Advantage Travel Partnership has opened registration for its packaging tool, ATOLPlus, which the consortium says will help agents differentiate product and get more bookings.

ATOLPlus was announced at Advantage’s conference in Madeira at the end of last month and, since then, 24 members have signed up, Head of Advantage Holidays and Cruise Lee Ainsworth told Travel Gossip.

Lee said: “The main driver of the bespoke packaging is a desire to create a point of differentiation in local markets, whether that be on the high street where competition remains fierce, online or via social media.

“We know members are facing increasing regulatory pressure and supplier consolidation as we begin to emerge from the pandemic.”

He said feedback from agent members showed a ‘demand to improve competitiveness and create a point of differentiation’.

“Increasing regulatory pressures have squeezed independent agents, making it a lot less attractive to hold your own ATOL licence and, in turn, reducing the ability for our members to differentiate themselves from others.”

Members can register their interest for ATOLPlus, which gives access to the ‘staple suppliers’ that power Advantage Holidays as well as an additional five suppliers that have signed up specifically to the tool.

“Following registration, we then work through an application process with each member, to ensure the solution is right for their business and to build the personalised product plan,” Lee explained.

He added: “The idea behind ATOLPlus is that we understand the member’s product requirements, assess if that fits within our current portfolio, and where the product is not currently served, we then look to secure this for the member as part of the service.

“There’s a space for all independent agents to excel as we begin to recover from the pandemic, and I feel we are in the best place possible to provide the tools and product to support our members.”

More details here.