Galileo International has announced the launch of its Preferred Partner Programme (P3) in the UK and Ireland as phase one of its rollout in the EMEA region. P3 offers Galileo agents exclusive access to a wide range of services and benefits designed to help them reduce their costs and bring added value to their customers.  The programme gives Galileo agents a unique competitive advantage.

Leveraging their relationship with Cendant, Galileo has been able to develop a series of exclusive alliances and partnerships with global organisations on behalf of their agents that provide the kind of cost savings and additional revenue streams they typically would not be able to secure and leverage on their own.

“We are very excited about the rollout of this programme in EMEA and the benefits that it will bring our travel agency partners,” said Alison Bell, regional director, UK and Ireland for Cendant’s Travel Distribution Services Division. “This is a clear example of Galileo’s 360¡ thinking, and further demonstrates the unique value of an affiliation with Cendant. We have worked very closely with our agents to identify areas where we can deliver real value in terms of cost-savings and increased revenue to their businesses by leveraging our relationships with Galileo’s major suppliers and those of Cendant Corporation. With current pressures on the agent’s revenue model, and further changes inevitable, there is a need for all those involved in the travel industry to reassess how they work together and look at new, innovative ways to support customers and develop new revenue streams. We believe that the Preferred Partners Programme is reflective of the future direction of the industry.”

Bob Chepak president of Merrill International commented: “This is an innovative programme and we are delighted to be a part of it. There is a clear opportunity for agents to benefit from the alliances that Cendant has brought to Galileo and we are looking forward to developing long-term and mutually successful relationships with these agents.”

The Preferred Partner Programme has three core objectives:

i)    Increasing revenue for agents by offering them preferential pricing and merchant rates on a wide range of inventory

ii)    Empowering agents with the ability to offer competitive products and services to create differentiation among their competitors, ultimately improving customer loyalty.

iii)  Removing bottom line costs by leveraging Cendant’s unique purchasing power, leading to greater efficiency

The launch of Galileo’s Preferred Partner Programme in EMEA follows the launch last year in the US and earlier this year in Canada of Business Builders, a similar programme designed to help agency partners become more profitable, primarily through revenue-building opportunities.
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