How Do You Sell a Place You Haven’t Been to Before?

Written and sponsored by travel-42.com, an unbiased travel subscription service.

You’re at your desk, the phone rings. “Hi, I want to go to Mumbai this November. Can you tell me about it?” It’s the new-business call every agent wants. But if you’ve never been to Mumbai, how can you quickly respond if November is a good time to go? Recommend what this new client should see there, the best way to get around the city, and how much to tip when dining out?

Meet travel42

travel42 is the best-kept secret in the travel industry. Thousands of agents rely on it every day for unbiased destination, hotel and cruise reviews that are not available to the general public. Type in Mumbai on travel42, and you will instantly find everything your clients would want to see and do, where to dine, shop and discover in the city. travel42 covers more than 5,600 destinations, with reports written by local experts.

“travel42 is an amazing tool for me to provide our clients with information on their destinations. All the agents here want to express their thanks for the ease and availability of all the amazing information at our fingertips,” said Debbie Hawkins from Cruise and Travel Masters, Utah.

Unbiased Hotel Reviews

So what about hotel recommendations? travel42 has you covered there as well. We have a team of global correspondents, who visit properties undercover—10,000 of them—and write exactly what they see. Do you know which is the closest five-star hotel to the Eifel Tower? travel42 does, and you can easily find it by using the landmark hotel search.

Cruising Made Easy

travel42 also offers listings of nearly 500 cruise ships, with reviews on about 400 of those. Each listing provides information such as the year the ship was built, passenger capacity and number of cabins, and there are also deck plans, cabin configurations, and images of the interior and exterior. Ports are covered in-depth as well, with information on more than 1,500. Agents can match the cruise to the closest hotel at the departure port, provide specific cabin pictures and give destination insight into the port cities on that specific sailing, all in a matter of minutes.

Customize, Brand and Deliver Travel Reports

Not only can you research destinations, hotels and cruises, you can also create a travel itinerary with your photo, logo and contact information at the top of the page, send it directly to your client via email, and even track when they view the report. travel42 provides everything travel professionals need to recommend travel and look like a professional every time!

 “I LOVE travel42. Everyone thinks I’m an expert!” – Beth Levich

Beth Levich, owner of Cruise Holidays in Portland, Oregon is a long-time user of travel42. “I LOVE travel42. Everyone thinks I’m an expert! I even go to FedEx and have the reports bound and mailed to my clients before they go on their trip,” she said. Agents everywhere find just the right way to use travel42 to enhance their business.

Weekly Webinars and Customer Support

The travel42 team has dedicated staff ready to help! Call our customer support line at 855-872-8542 to talk to someone about how to best use the product. We feature weekly webinars and have a prerecorded demo on the Help tab.

Free Trial + Travel42 Promo Code for HAR Readers

travel42 has an extended free trial offer and discounted rate for any new agent subscription. Just go to https://www.travel-42.com/Hostagency2014 to find out more details on the travel42 promo code and trial offer.

About travel42

For decades, STAR Service has given travel professionals access to unbiased, professional reviews for over 10,000 hotels worldwide as well as professional reviews on over 400 cruise ships. The highly respected Weissmann Reports delivers detailed destination information on over 5,700 cities and ports of call around the world and Intelliguide leads the industry with up-to-the-minute 24/7 travel alerts.

Following a year of research, focus groups and one-on-one meetings with travel professionals around the country, travel42 was born. We took all of your feedback and took the best of all 3 products and built a new site, just the way you asked for it.

travel42 provides everything travel professionals need to recommend hotels and cruise ships, create customized destination guides for clients, and stay informed about travel disruptions and security developments worldwide. And it’s all in one place:

• Detailed descriptions of 160,000 hotels
• 10,000 unbiased hotel reviews and 400 cruise-ship reviews written from in-person inspections
• 5,600 destination reports from local experts
• 1,500 ports of call
• Day-by-day itinerary builder
• Proprietary, 24/7 travel-alert service specifically for travel professionals

Quickly research and deliver professional recommendations tailored to your clients’ specific needs that feature your own logo and contact information.

Northstar Travel Media is a privately owned news media company. It is the world’s largest business-to-business publisher of travel-oriented information. Its portfolio of print and electronic products includes Travel Weekly, Hotel & Travel Index Worldwide, Weissmann Reports, Intelliguide Corporate, Meetings & Conventions, TravelAge West, Official Meeting Facilities Guide, and STAR Service Online. These products draw on a proprietary database – the largest and most comprehensive of its kind.

Northstar is an industry leader in research, events and conferences, marketing services, custom communications, content licensing and database management. Travel buyers, planners and arrangers in nearly every country of the world use Northstar products and services.