CCRA Charges Into The New Year With Exciting Changes, New Travel Agent & Supplier Offerings & Substantial Growth
Fort Worth, Texas (PRWEB) February 02, 2016 -- CCRA Travel Commerce Network - a global hub for accreditation and education, travel technology, and industry marketing – has kicked off 2016 with a brand new company website, new travel agent membership opportunities and exciting travel industry events planned for the upcoming year. The former Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN) memberships have been fully transitioned to CCRA’s new and enhanced 2016 membership structure that is now featured on the new CCRA.com website. CCRA expects sold-out attendance at its 2016 PowerSolutions Events that will take place in 7 cities across the U.S. and are free for registered travel agents to attend. CCRA will debut its new "StaySelect" hotel reservations portal that will be made available to all qualified travel agents by the end of Q1, 2016. And finally, CCRA reports a rapidly growing social media presence and enters new international markets with the launch of its Global Network powered by TRUE.
NEW CCRA.com Website & Travel Agent Membership Opportunities
CCRA has successfully re-launched its new and modernized CCRA.com website that provides travel professionals with a one-stop destination to quickly access all CCRA offerings, including its new 2016 membership opportunities for travel agents and agencies in both domestic and international markets. In addition to the introduction of CCRA’s streamlined website, over the past several months, OSSN members were transitioned to CCRA’s new consolidated 2016 membership structures. The new membership offerings range from a fully inclusive accredited travel agency membership that includes TRUE accreditation and affords a wealth of additional benefits from CCRA for up to 5 agents to independent association memberships for single agents. CCRA now provides accreditation and identification to travel agencies around the world, backed by the TRUE code, which remains a flagship offering from CCRA. CCRA’s enhanced membership options for travel agents provide all the existing benefits of OSSN membership plus an array of additional benefits including discounted rates, educational and online training platforms, discounts on industry trade shows, executive coaching from industry experts, local support at CCRA chapter meetings and much more. Travel agents may learn more about the new membership options and added benefits here: https://www.ccra.com/join/.
“CCRA has responded to the growing and diverse needs of the travel community by expanding its website and membership opportunities. The new CCRA.com website has been extremely well received by both travel professionals and suppliers who may now seamlessly access all CCRA company divisions and enjoy an array of added benefits and services that CCRA is offering in 2016,” said Dic Marxen, President and CEO of CCRA Travel Commerce Network. “We are extremely excited for the year ahead as our company continues to make strides in our domestic and international growth, unveil new offerings for both travel agents and suppliers, and connect a much larger segment of travel professionals with leading suppliers worldwide.”
To oversee all aspects of CCRA’s membership experience for travel agents, a new CCRA Membership Services Department was formed, led by Margie Jordan, CCRA’s Vice President of Membership Services: “CCRA currently has 80 active chapters throughout the U.S. and that number is expected to grow in 2016,” said Jordan. “CCRA has responded to the demands of the travel industry by diversifying its membership structure to accommodate the varying needs of our members. In addition to significantly enhancing and modernizing the former OSSN membership, we have also raised the requirements for TRUE to ensure that all travel agents have an array of options to fit their individual business models.”
CCRA’s New StaySelect Hotel Booking Platform To Launch In Early 2016
CCRA plans to release its brand new hotel booking portal for travel professionals, StaySelect, by the end of the first quarter of 2016. StaySelect will replace the existing CCRATravel.com hotel portal that currently has 13,119 registered travel agent users. Available for use by all 2016 CCRA travel agent members, the new StaySelect hotel portal will provide travel professionals with a much easier user interface and a visually stunning hotel search and booking platform.
CCRA’s POWERSOLUTIONS Events Expand to Additional Cities In 2016
CCRA’s PowerSolutions events are free educational networking opportunities that allow travel agents to mingle with the industry’s top suppliers and fellow chapter members in an intimate after-work cocktail hour setting. Last year, CCRA’s sold-out PowerSolutions Events attracted an average of 200 travel professional registrations per show. Due to increased travel agent and supplier demand, CCRA has expanded its 2016 PowerSolutions events to span 7 major cities across the U.S. Travel agents are encouraged to register early to guarantee their spot at these increasingly popular events, where leading local, national and international suppliers provide attendees with useful education and opportunities to help agents grow their travel business. The event calendar and more information can be found online at https://www.ccra.com/powersolutions/. Registration is already available for travel agents interested in attending the following two PowerSolutions events:
February 24, 2016: San Diego, CA: Held at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, San Diego, CA: CCRA PowerSolutions San Diego, CA
June 20, 2016: New Orleans, LA: Held at The Westin New Orleans Canal Place, New Orleans, LA: CCRA PowerSolutions New Orleans, LA
The five additional PowerSolution event dates will be announced through the CCRA.com site and will take place in Philadelphia, South Florida, Minneapolis, Orlando and San Francisco.
CCRA’s Powerful Expansion Into New International Markets & Social Media
Since January, CCRA has acquired more than 10,000 new social media followers through its Facebook business page alone, signaling a huge change in the way CCRA markets to and connects with its customers in the coming year. CCRA expects its social media presence to significantly grow in 2016, as the company continues to place a greater emphasis on providing relevant and useful information to help travel professionals become more profitable, tech-savvy, and knowledgeable via CCRA’s social media accounts, that currently include: Facebook Twitter, vimeo, flickr, LinkedIn and the CCRA Community blog.
CCRA has also launched its Global Market powered by TRUE, where travel agents can quickly access all of CCRA’s exclusive global suppliers that are located in some of the world’s most sought after travel markets and accept the TRUE code. CCRA’s expanding Global Market network currently includes Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Ecuador and more. These suppliers have never worked in the U.S. market and will bring a much needed diversity into many agencies’ offerings by providing the very best travel experiences and authentic products and services available in their region. Since it’s launch, CCRA’s Global Market has added more than 20 new suppliers and hundreds of new members from outside the USA. For more information visit: https://www.ccra.com/globalmarket/.
About CCRA:
Based in Ft. Worth, Texas, CCRA Travel Commerce Network is a global hub for travel technology, marketing, accreditation and education. For over forty years, CCRA has connected travel professionals and suppliers with the products and services they need to drive revenue, relationships and brand recognition in the travel marketplace. From the TRUE accreditation and coding system to hotels, air, call center services and more, CCRA is truly where the travel industry connects. For more information, visit http://www.ccra.com.
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Marlene Oliver, NJC Communications, 305-491-0512, [email protected]
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