TRAVELMANAGERS UNVEILS NEW BRAND, CLIENT CHARTER AND FINANCIAL GUARANTEE
TRAVELMANAGERS has unveiled a new brand image as a prelude to a major consumer marketing campaign for its network of personal travel managers (PTMS). PTMS attending the home-based travel agency group’s conference in Singapore last month were told the campaign will be underpinned by a new client service charter. “We believe it will be a first for the travel industry”, said Travelmanagers executive general manager Michael Gazal. An important element of the campaign, set to launch in January 2015, will be an insurance-backed financial guarantee offered to Travelmanagers’ clients in the newly deregulated agency environment. The Singapore conference delegates received a sneak preview of a new logo for the group with the tag line “As Individual As You Are”. It will spearhead consumer branding of the more than 440 Travelmanagers PTMS across Australia’s regions and metropolitan centres. Gazal said development of the brand has taken nine months with copious involvement from the company’s National Partnership Office staff and management, PTMS around Australia and even specially selected clients. Ed Elias from branding agency, Principals, steered the project, gathering feedback from all parties. Tellingly, Elias said his surveys identified that the brand lacked distinction in the market and was waiting for somebody to “take a stance and lead it”. Internally, the brand review found TravelManagers’ community spirit was strong, but there was a desire for the company to be better known publicly. The Travelmanagers community knew it had to maintain its individuality and personable spirit, aiming to grow but ensuring it did so while not sacrificing quality. The next step will be the formal introduction of the new brand to PTMS at state meetings, scheduled for November. The image will appear on all company paraphernalia including business cards and documents and will also be available as a car decal for PTMS to apply to their vehicles if they choose. A new consumer website is also being built from scratch to accompany the brand, along with a smartphone app enabling clients to access useful information and contact their PTM if required. Meanwhile the company is laying the foundations for a new service culture which, said Gazal, will build on existing high standards. Underpinned by the new client service charter it will aim to position Travelmanagers PTMS as offering clients a “Premium Economy” experience. Gazal describes this as “a broad offering that is focused on quality and value for money and delivering to a level that meets each client’s budget”. Travelmanagers chairman Barry Mayo said the company has worked with insurance broker, Gow Gates, to develop Travel Agent Client Trust Account Fidelity Insurance (TACTAFI) to protect client funds. It is a separate product to the Travel Agent Intermediary Failure Insurance (TAIFI) available to ATAS accredited agents. “TACTAFI offers protection for Travelmanagers’ client trust account in the event of misappropriation of funds by fraud or theft,” Mayo told travelbulletin. “This includes client documentation explaining the cover TACTAFI provides and how to call on this cover in the unlikely event a client should ever be required to do so. “We are not aware of any other travel intermediary providing client personal documentation guaranteeing this surety of client funds.” In the lead-up to agency deregulation and the formulation of ATAS, Mayo was a high-profile advocate of making Gow Gates’ TAIFI mandatory across the industry. However, he has now opted to adopt TACTAFI instead. Mayo has not ruled out Travelmanagers becoming part of the ATAS accreditation scheme.