ACV adding tools & staff to assist with group & cruise bookings

Air Canada Vacations (ACV) is taking “concrete steps” to alleviate pressure on group and cruise bookings as business continues to gain steam, wrote Nino Montagnese, vice-president of Air Canada Vacations, in a letter to the trade on Thursday (Feb. 23).

Coming out of the pandemic, ACV is continuing to hire and train new agents to work in its call centres to reduce wait times for cruise bookings, as well as to better support agents looking to book groups, Montagnese wrote.

Both cruise and group bookings are “well underway” towards being transitioned and operational in SoftVoyage, Montagnese said.

“Our goal is to facilitate your day-to-day dealings for all your customers bookings, changes and inquires for their Air Canada Vacations package,” he said.

Book you own group

As was shared recently, ACV has enhanced its Book Your Own Group promo.

The exclusive program was built to facilitate group bookings by allowing agents to merge their files to create group travel of 10 passengers or more using self-serve tools.

Agents can earn a two per cent bonus commission on Book Your Own Group files.

Also, for a limited time, clients will receive a CareFree travel protection for free and travel pros have a chance to earn one air seat for every 30 passengers booked via the program.

READ MORE: Exclusive perks during ACV's Book Your Own Group promo

To support groups, ACV is in the development stage of a Group Insta-Quoting tool. This function was previously alluded to at the tour operator’s national product launch in Montreal last fall.  

“This will not only allow you to get instantaneous quotes for your upcoming group bookings, but it will also aim to alleviate Air Canada Vacations’ representatives so that there is an increased capacity and ability to serve you and answer your questions,” Montagnese wrote to the trade. 

Helpful toolkits

Meanwhile, ACV is focused on communicating with agents and enhancing tools to better support its trusted travel partners, Montagnese added.

Similar to the Sun Travel Agent Toolkit ACV launched in September last year, the company has also unveiled Travel Agent Toolkit for Europe.

“These toolkits are meant to equip you with all the resources you need to plan your customers’ next dream trip and are available through your area sales managers,” Montagnese wrote.

The ACV sales team also remains available on the company’s “Inner Circle” Facebook group, where promotions, trainings and incentives are often posted.

Lastly, ACV is “enthusiastically” planning in-person #ACVDreamMakers “Sun Collection” events for this year, so stay tuned.

"We know that our customers are eager to travel. And we can’t wait to see what the year has in store for us,” Montagnese wrote. 

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