Designer Travel launches in-house database of ‘secret’ tips

Designer Travel is creating an in-house database of its homeworkers’ “secret” tips and experiences to set its agents apart as “real travel experts”.

The homeworking business announced the launch of the Fab Bank at its annual conference, held at Ikos Andalusia in Spain over the weekend and attended by 90 of its 140 travel agents.

The information bank has taken 12 months to develop and is now live for Designer Travel agents to add their own advice and information.

Agents can populate the system with details of best restaurants, resorts and hotels, alongside tips about excursions and activities, plus specific details, such as whether a swimming pool is saltwater and the times of local buses.

Managing director Amanda Matthews said the Fab Bank was a way of retaining recommendations from fam trips and holidays for its agents to share within the business for use during the sales process.

It will not be available on its website or for consumers to search.

She said: “We have spent a year developing this system and we believe it will be a game changer for our business.

“It’s about storing all those little gems of information, like the best room in a hotel. This is not the information you get in the holiday brochure, it is a ‘secret’ database.”

Designer Travel agents will be incentivised to populate the database over the next year, she said, adding: “Our travel experts are all so excited about it and, as a team, we will be focused on this for the next year.

“There are so many agents joining the industry who say they are qualified but may not have the same level of expertise. Once this is built up, it will be really powerful and set us apart as real travel professionals.”

All the information will be date?registered and some will be retained only for a limited time to ensure it is not out of date. Images and videos will also be uploaded, as well as maps showing hotel locations.

Matthews said the database would be used to produce fact sheets for clients. She said: “This will save our homeworkers so much time, and the more it gets populated, the more we will look brilliant and the less time it will take us to look brilliant.”