GLP’s big branding change: Q&A with Alan Law

GLP Worldwide (formerly GLP Worldwide Expedition Travel and Tours) unveiled a number of branding and programming changes to the travel industry yesterday, in a move described by the company’s director of sales and marketing Alan Law as “not so much a rebranding as a redefining and repositioning of our name and products.”

The changes, designed to address growing agent needs for unique and innovative travel experiences for their clients, feature a new company name – GLP Worldwide – as well as a new logo and branding tagline: “Travel for Travellers.”

GLP has also reorganized its products into four categories: River, Expedition, Ocean and Rail, which are bolstered by a list of new suppliers, including: Aranui; CroisiEurope; Klein Tours; Lernidee Trains & Cruises; Lord of the Glens; RailTrail and UnCruise Adventures.

The tour operator has also unveiled a revamped website, and promised enhanced agent support and educational tools, a new agent portal featuring customizable marketing items and e-guides, as well as exciting new routes and product lines to be rolled out throughout the next year.

Law sat down with PAX for an exclusive Q&A to discuss the details of the GLP Worldwide’s new branding release and product innovations.

This seems like a lot of change at once. Are agents in for a tricky transition? Everything is changing, and at the same time, we’re also staying the same. Ownership is the same, we’re still the same product, we’re still the same people with the same fundamental values. We want this to be a no muss, no fuss experience for our agent partners.

What initiated the new approach? Based on our discussions with travel agents, we know the market is changing, and agents are looking for more unique travel products. We’ve also been doing our thing for 16 years now, and we want to evolve with the times. A big part of that is giving agents the tools to sell complex products to clients who want a complex experience.

So what exactly are travellers looking for these days? Our ideal traveller knows there’s so much more to see than the main tourist traps. They want to do a little bit more, go a little bit further. We’re aiming to offer products which speak to that traveller. I think everybody’s travel needs are as unique as they are, so we want to offer that.

Why reposition your products into “travel categories”? Travellers tend to approach agents asking for a certain kind of adventure. Sometimes they think: “My friends just did a river cruise and they loved it. I want to do one.” By categorizing methods of travel, agents can filter down options, present clients with a corresponding brochure, say “Here are all the places where there are river cruises, now where do you want to go?” and work from there.

They can also promote unique alternatives, maybe say “I hear it’s crowded on the Rhine, but how about the Loire Valley?”

Is Loire Valley a new route for your river cruising product line? Yes, we’ve blocked space in 2017-18 for river cruising in the Loire Valley and along the Elbe River.

What can agents look forward to regarding your website and agent portal? Our website will be more image-heavy, with more emphasis on education and inspiration. It will also be totally user-friendly, and include a trip list that allows you to mark your favourites as you browse.

We want to drive consumer traffic to our website to generate interest in, and understanding of, our products, but the call-to-action will always redirect back to the agents. They’ll be able to go on the website, select itineraries they want to show the client, save them and send them to their client – all with the agent’s own branding and contact info on it.

For our agent portal, there will be links to various products, e-guides, sale sheets and digital brochures, all of it customizable for the agent’s logo and contact information as well.

So are you making the move to be totally digital? There’s a lot of focus on technology, because of the way consumers are digesting content now, but we’ll do printable brochures as well, because paper is still important. It encourages people to get their hands on a product.

What kind of product training can agents expect? Our webinars will be more consistent, hosted more often, and focus more on the categorized travel experiences as well as new sales techniques - how to sell these products, identify the right clients for these niche products, etc.

We know there are a lot of agents out there who want these products, and we want to make it easy for them to come and get it from us.

GLP is hosting a cross-Canada agent roadshow this September to promote the brand changes:

• Sept. 22 - LUMAS Gallery - Gastown, British Columbia
• Sept. 27 - Langdon Hall - Cambridge, Ontario
• Sept. 28 - Estates of Sunnybrook - Toronto, Ontario

For more information, visit glpworldwide.com