Enhanced technology enables destinations and suppliers to educate travel agents and meeting planners through customizable interactive platform.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Northstar Travel Group recently unveiled its new white-labeled learning management platform, which engages thousands of travel agents and meeting planners in immersive learning about destinations and supplier brands annually.
"At Northstar, our mission is to continually improve our products, services, processes, and client relationships, so our valued customers are successful," Roberta Muller, Northstar SVP Product Development, said. "We understand the value and role that education plays in the retail travel and meeting planner industries. We are committed to delivering a best-in-class learning management product for those markets."
The new SaaS-based platform provides users with customized, brand-centric experiences, featuring responsive designs, interactive modules and gamification. The new, enhanced platform displays education courses via multi-format presentation tools, allowing students to view slideshows, video, static and interactive text pages followed by quizzes and learning activities that enhance the student experience and ensure strong retention of material.
Northstar clients get the benefit of:
- A customized platform that engages a target audience with specific information and perspective on their destinations or products
- Enhanced analytics on user metrics, including insights into how users experience client brands
- On-demand reports and dashboards that detail overall usage, including how many users started and completed the course in a given time frame, how long it takes a user to complete a course, where drop-off occurs and audience testimonials.
- A responsive interface that engages audiences with access from all device types, from desktop to tablets and smartphones.
- Each client site is white labeled and designed within brand guidelines, incorporating the specifics of what makes each brand strong and memorable.
- A scalable platform and a continual stream of enhancements that keep the platform up-to-date.
The popularity of travel specialist certifications is on the rise, and suppliers and travel agents see value in the investment. In a survey conducted by Development Counsellors International (DCI), 83.9% of respondents reported that they plan to join more programs in the year to come. Agents rated destination knowledge as the most important aspect of a specialist program, followed by credibility with clients, and nearly every agent agreed that participation in a certification course would lead to an increase in sales (a scale average of 4.12/5).
"An effectively implemented specialist program is an influential tool in developing a qualified sales force, better communication with travel trade and, ultimately, increased bookings," according to DCI.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
