Tag Archives: travel agent university

Addressing an event in London on Wednesday (13 March), InteleTravel co-founder and president James Ferrara said the acquisition would go through “within the next two weeks”. “What we are about to announce means we will take hold of our destiny in a way that we haven’t before,” said Ferrara.

“We’re trying to offer the most powerful distribution in the travel business and take advantage of efficiencies of scale to create a fully integrated enterprise.”

The timing coincides with the spring Atoll renewal window, although it is unclear whether InteleTravel would seek to license the operator from 1 April or would instead look to negotiate a license once the busy renewal period is complete.

Ferrara added that by having InteleTravel operate for itself at larger scale, it would be able to ramp up its IntelePerks program in the UK, which he described as “a points-based, sophisticated loyalty program allowing advisors to earn points on behavior that will lead to their success.”

For many, “travel agent” sounds like an anachronistic job title, conjuring images of shoulder pads and strip malls, corded telephones and desktop computers with cathode-ray tube monitors. Indeed, ever since the advent of online booking, travel industry watchers have been predicting the demise of traditional travel agents. But in reality, travel agencies are still estimated to be a $72 billion industry in the United States alone, and upwards of $450 billion globally. Travel agents haven’t disappeared, many have just swapped the drab offices and chunky monitors for ring lights and smartphones.

Increasingly, influencers have become a new breed of travel agent, helping us decide where to go and what to do when we get there. On TikTok alone, the “travel” hashtag boasts more than 182 billion views. Over on Instagram, 695 million posts bear the same tag. Even search giants like Google are realizing that around 40% of users aged 18-24 are looking to TikTok or Instagram first for inspiration.

All that content is great for general inspiration, but the industry is lacking some crucial infrastructure to make it actionable. Influencers still need an

KUALA LUMPUR, 7 September 2023 – airasia Superapp clinched the ‘Asia’s Leading Online Travel Agency (OTA)’ title at the prestigious World Travel Awards (Asia) on its first nomination, reflecting its achievements in providing value and convenience to travelers, towards being the region’s leading one-stop travel superapp.

The World Travel Awards, often dubbed as the ‘Oscars of the travel industry’ are renowned for recognizing excellence in the global tourism and travel sector. airasia Superapp emerged victorious among a highly competitive field of nominees, including well-established names such as Agoda, Trip.com, MakeMyTrip and more.

Tan Mai Yin, Chief Operating Officer of airasia Superapp said, “Being nominated and recognized as ‘Asia’s Leading Online Travel Agency’ in the first year we were nominated is a truly significant achievement. This is a clear testament to the hard work of the entire airasia Superapp team of Allstars, and this win is dedicated to each and every one of them. On behalf of airasia Superapp, we would like to thank everyone who voted for us, and this motivates us to push the envelope of innovation to provide all travelers with a new and redefined travel booking experience with us. On that note, we are delighted to announce