When selling a destination you have not personally visited, booking through an onsite company will make you look like a star in the eyes of your luxury clients.
For the uninitiated, an onsite company is typically located in the country in which vacations are planned. It may have several offices located throughout the region or country and feature a robust knowledge about virtually everything regarding a given destination, with reservation agents who have first-hand local knowledge.
An onsite company is different from a tour operator. A tour operator may be located in one spot but sell travel to destinations in more than one country or region, and its reservation agents generally sell travel to multiple destinations, many of which they have not visited.
One example of an onsite is Switzerland-based Bucher Travel. I contacted the company using its general email and was assigned to work with one agent—Eveline—throughout the planning process. I enjoyed the experience—we were able to get to know each other quite well, which meant I didn’t have to waste time explaining every question to yet another agent.
Eveline immediately asked all the right questions, learning about my clients. I gave her specific information about what they were interested in seeing and doing in Switzerland, and gave her the parameters to help her craft the perfect itinerary. Budget, timing and personal interests are examples of some of the important facts I presented with my request.
Having never traveled to Switzerland, I learned a great deal about the destination through Bucher, which made me feel comfortable developing the itinerary with Eveline’s help. She not only prepared a wonderful proposal within the requested budget, but also made recommendations for restaurants in each city—along with extra information about each locale.
When working with an onsite, it’s important to find out upfront how much they charge, if they accept client credit cards and if there are penalties involved for changes or cancellations. Bucher accepted credit cards, but other onsites I use accept only wire transfer payments. In that case, I charge the client upfront (including commission) and wire only the net payment to the onsite, keeping the commission here in the U.S.
Client feedback from the Switzerland trip was excellent. Because of inclement weather on a day my clients were supposed to take a gondola ride up a mountain, the local onsite office reached out to them and recommended an alternate activity. The clients ended up having a lovely day and said they never felt like they wasted any money paying upfront for a tour they wouldn’t be able to enjoy. Had this been planned with a tour operator, it would have been impossible to make such a change at the last minute.
In addition to looking like a superstar in your clients’ eyes, booking through onsite companies will enable you to cultivate an ever-growing number of referrals.