For the September issue of Irish Travel Trade News, Editor Michael Flood interviewed Jennifer Callister, Head of Ireland, Royal Caribbean International, about AirWaves, Try Me, Symphony of the Seas, and the film ‘Like Father’ shot on Harmony of the Seas.
How has AirWaves been received by your Irish travel partners?
“AirWaves is Royal Caribbean’s revolutionary booking platform that allows agents to dynamically book fly/cruise packages with greater ease, flexibility and security than ever before and it has been embraced by our agents in Ireland and across the UK.
“Earlier this year we launched a new functionality to the platform, enabling agents to book up to four staterooms at a time. This allows agents to secure inventory, secure the price and it enables ease of booking, all of which saves agents’ time! These components all make it a unique and effective tool.
“This new system is hugely effective, and saving time is only one of its many benefits. For agents who are booking a party all at once, it at least halves the time it would normally take by creating a group booking, instead of requiring individual staterooms to be booked one by one.”
How does the system help to secure the same price for consecutive bookings?
“There has always been pressure to book consecutive bookings quickly to secure the same price, but this inventory is live, allowing agents increased flexibility to secure the same price for consecutive bookings. Guests with multiple stateroom bookings will receive one invoice for all guests in the package, not one invoice per stateroom, offering maximum clarity by showing the total cost of the package booked.”
What are the advantages of the new ‘Try Me’ module?
“The new ‘Try Me’ module allows agents to learn more about how to book up to four staterooms through short video clips that are accessible via Club Learning on My Club Royal. It has been warmly received as a useful and easy to use tool by our agency partners, who were consulted regularly throughout the evolution of the platform.”
Can other inventory such as hotels and transfers be booked together in the same package, and are Irish agents embracing the new platform?
“Irish agents are loving the new platform and their feedback has consistently been positive. Guests booking flights or other inventory such as hotels/ transfers can now book these all together, providing absolute clarity when building the ultimate holiday package.”
For the remainder of this interview, as well as hotels in Japan for Ireland’s four Pool A matches in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, see the September issue of Irish Travel Trade News.
