Interview By: Andy Ogg, CTIE, Co-Owner Travel Professional News
Interviewing: Ryan Saroli, CEO, Agencia Global and Voyages A La Carte
First off, thank you very much for the time today and joining our fantastic Travel Professional NEWS readers!
Thank you for the opportunity!
For those of our readers that aren’t aware of Voyages A La Carte and Agencia Global, can you share a bit about your business and history in this amazing industry?
Voyages a la Carte was a successful travel agency in the West Island of Montreal since 1991. In 2012, we crossed over into the B2B space, and became an airfare consolidator supporting travel agencies across Canada. After 2 years of solid growth, Voyages a la Carte made acquisitions in Canada and opened up shop in the U.S. to solidify our presence in North America. In late 2017, we revamped a B2B booking platform for agents that we’d been working on for years and launched Agencia Global. Through the support of our airline partners and our customers, we’ve been able to bring on thousands of agents each year and introduce them to our technology and our organization.
With 2020 underway, can you share a bit about your platform and what new offerings are available for its users?
2020 is shaping up to be a big year for Agencia Global. From day one, our goals and vision always aligned with empowering travel agents. To achieve this, we planned every project with three crucial pillars in mind; unbeatable technology, competitive pricing and industry leading agent support.
Our team listens to travel agents. We heard about limitations surrounding the technology that was available and decided to act on it. From multiple credit card solutions to our innovative “Hide Your Markup” tool, we invest in solving problems for agents. Tech is our advantage, and we’re always looking for the next big travel agent problem to solve.
Many Travel Professionals are missing out on the opportunity to earn more commissions by utilizing an Air Consolidator, can you share some success stories from Agents already using the Agencia Global platform?
Absolutely! We receive feedback regularly from new agents thanking us for the ability to earn more by doing what they love. Many home- based agents that have made the switch to Agencia Global have been able to earn upwards of 25%, and word of mouth has been a driving force supporting our growth in that segment of the industry. We drive over $1B in sales annually in North America which allows us to negotiate the most aggressive content available in the market, and our agents love that they’re able to benefit from that.
Our weekly webinars have been a great way to show our new customers how to earn more. We typically partner with an airline to provide a quick tutorial on our platform, our partners, and how to service the industry more effectively. We sweeten the webinars with really cool raffles too! In 2019 we gave away over $25,000 in prizes to our agents, and we’ll give away over $50,000 in 2020. Making money is great, but free travel is better!
What kind of commissions can a Travel Professional expect when using your platform?
Hard to say, seeing as every airline is vastly different. What we can say is that you can expect more with Agencia Global. We’re always leveraging our volume to find the best deal, and we pass that on directly to our agents.
Besides your commission system, what is the main appeal of Agencia Global?
Everyone loves making more money, but it’s the technology that sets us apart. Every feature we offer has been added as a result of listening to our agents. After every weekly webinar, we demand feedback and then act on it. The ability to accept multiple credit cards on one PNR has been received very well in the industry.
What are some of the top destinations offered through the Agencia Global platform?
We have contracts with over 150 airlines from point of sale USA and Canada. This translates to aggressive prices and commissions in virtually every destination across the globe. Specifically, our top international destinations include MNL, PEK, CDG, LHR and FCO, however our strongest growth market in 2019 was in South America.
As 2020 moves forward, can you share some of your plans as the year progresses, as well as any exciting things in the works for the future at Agencia Global?
We are always working on exciting projects. Agents can expect us to build technology that is intuitive, easy to use, and helps them service their customers. Content is everywhere, and we feel it’s our responsibility to aggregate as much as possible, and present it in one place to our customers.
If an Agent is looking to get started with Agencia Global, can you provide what would be required from them and where they could go to get started?
Registering with Agencia Global could not be easier! Just head to over to www.agenciaglobal.com/agency/register and fill in the short form. Your account will be approved that same day once we’ve done our due diligence. There are no registration costs whatsoever nor will we charge any recurring or transactional fees.
Before we conclude, I personally want to thank you for your time and information shared today. We appreciate your involvement in our publication and look forward to speaking with you again soon!