Face to Face: Chris May, Equator Learning
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Travel Daily UK unveiled the new Online Travel Academy on Friday, powered by Equator Learning. We caught up with managing director Chris May to find out more about this exciting programme.
So what exactly is the Online Travel Academy?
Online Travel Academy launched with Travel Daily UK on Friday as a complete portal to host e-learning courses and a platform for travel agent rewards from any source in the travel industry.
It has been set up for anyone who sells travel and people that need industry information; it is a one-stop resource for them.
All the Equator Learning courses are on there but the website is not restricted to those that already have their own courses and in time we will work with more suppliers and tourism boards to develop and promote their courses to the travel trade.
Worldwide there are already 70 courses available on the website.
How important is it that the site offers more than e-learning?
We’ve always said from the start that e-learning on its own is yesterday’s story. There is a plethora of online training opportunities out there and we’ve found that as agents are busy selling holidays it takes a lot more to be fully engaged with them and to make courses worthwhile for suppliers too.
There are three things that must take place: knowledge, communication and rewards.
Communication is vital whether it is good or bad news; agents appreciate communication and companies being honest and open as it shows who cares about the trade.
E-learning is important but trade engagement is paramount and the Online Travel Academy offers a platform to do this.
What benefits does e-learning create for travel agents?
Knowledge empowers agents and gives them added value when it comes to competing against websites like TripAdvisor.
An agent can sell with more confidence when they have the knowledge behind them and begin to develop more loyalty among customers.
E-learning is easy to carry out as well as it is available all the time and when the agent is ready to complete a course. By having the courses online people dip in and out to fit their day whether it’s during their lunch break or when they get home.
What else can agents receive from logging onto the platform?
Agents receive a certificate for every course they complete and we find many are now including these on their CVs. It demonstrates that they have taken the time to learn about particular companies or destinations and they like to show off their qualifications.
What kind of content do you find really engages agents?
It’s important that the courses don’t necessarily tell people what they already know or that it is information they can find out anywhere.
Insider tips or ‘fast facts’ are really good as they make a difference when it comes to securing a booking as are perhaps the services and restaurants that are available.
The size of the course is also key as agents can’t be expected to remember everything so we say that six unique selling points work really well and put those across.
More than anything our courses need to be fun.
Online Travel Academy will be rolled out to Travel Daily Media’s other regions in Asia, Middle East, India and China. How are other nations currently responding to e-learning?
It’s interesting to see the difference between countries. The UK can see the rewards of e-learning but it’s the German travel agents who will immediately jump to doing a new course when it launches. Others in France, Italy and Spain decide when they want to.
In China online courses a new toy as outbound travel continues to grow and they want to suck up as much information as possible, as does the Asian market generally.
Our experience has shown more courses are now available for the Middle East, India, Sri Lanka and Filipino markets too.
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