Runaway Tours 100% agent booked
Runaway Tours will soon have a new Web site with a dynamic booking engine designed specifically for agents.
Said president Ed Jackson: “Agents will be able to pick and choose specific components they need.”
The site could be up by this fall, he added.
Runaway Tours’ niche has been Mexico and Hawaii, with 100% of its trips booked by agents.
“I have to struggle to think of another tour operator who just works with travel agents, though there may be some,” said Mr Jackson.
A major reason for that is the product itself. “We do mid-to-high range packaging both in Hawaii and Mexico. After 9-11, we baked off on Tahiti.”
Commissions are upwards of 10%.
Despite 9-11, he said, that year was a record. But sales are so strong this year in Hawaii and Mexico that another record may be set. The majority of the company’s bookings are from the western states.
Typical trips of six nights average about $4,500.
Business has been brisk enough that Mr Jackson plans a return to Tahiti.
“We want to expand into the South Pacific,” he said.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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