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| Administrator Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: USA
Posts: 1,346
Club: DC4MS.com | ABERCROMBIE & KENT DESTINATIONS OFFER TRAVEL AGENTS MAJOR NEW REVENUE SOURCE Upcoming Major National Media Launch Creates Early Opportunity for Travel Agents At a meeting of the 100 Club, Abercrombie & Kent's top travel agent partners, the company unveiled a major national media campaign promoting luxury travel and A&K's vital new product line, "Abercrombie & Kent Destinations." The media campaign creates a significant new economic opportunity for Travel Agents while simultaneously providing substantial value-added services to their clients. "Resort travel is an essential part of our clients' active lifestyles," explains Abercrombie & Kent Group Chairman and CEO Geoffrey Kent. "Unfortunately, sometimes when a Travel Agent introduces a client to a wonderful new resort, the client ends up buying a second home there. And agent commissions soon begin to disappear. "With the introduction of Abercrombie & Kent Destinations, we are offering travel agents the opportunity to introduce their clients to a much more appealing alternative…a magnificent line of resort products that offers a substantive new revenue opportunity for the agent. A&K will be supporting Travel Agents' efforts with a massive national media campaign designed to expose the product and its lifestyle appeal to their clients." Abercrombie & Kent Destination Clubs (Web Page Under Construction) offers top-of-the-line luxury residences with all the services, and more, of a five-star luxury hotel in the best boutique resort destinations. With locations throughout the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean and Western Europe, there is now, for the first time, a true luxury alternative for those clients disenchanted with the complexities of owning a second home and the limited options provided by resort hotels and property management companies. Clients wishing to experience this lifestyle option on an a la carte basis may choose from the selection of experiences available through A&K's Concierge Villas. Clients wishing to build a long-term lifestyle may select one of the A&K Destination Clubs. Abercrombie & Kent Concierge Villas offer clients (who have come to recognize the quality of A&K-managed travel) extraordinary experiences in a wide range of resort destinations. Now, when a client wishes to viist Aspen, Telluride, Sun Valley, Nevis, Cabo San Lucas, Palm Springs or any of more than 30 destinations, they can do so in a large private home with the confidence that Abercrombie & Kent will consistently deliver over-the-top hotel-style services and experiences. Until now, their choices have been limited to impersonal hotel suites or homes managed by local property management companies (where the experience can be highly unpredictable). A&K Concierge Villas pay Travel Agents commissions on trips booked to those attractive destinations, providing an opportunity to dramatically increase the volume of commissionable travel an agent can book for existing clients. Abercrombie & Kent Destination Clubs (which today include the 'Private Retreats Club' and the 'Distinctive Retreats Club') offer clients who wish to make a more significant commitment to their luxury travel lifestyle unlimited access to a diverse portfolio of luxury residences and yachts, in more than 30 world-class resort destinations including Nevis, Jackson Hole, Cabo San Lucas, Telluride, Tortola, Hawaii and Scottsdale. Luxury suites are available in Paris, London, Rome, New York, San Francisco, Miami and San Diego. Membership also offers additional lifestyle and travel benefits such as retreat coordinators and hosts, concierges and access to private jets (with no minimum commitment). Abercrombie & Kent, Inc. President George Morgan-Grenville believes Travel Agents will find the economics of Destination Clubs particularly attractive. "Travel Agents can earn aggressive commissions for Concierge Villas bookings, and, for the Destination Clubs, $5,000 for each referral who becomes a Member of Private Retreats or $10,000 for each referral who joins Distinctive Retreats, along with a $600 annuity for each year a client remains an A&K Destination Club Member." Once an Agent identifies a potential Destination Club Member, the Agent simply registers the client on the Abercrombie & Kent, Inc. web site (Luxury Travel, Travel, Luxury Vacations, Luxury Tours, Luxury Trips - Abercrombie & Kent) to qualify for payment when the client becomes a Member. "A big benefit for Travel Agents is that the educational process is highly personalized," adds Morgan-Grenville. "Membership materials are sent to the agent to be personally delivered and one of A&K's highly trained Membership Directors is assigned to assist the client in the enrollment process". Each A&K Destination Clubs villa or suite is luxuriously appointed with a plasma television and DVD player, Bose radio, Viking range and Sub-Zero refrigerator. Guests are met on arrival by a Resort Host, who serves as their personal concierge throughout their stay. The result is a splendid mixture of comfort, convenience and support, ideal for a working vacation, informal family reunion or just a weekend away. Now is the time for travel agents to introduce this new concept in luxury travel to their clients because, over the next few months, A&K will be spending millions of dollars to introduce the Clubs to potential Members. Headquartered in Southport, Connecticut, Abercrombie & Kent Destinations operates Abercrombie & Kent Concierge Villas, the true alternative to a luxury hotel suite, and Abercrombie & Kent Destination Clubs, an offering that combines the legal structure of a private golf club with the capacity modeling of the fractional jet industry, providing virtually unlimited availability for Club Members. Abercrombie & Kent Destination Clubs originated the Destination Club in 1998, and today there are over 500 Members in two different membership clubs. Membership in the original club, Private Retreats by Abercrombie & Kent, is $295,000. In response to demand for larger and even more luxurious properties, Distinctive Retreats by Abercrombie & Kent was launched in late 2003 with membership now at $495,000. Along with the fully-refundable membership fee, annual club dues are $9,500 and $13,500, respectively. Over the past 12 months, Membership sales exceeded $85 million, a 250 percent increase from the previous year. "In recognition of the important role Travel Agents can play in introducing this new concept in luxury travel," explains George Morgan-Grenville, "Abercrombie & Kent is offering Travel Agents the opportunity to invite their clients to join Distinctive Retreats at the special price of $450,000 until July 31, 2004. This represents a savings of $60,000 off the retail sales price for their clients and commission is fully protected." Abercrombie & Kent has been an innovator in luxury travel since 1962. The company built its award-winning reputation by being the first to bring unexpected comforts and amenities to remote destinations and by providing privileged access to local cultures and experiences in Africa and Egypt, the Orient and Australasia, Europe, South America and the Galapagos, and North America. Today travel with Abercrombie & Kent combines the convenience, service and security of a U.S.-based company with 24/7 support from a network of 45 on-site offices in destinations worldwide. For more information, call Abercrombie & Kent Destination Clubs at (800) 925-7577. Client registration for travel agents is available on-line. |
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