Latest news with #NicoleMazza
Travel Weekly
2 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
AMG offers an update on AI at its conference
ORLANDO -- American Marketing Group released a number of network updates related to its programs and services at its annual Travel Market here. Chief marketing officer Nicole Mazza said she is most excited about AI, and AMG's partnership with Toby, AI Connect Powered by Toby. "We are very focused on building tools for [advisors] to help with their workflow process to give them more time back," Mazza said. Utilization of AI Connect still needs to grow, she said, but the number of users are going up monthly. All exclusive supplier offers are sent directly to AI Connect. Advisors can then use that information to prompt the AI to build content like blog posts, social media captions and landing pages, all within AI Connect. It also recently debuted Destination Arrival Guide, which has more than 600 destination briefs that are regularly updated. Advisors can use that content to create guides tailored to their clients. It's "a phenomenal product that is a really great marketing assistant," Mazza said. While a number of agencies are still "a little skittish" about integrating AI into their workflows, she said AMG is working to help them understand how useful it could be. "Marketing that has taken them hours to produce, they can do in less than 20 minutes," she said. "If you're really quick, you can do it in less than five. It's that easy to use in these tools." Technology updates Second to AI in terms of importance, Mazza said, is lead generation and having an advisor profile on AMG's consumer-facing websites. Last fall, AMG debuted the advisor profiles, which consumers can search using filters like location, specialties, destination expertise, languages spoken and accolades and certifications. Since they debuted, 78% of the profiles have been updated. The profiles appear on Travelsavers' U.S. and Canadian consumer websites, the Affluent Traveler Collection's consumer website and Your Vacation Specialists, which features NEST advisors. The profiles were "our No. 1 requested program," Mazza said. She noted AMG has been investing heavily in technology, including lead generation and digital campaigns. Investments also include putting more and more content into TripXpress, the booking platform for Travelsavers and NEST advisors, as well as creating a new marketing hub where advisors can manage email and direct mail marketing in one place. A new deep link program enables advisors to link to tripXpress directly from their webpages, blog posts or social media, bringing consumers directly into the booking process. "We have quite a few advisors who work with influencers and they like to market this way," Mazza said. Education updates AMG is in the process of relaunching its Kore educational platform, with the updated version of the platform coming in December, Travelsavers chief sales officer and NEST president Kathryn Mazza-Burney said. Kore was originally designed for new-to-the-industry advisors. It was AMG's way of training them then matching them with agencies. However, as time has gone on, more and more advisors with some years selling travel under their belts have begun taking the course as a refresher. To date, around 250 have graduated from Kore. Its relaunch will bring three main facets: accreditation for graduates, the ability to customize the platform by agency and it will be mobile friendly. It will also update topics, add more interaction via exercises and gamification and feature shorter modules "It's taken it to the next level," Mazza-Burney said.
