CCRA International is introducing a new live chat support feature to its booking portal, CCRAtravel.com. The new offering will provide additional client support to travel agents live and online between the hours of 6:00AM and 6:00PM PST Monday through Friday, and agents can access the new service online at www.CCRAtravel.com.
“We want to ensure that our clients are receiving the best possible service to help them grow their businesses,” said Mai Meyaart, Vice President and Managing Director of CCRA International.  “We know how important it is that our agent partners feel comfortable when using CCRAtravel.com, and we want to provide them with a new, up-to-the-minute way to have their questions answered.”
CCRAtravel.com’s mission for implementing the live chat support feature is to help agents feel comfortable using the CCRA Portal, while continually growing their businesses. By offering live chat support to travel agents, CCRA continues to develop innovative ways of providing effective solutions for its clients.
The new feature gives customer service travel professionals the ability to demonstrate the features of the portal, answer agents’ questions or resolve issues by walking through either the agent’s screen or the CCRA customer representative’s screen, all in real time. The CCRA 24-hour customer service support line is always available to its travel agent partners.     
        CCRA International works with hotel chains and leading independent properties to package preferred rate plans for corporate and leisure travel, including internet and preferred rates, along with instantaneous financial settlement, which guarantees pre-paid commissions on all bookings for agents and is unique to online travel booking. CCRA also connects via the GDS, making reservations immediate and efficient for agents and travelers. With more than 13,000 hotel clients and 100,000 affiliated travel agent members, CCRA offers unique marketing opportunities for hotels to reach the travel agent community. As an additional benefit to agency partners, CCRA also allows agents to designate their affiliated travel consortia.
“It’s imperative for CCRA to provide our membership base with access to an entirely new business model through the aggregation of enriched hotel content, our agent programs and full-service desktop tool,” said Meyaart. “Our ultimate goal is to ensure that that our agents are confident about adopting this new model, while effectively servicing their clients and remaining profitable.”
CCRAtravel.com’s new live chat is launched in conjunction with The TRADE Show, an annual conference sponsored by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), which endorses CCRA International. Other travel agency consortia and association who partner with CCRA include Vacation.com, OSSN, IT Group, WESTA, NACTA, and Cruise Shoppes, along with many independent travel agencies.
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