More commission with new cruise booking tool

MSC CRUISES will launch a
new agent booking tool in
South Africa in November to
drive distressed inventory and
help agents avoid the call
centre during busy seasons.
The system, called MSC
Book, has already been
launched in Europe and will
launch in the US in June.
David Randall, marketing
manager of MSC Cruises, says
MSC plans to use the channel
to incentivise the trade to
drive distressed departures
or cabin categories with an
additional commission of up to
3%. “These will be ad hoc and
subject to the pressures we
face with the current season,”
he says.
Agents turned to MSC’s
existing online system
for the 2013 to 2014
cruising season, when MSC
experienced an unexpected
high volume of calls. “Agents
demanded a better solution,
and ‘msconline’ was just that,”
he says. “Our business is
seasonal, which creates vastly
differing call volumes through
our contact centre. The
penetration we have enjoyed
with msconline, which is 80%
of our total revenue, means
the trade has a standalone
booking tool that is not
impacted by the cyclical nature
of our business.”
From November, MSC will
offer a completely revamped
online booking portal for travel
agents, with new features
aimed to enhance the enduser
experience and make
the booking process as quick
and simple as possible,
David says.
Booking will involve four
steps: selecting the cruise
and stateroom, finding
flights and hotels, adding
pre-paid services such as
spa treatments and shore
excursions, and checkout.
A new dashboard will show
commissions and other
accounting reports to the
travel agent, which can be
hidden from the customer.
Travel agents will be able
to save clients’ itineraries as
favourites so that they can be
viewed later. They’ll also be
able to compare prices, dates,
itineraries and any additional
items included in the price
for up to three cruises on
a single page and print or
email this to clients.
Staterooms can be selected
via an interactive deck plan,
which allows travel agents to
browse by deck and position
of the stateroom and quickly
see stateroom availability
for the category selected.
Once the client has decided
on the itinerary they want,
travel agents will be able
to send or print customer
booking confirmations and
e-tickets.