Passport Header
 Home   |  About Us   |  Travel Agents   |  Travel Suppliers   |  Consortia   |  News   |  Training  |  Contact Us

News Release

Travelsavers Launches Custom Solutions Suite
-- Cost-Effective Program Integrates Online and Offline Marketing Efforts --

Scottsdale, AZ - (September 15, 2005) — Today at the "TRAVELSAVERS Amazing Race for Success" 35th Anniversary Convention, TRAVELSAVERS launched a new, three-pronged marketing initiative called the Custom Solutions Suite. The program integrates the organization's existing CONSUMERDirectMail campaigns with the new EMAILEditor and SITEMaster components. The cost-effective solution helps TRAVELSAVERS agencies maximize their marketing efforts both online and offline.

"The original Custom Solutions direct mail program has become very popular with TRAVELSAVERS agencies and preferred suppliers since its launch a few years ago," said Anne Marie Powell-Moebes, Chief Marketing Officer at TRAVELSAVERS. "We have now expanded it to include an e-commerce marketing program and complete website solution in order to further unleash the power of the Internet to help our agents build their leisure travel sales."

SITEMaster Builds Websites
One of the new components in the Customs Solutions Suite, SITEMaster (powered by Passport Online), is the latest website development and hosting product for travel agents. It is a comprehensive website program that gives agents advanced tools to capture a greater share of the online travel market.

SITEMaster incorporates customization capabilities, sophisticated website and email marketing tools, rich preferred supplier content and a powerful search engine.

"Passport Online is thrilled to be working with TRAVELSAVERS to be able to provide agents with such a powerful and dynamic online presence," said Greg Kott, President & CEO at Passport Online. "SITEMaster allows agents to gain a greater advantage over their competition, boost their Internet sales, and be able to market their agency in a whole new, and much more exciting, way than ever before."

In addition, during the first quarter of 2006, the CruiseXpress booking engine will be added to the Pro version of SITEMaster.

EMAILEditor Cost-Effectively Sends E-Promos
The new EMAILEditor, powered by Passport Online, allows TRAVELSAVERS agencies to cost-effectively create and send e-promos to new clients, and use e-promos to stay in close touch with the clients they already have.

Agents simply log onto the TRAVELSAVERS Agent Extranet, select the promotion(s), and send them to their own e-mail address. They can customize the promotions to their liking, using a palette of templates and color schemes. Next, agents select which clients from their database will receive the promotion(s). With the click of a button, they forward the e-promos to their clients using their e-mail system. Links in the e-promo then direct the recipients to a landing site branded for the agency. There, the agency's clients can see additional details, shop for other promotions, and choose to call or e-mail their personal TRAVELSAVERS travel agent.

Another appealing feature is that the ClientBase Plus interface allows the agency to import e-mails into their ClientBase Plus database.

"To stay competitive in our e-world, with its instant messaging and equally instant e-purchasing models, every travel agency needs to incorporate e-marketing as a core component of their overall marketing strategy," said Powell-Moebes. "Our new EMAILEditor is a turnkey solution. This is another tool that we're offering to help our agencies build awareness for their brand, stay in close contact with customers, and utilize the Internet as a communications and sales vehicle."

Consumer Direct Mail Brands the Agency Year-Round
The nationwide Custom Solutions consumer direct mail program gives TRAVELSAVERS agencies the tools to brand their agency through regular communications with customers and to incite them to book their travel through their dedicated TRAVELSAVERS agency. This powerful tool allows agents to boost sales by mining their client base and generating incremental business.

TRAVELSAVERS has created a portfolio of professionally designed marketing pieces, ranging from postcards to brochures. Agents simply submit their mailing lists, and TRAVELSAVERS produces and distributes customized direct mail pieces to their chosen clients on their behalf.

Top suppliers in every segment of the travel industry participate in the monthly mailings, as well as, specialized quarterly lifestyle campaigns.

"Overall, the Custom Solutions Suite offers a host of programs that will help agencies build awareness for their brand, stay in close contact with their customers, and utilize the Internet as a communications, sales and marketing vehicle all in one," added Powell-Moebes."

For more information, TRAVELSAVERS agencies can visit the Agent Extranet or call their local Service Director. Those agencies interested in joining TRAVELSAVERS can go to www.travelsavers.com or call 800-366-9895.

About Travelsavers
Travelsavers is an international marketing organization with a retail chain of more than 2,850 independently owned full-service travel agencies in 14 countries that generates more than $18 billion in annual travel industry sales. Headquartered in Oyster Bay, N.Y., TRAVELSAVERS offers a comprehensive range of products and support services to help its agencies maximize sales through a select group of suppliers -- and stand out as travel leaders in their local communities. The marketing company also features a unique exclusive territory system based on populations of 50,000, so agents maintain control over clients and prospective leads in their exclusive area. For more information about Travelsavers, see the web site at www.travelsavers.com .

About Passport Online
Passport Online connects travel industry suppliers and retailers to a broad range of travel buyers. VacationPORT is a sophisticated marketing system to actively promote and influence the flow of travel offers throughout the sales cycle in a highly customizable manner. VacationPORT has been selected by top U.S. travel companies as a comprehensive web marketing program to build leisure travel sales, as well as many of the top cruise, tour, and hotel companies in the world to distribute and market their latest product and pricing information. For more information about Passport Online, see the web site at www.passportonlineinc.com.

For More Information, Contact:

Passport Online, Inc.
Randy Goodrich, 503-626-7766 ext. 3030
email: randyg@passportonlineinc.com


© 2008 Passport Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved
9786 SW Nimbus Avenue Beaverton OR 97008 Phone: 503.626.7766 Fax: 503.626.8676 Email: sales@passportonlineinc.com