HLO wholesale evolution

HELLOWORLD executive director Cinzia Burnes has laid out a road map for the ongoing improvement of the group’s wholesaling operations, including expanded destinations, more competitive pricing and improved call centre service.

Speaking on the Gold Coast to delegates at the group’s Owner Managers Conference (OMC) on Sat, Burnes described the “good, bad and ugly” of HLO wholesale over the period since the last OMC in Singapore when a range of issues were highlighted.

Changes already implemented include a new remuneration model introduced on 01 Jan which means HLO members can “earn a lot more by supporting the in-house brands”.

The group has implemented a 24/7 call centre service for customer care and booking queries and is now open all weekend to support agencies trading on Sun.

However other work in progress aims to address shortcomings in the in-house ReadyRooms accommodation platform which is being revamped to the same system used for the AOT Group’s Whole of Australian Government accommodation program and the new ReadyRooms for Business system ( TD Fri).

Once complete, the technology makeover “will make competitors look prehistoric,” she said, while content will expand with a new feed from GTA which will provide a guaranteed price match with Travelcube while also offering extras such as Trip loyalty points and status in the Global Stars rewards program.

Burnes noted that in its previous incarnation, when much of the platform’s content came via HLO’s now defunct Orbitz agreement, ReadyRooms had in fact been a loss-making area, “not surprising given some of the commercial contracts I have seen”.

More from HLO on page three.