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Retail guru to return to Advantage conference
Retail guru Kate Hardcastle will return to the Advantage Travel Centres annual conference this year to tell agents how to cling on to customers.
Hardcastle, who shocked delegates at last year’s conference when she told the audience she’d visited four Advantage shops and received appalling service, has been working with members over the past 12 months.
This year, Hardcastle will host one of three leisure travel workshops at the conference in Malaga. Entitled customer service – the heart of the matter, it will outline how agents can go about persuading customers to book.
Advantage leisure director Julia Lo Bue-Said will host a workshop on adopting a business-like approach and John Sullivan, head of commercial, will consider how the commercial terms negotiated by Advantage and the use of technology tools such as Advantage Travel Gateway can be employed to drive individual member earnings.
The importance of businesses embracing Facebook, Twitter and other social media will be explored in a workshop entitled communicating in the 21st century hosted by Mark Rowe, head of marketing – leisure and Clare McPherson, marketing executive.
A range of business travel workshops will take place at the conference and will be announced shortly.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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