Travel Weekly
2 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Optimism for 2025 growth is waning with Travelsavers and NEST advisors, survey shows
ORLANDO -- A new survey of Travelsavers and Network of Entrepreneurs Selling Travel (NEST) members has found that advisors' outlook on 2025 sales has dampened since last fall, but overall, the networks are still seeing growth this year. Details and commentary on the survey were released last week during a press conference at AMG's Travel Market 2025 conference, held at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort here. "When we compare our revenue year on year, we are still seeing growth," said Nicole Mazza, chief marketing officer at parent company American Marketing Group (AMG). "It might be small, single-digit growth, but it's growth, which is great, especially given the environment we're currently in today. We're in a volatile environment." The most recent survey, conducted in April and May, found that 12% of advisors said 2025 sales will increase significantly and 34% predicted sales will increase somewhat, while 22% predicted sales would stay the same. Another 26% expected sales to decrease somewhat this year, and another 6% said sales will decrease significantly. Compare those numbers to the survey done last October and November, when 27% of respondents predicted sales would increase significantly in 2025, while the majority, 52%, predicted sales would increase somewhat. Eighteen percent said sales would stay the same, while 4% predicted sales would decrease somewhat. "Yes, a little decreased optimism," said Betsy Goldberg, senior corporate communications director for Travelsavers. "But that's still roughly half of the advisors who think their sales are going to go up. I think that's pretty indicative." What concerns clients Goldberg said advisors' clients have a number of different concerns, most centered around price and consumer confidence. Advisors reported that their clients were most concerned about the high cost of travel (50%), inflation and rising prices (41%), lack of consumer confidence in the economy (34%), geopolitical issues (29%) and safety in certain regions (26%). • Travel Weekly survey: Bookings decline, but not across the board As a result, Goldberg said, advisors are turning to tactics like recommending less expensive destinations, flexible travel time, using loyalty points, taking fewer trips, taking shorter trips and opting for less expensive accommodations. Overall, AMG is reporting travel is up in all segments, albeit at a slightly muted pace in some categories compared with last year. Cruise vacations, up 16% year over year in 2024, are up 6% in 2025. Sun vacations, up 5% in 2024, are up 13% this year. FIT vacations, up 4% in 2024, are up 8% this year. Guided vacations, up 11% in 2024, are up 6% this year. River cruises, up 15% last year, are up 16% this year (percentages from 2025 are reflective of first-quarter results). "It's tough to constantly have that trajectory up," said Mazza, who noted the industry likely won't see a true normalization of booking patterns until 2026.
Travel Daily News
3 days ago
- Business
- Travel Daily News
TRAVELSAVERS and NEST offer exclusive innovations
TRAVELSAVERS and NEST enhance advisor competitiveness with AI tools, lead-gen campaigns, digital storefronts, and revamped education through the KORE program. ORLANDO, FLA. – In today's crowded travel marketplace, TRAVELSAVERS and NEST are providing their affiliated advisors with state-of-the-art technology, novel lead-generation programs and marketing initiatives to enhance their competitive edge. The networks shared the latest updates on their innovations at the Travel Market conference, being held June 4 to 7 at Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando. 'We've been producing innovative technology that helps advisors sell more and work smarter for our entire 55-year history,' said Nicole Mazza, Chief Marketing Officer, TRAVELSAVERS and NEST. 'Our technology team continues to bring out forward-looking tools that give our advisors the advantage they need to stay ahead in an industry that's always evolving.' AI Connect Powered by Toby Through our collaboration, advisors can seamlessly access and promote exclusive offers with AI Connect Powered by Toby, making it easier to enhance their marketing efforts and streamline their workflow. This partnership ensures that AI Connect Powered by Toby provides valuable tools while offering special benefits tailored to advisors' needs. As subscriptions grow each month, so does the opportunity for advisors to leverage cutting-edge AI to save time and create polished, professional content. AI Connect helps advisors tap into the $28+-billion opportunity that generative AI represents for the travel industry. Exclusive partner offers are sent directly into the platform, so advisors build blog posts, social media captions and landing pages faster using real-time promotions. AI Connect recently debuted a Destination Arrival Guide, featuring more than 600 professionally written destination briefs, which are updated regularly. With the Generate with Toby feature, advisors can create guides tailored to