How this Gold Coast travel agency beat the OTAs

Goliath Hit with Rock from Triumphant David

Gold Cost travel company, Ignite Travel Group, has been touted as one of the agencies leading the way for modern-day businesses, tackling the ever-present threat of the OTAs.

Per a News Corp story, Ignite Travel moved away from the rising trend of OTAs, and employed over 150 staff in their brave business venture.

In response to the growing technology, Managing Director Randall Deer’s solution was to evolve to better cater to contemporary traveller needs.

“There is definitely still a role for travel agents for people who are time poor or don’t want to leave anything to chance,” Deer told News Corp.

“So we said: ‘Let’s take the old model and evolve it to meet today’s era’.”

Deer added that, sure, anyone can just go on the net and search for hotels or flights, but, as he pointed out, “Does everyone want to?”

Ignite Travel attribute a large part of their ‘renaissance’ to its ‘holidays in a box’ strategy they developed, when it became apparent that travellers were keen on the ‘ready-made holiday’, prepped and ready to go.

“We had to find a gap in the market and we didn’t want to compete with anyone,” he told News Corp.

“So we started selling ‘holidays in a box’ where everything is included, when no one else in travel was doing that.

“Some people were offering flights and hotel packages, but there was nothing out there doing it like we do.”

And it’s clearly paying off; the company served up holidays to over 200,000 Aussies in 2016 alone, a testament to the fact that traditional travel agencies ain’t going anywhere.

Ignite’s businesses include the My Holiday Centre range, which features destinations like Hawaii, Fiji and Bali, as well as its high-end offshoot, GET LUXE.

OTAs have gotten a pretty bad rap from the traditional travel industry, in particular due to the threat of it stealing business.

But it doesn’t always have to be a war, as we’ve seen recently.

Travellers Choice signed a partnership with TripADeal, and Amadeus teamed up with Skiddoo for cheaper flight deals.

Additionally, MTA’s own Managing Director, Roy Merricks, told Travel Weekly it was absolutely possible for OTAs and travel agents to co-exist.

But that’s in the face of plenty of other opposition from the trade to OTAs and their technology. Many say it’s about the personalisation – or lack of – that comes with booking on a faceless digital platform. Agents have their stories to tell, their relationships with their clients, and much more at their disposal to serve customers in unique ways.

The brick-and-mortar store has also had an injection of life lately as well. We’ve seen some of the best Aussie agencies around showing us how they draw customers in, not to mention globally, the agencies pulling their weight with a few tricks up their sleeve, like Insta pop-up stores, and selling travel via sense of smell.

For Deer, who prior to starting Ignite Travel was Chief Financial Officer at Mantra Group, the Global Financial Crisis played a big part in thinking that package deals and holidays were the way to recover and build a customer base.

“I think this is the biggest travel sector in the country,” he told News Corp.

“Holidays are so important to people these days and it’s one of the things they look forward to in life the most and we want to make it easier for people.”

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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