TORONTO — Recognizing the current rebound of interest in escorted coach tours, Globus is offering agents an opportunity to re-energize their business – and enjoy a few perks along the way – with the new Globus Tour Expert (GTE) online training course.

As the company unveils its 2014 lineup of 260 tours to 82 countries, agents are encouraged to capitalize on the numerous benefits of escorted touring and to ‘rethink the tour’ as a viable travel option for their clients.

“Our aim for the new GTE course is to debunk a few myths about the escorted tour business, while helping agents to efficiently close more sales,” says Stéphanie Bishop of the Globus family of brands. “The goal is to have Canadian agents completely ‘rethink the tour’ as a huge opportunity to increase revenue and retain happy clients.”

Globus boasts a satisfaction rate of 98% – higher than ocean cruising (according to CLIA statistics) – and 96% of these Globus customers plan to take another escorted tour within three years. According to a recently commissioned survey with TravelStyles, 4.6 million Canadians are interested in taking a tour for the first time, which confirms that escorted touring is not a niche and remains a relevant travel style for today’s Boomers and Gen Xers, said Globus.

“Clients worried that an escorted tour may involve too much time on the coach will be pleased to learn that, on average, they’ll spend less than 20% of their time on a Globus coach,” adds Bishop. This is just one myth about escorted touring the company is keen to correct.

Another misconception is the escorted tour market’s demographic. Some 80% of Globus guests range from 49 to 67 years of age.

With average prices of up to 40% less than travellers can do on their own, and agency commission cheques of more than $1,000 per booking – even higher if agents sell optional tours under the customized MyGlobus program – Globus is encouraging travel agents to get onto AgentLingo.ca and become specialists in the field.

The five modules for the Globus Travel Expert program comprise ‘Rethink the Tour’; ‘How We Tour – Globus’; ‘How We Tour – Cosmos & Specialty’; ‘A Day in the Life [of a tour] – Peru’ and ‘Sell, Sell, Sell’. Each module takes under an hour and can be completed at an agent’s leisure.

Agents will also receive tangible benefits by participating in the program:

• Book 5, and Fly (agents making five bookings with Globus or Cosmos earn an air credit of up to $1,000 to be used to experience a Globus or Cosmos vacation firsthand)
• Expert designation, including Expert logo to appear on Globus and Cosmos Travel Agent Locators
• Certificate of Completion
• Free, high-quality marketing materials
• Ready-made Globus Tour Expert video
• CITC credits.

For more information, agents should visit RethinkTheTour.ca or start the GTE courses on AgentLingo.ca.