client preferences, interests and travel styles. Coming soon: translation and newsletter tools for multilingual and multi-format content. Lead-Generation Initiatives Digital campaigns have been the cornerstone of the TRAVELSAVERS and NEST lead-generation strategy since their introduction two years ago. Video and social media ads attract consumers looking for travel expertise, who are then driven to network websites. These ads in Meta have delivered nearly 3.5 million impressions and more than 78,000 clicks to sites, producing quality leads for advisors. These campaigns meet the growing appetite among travelers for immersive experiences, building connections with key market segments such as guided vacations, adventure travel, romance travel and new-to-cruise customers. Another initiative driving leads to advisors is enhanced agency profiles. Travelers can search for and select an advisor who's a fit for their preferences based on location, specialties, destination expertise, languages spoken as well as accolades and certifications. Since their debut last fall, 78 percent of advisor profiles have been updated, highlighting their strengths to consumers on a valuable marketing platform. Profiles appear on the TRAVELSAVERS U.S. and Affluent Traveler Collection consumer websites, as well as two new sites: TRAVELSAVERS Canada and Your Vacation Specialists, which features NEST advisors. OnlineXpress Digital Storefronts TRAVELSAVERS and NEST agencies are the only networks with a website creation and hosting program purposely built for our advisors, OnlineXpress. With this unique advantage, they can invite customers and prospects to experience their engaging digital storefronts. Agencies in the U.S. and Canada use OnlineXpress to polish their online presence and market to consumers. The program has shown remarkable growth this year over the same time in 2024, with 3,500 leads generated, 725,000 pageviews (up 82 percent) and 1.7 million emails (up 20 percent). Technology Innovations The industry-leading tripXpress booking platform now offers a feature solely available to TRAVELSAVERS and NEST advisors. They can deep-link directly to tripXpress from their webpages, blog posts or social media. The link will take consumers directly into the booking process and automatically attribute the booking to the advisor. Another tripXpress innovation coming soon will provide advisors with an all-in-one dashboard for marketing tools and insights. The dashboard will consolidate data and list management for direct mail, email and OnlineXpress. Advisors will be able to order direct mail and emails through the dashboard and manage preferences, including targeting clients. TRAVELSAVERS and NEST have also introduced a custom-branded URL at the agency or advisor level that will stay the same for every marketing campaign. Advisors can easily drive consumers to this single link for promotions, showcasing offers through the link in their email signature and on social profiles. 'Our advisors tell us they need new ways to find clients and market to existing ones,' said Mazza. 'At the same time, they tell us they're in overdrive managing their businesses and don't have spare hours to waste on complex platforms. That's why we're dedicated to creating easy-to-use tools to send business to advisors and give them back time within their day.' KORE Education Enrichment The KORE program – launched in 2021 to train the next generation of professional travel advisors – is undergoing a major revision. The refreshed curriculum will update topics, create shorter modules, add more interaction through exercises and gamification, and build a community of learners through the web-based platform. Agencies will also be able to create customized KORE versions for their advisors. KORE equips new consultants with the essential skills and real-world knowledge to be successful travel professionals and business owners. It provides learners with a thorough, self-paced online curriculum. KORE is the sole advisor education program that offers mentoring with an agency owner or manager, as well as a placement service to match candidates with leading agencies.
Travel Weekly
6 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
American Marketing Group says business rebounded after Q1 slowdown
ORLANDO -- After a "spectacular year" in 2024, American Marketing Group and its four agency brands experienced a slowdown at the end of the first quarter of 2025. But that slowdown has already turned around, according to chief marketing officer Nicole Mazza. "I can tell you as quick as we went into it, we came out of it," Mazza said on stage June 5 during the group's Travel Market conference at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort here. "Business is back, and business is soaring." American Marketing Group is home to travel agency network Travelsavers, which has a presence in the U.S. and Canada; the Network of Entrepreneurs Selling Travel (NEST), a network for home-based agencies; and the Affluent Traveler Collection, a network of luxury-focused advisors. Together, those brands represent 25,000 travel advisors. In 2024, 102 agencies joined those brands, representing $279 million