their areas.
"Eighty percent of all brides shop at David's Bridal in stores and online, 30 percent of all brides walk down the aisle in a David's Bridal wedding gown in the U.S. and the wedding dress is the first purchase that a bride makes after her engagement," said Filatow. "So this is a captive target audience like you've never seen before."
The marketing agreement enables agents to distribute their promotional collateral in David's Bridal stores and meet brides at local store events. Karisma will customize and deploy agent email campaigns that will reach 300 brides per month.
To qualify to become a David's Bridal GIVC, agents pay David's Bridal a fee of $325 a month. Karisma will pay agents $250 for the first wedding they book each month and $75 for their first honeymoon each month. "That covers their cost of $325 per month per store," Filatow.
To further incentivize agents to sell weddings, Karisma will provide travel advisors who sell a wedding group of 10 or more at any Generations, El Dorado or Azul property by Feb. 28 with $125 Pandora Jewelry gift cards. "If they book their wedding at Azul Sensatori Mexico or Generations we'll double it for them," said Filatow.
Last month, Filatow said Karisma celebrated its largest-ever Brides Dress Rehearsal, a program that enables brides and grooms to travel to El Dorado Spa Resorts and Hotels, Azul Hotels and Generations properties for three-night stays at a cost of $399 to view wedding locations and resorts; meet onsite wedding teams, photographers and florists; and sample menus, wedding cakes, cocktails and wine pairings.
Karisma brought down a record 100 brides and grooms to its properties for the event, which has a closure rate of 97 percent.
"In order to thank agents we commission them 100 percent," said Filatow. "So if an agent books a bride and groom for $399 and the bride comes back and books the wedding that agent gets $399 back as commission."
In other incentive news, Karisma has broadened its agent recognition categories for 2016, extending them beyond the current five Diamond levels. A new Silver Level will serve as a precursor to Diamond, requiring agents to book 50 room nights a year to qualify and become eligible for a range of certificates and upgrades. "This is a new level to help recognize and entice agents to join our program at a more intermediate level and to give them extra perks and benefits," said Filatow, adding that Silver-level agents will receive seven WOW upgrades.
On the other end of the spectrum, the company is introducing the Karisma Elite Level, which is designed to present the company's highest producers, those agents currently at Diamond Level 5, with new booking challenges and awards. The new level requires agents to sell 2,000 room nights or more a year. Benefits include $15 overrides per room night over what was sold from the previous year, a $7,000 cash bonus and additional value-added certificates and four five-night complimentary stays for two people.
Karisma is also enhancing its incentives for its Diamond levels. Level 1 will start with cash overrides of $5 per room night above and over what was sold from the previous year and a cash bonus of $250. Level 2 will rise from $5 to $7.50 per room with a $500 cash bonus; Level 3 will rise from $7.50 to $10 with a cash bonus of $750; Level 4 from $10 to 12.50 plus $1,000 cash bonus; and Level 5 from $10 to $15 plus $5,000 cash bonus.
Lastly, Karisma revamped its certificate program, which provides agents' clients such value-added amenities room upgrades, spa treatments and beachfront candlelit dinners. Effective Jan. 15, Karisma will offer agents more certificates per level. It is also bringing back spa treatments and beachfront candlelit dinner certificates for renewals. "This will help agents beat the competitors and close the business," said Filatow.
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