in preferred-supplier sales. From January to May of 2025, Mazza said, 47 new agencies have joined, representing $196 million in preferred supplier sales. "2024 was a spectacular year coming off of two extremely strong years," Mazza said, adding that 2025 is looking "equally as strong" despite the slowdown at the end of Q1. "I'm extremely bullish. Hopefully you are in your business, as well," she said. For agencies with a less optimistic outlook, Mazza recommended connecting with peers who are thriving to find out what's working for them. What's hot in 2025 Mazza also highlighted some trends on which to capitalize. She shared leading destinations by type of travel. For guided tours, the most popular destinations are Ireland, Italy, France, Greece, Croatia, Spain and Portugal. The most popular sand-and-sun markets are Cancun, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Aruba. (Cancun and Dominican Republic, she said, have always been dominant.) For cruising, the top destinations are Antarctica, the Arctic and Alaska. While Alaska was a little soft last year, it's strengthening in 2025, she said. For FIT travelers, topping the list are Japan, Vietnam, Columbia and Africa. In terms of demographics, multigenerational and skip-gen travel (where grandparents travel with grandchildren) remain popular, Mazza said. Millennials and Generation X particularly value multigenerational travel. Mazza is also tracking a surge in demand for solo travel. Google has seen a 300% increase in searches for solo travel, she said, noting that people want to travel alone, but in a secure way. A number of supplier partners have developed products around solo travel, which she encouraged advisors to explore. Cruising continues be popular, especially with a number of new products, Mazza said. It's easy to get first-time cruisers to repeat once they've cruised, she said. Mazza encouraged advisors to promote Arctic and Antarctic cruises to their more adventurous travelers. There is also strong demand for set-jetting, or traveling to places featured in films and television shows like "Yellowstone," "Black Panther" and "The White Lotus." She noted suppliers are building products around the trend. Finally, most everyone knows the term FOMO, or "fear of missing out." But how many know the term JOMO, Mazza asked? It stands for "joy of missing out," or those travelers who want to go on vacation and relax. They're not interested in sharing pictures on Instagram, but want to unplug.
Travel Weekly
12-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Positive data points for advisors
Jamie Biesiada There is a lot of uncertainty right now, including about the economy, consumer confidence, global geopolitical unrest and beyond. "Wait and see" is becoming a common phrase as to what the remainder of the year holds. And, as the survey Travel Weekly conducted in March seeking advisor input found, agencies were across the board in terms of concerns and impacts felt. For some, business was booming. Others were fielding cancellations and concerns from uneasy clients. Many fell somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum. We're fielding another survey to get a pulse on how business is now, two months after that survey, but in the meantime, here are some encouraging numbers about 2025 sales for advisors. Travelsavers' sales are up Travelsavers recently released some sales statistics that paint a nice picture for 2025, following what was a very strong year in 2024. Sales are up in a number of categories: premium ocean cruising (21%), river cruising (15%), contemporary ocean cruising (13%), luxury cruising (5%), guided vacations (11%), fun-and-sun vacations (5%) and FIT travel (4%). "I am super bullish on this business and believe 2025 is going to end strongly," Travelsavers chief marketing officer Nicole Mazza said in a release. "Travelers are booking for the festive season and into next year. 2026 is already off the charts with double-digit growth." Mazza did acknowledge the challenges 2025 has brought, like consumer confidence and inflation, but said, "After 55 years, we're not strangers to industry challenges." Europe travel will still increase this year Allianz recently released some stats on summer travel to Europe. Based on bookings, for the fourth year in a row, U.S. summer travel to Europe will increase, this year by 10%. The boom in Europe travel started in 2022, when Allianz found it was up 600% (pandemic blues were a likely culprit). U.S. travel to Europe has since increased, albeit at a more gradual pace, rising 55% in 2023 then 34% in 2024. While this year's increase might be small by comparison, it's still an increase, and that bodes well for advisors. The top five destinations, as reported by Allianz, in order: London, Paris, Dublin, Rome and Edinburgh, Scotland. This year, Edinburgh and Rome swapped positions, with Rome edging out the Scottish capital for spot No. 4. Name this newsletter As a reminder, I'm running a small contest to rename this eletter. I'll be keeping the survey open for another week or two, so please submit some ideas. I'll send the winner a selection of local goods from the small Jersey Shore town where I live.
