Exactly 30 days have elapsed since Lloyd Cross became Chief Commercial Officer at The Travel Network Group when he sits down with TTG to outline his plans.

Many leading travel industry professionals would probably have politely requested more time to acclimatise before speaking to the trade media.

Cross, though, with all the charm that saw him rise through the ranks at Jet2holidays to become General Manager – Trade, is only too happy to talk.

And it is when he reflects on that 13-year stint with Jet2 that he gives the deepest insight into what it is he hopes to achieve at TTNG.

A win-win approach

I start by asking him what Chief Executive Gary Lewis believes he can bring to TTNG. Cross initially baulks. "Tough question."

However, he quickly adds: "The relationships Jet2holidays had with the travel agents, and the support they gave us, worked.

"It's very much how can we emulate that with [TTNG] members. It's having the relationships with members, having the relationships with businesses to really create what I like to say is 'a win for them, a win for us, and a win for the members'.

"It's about building those quality relationships where everyone wins."

Another factor is about making decisions "quickly". "I like to think I'm quite creative and good at coming up with ideas," he adds.

Cross says once he has settled in, he will start identifying new suppliers that can work with TTNG.

"It won't always be a case of new," he stresses. "It will be making sure we've got the right product for new members. You don't want to offer everything, and there's a degree of due diligence that happens."

Cross says when selling travel to far-flung destinations, due diligence is a vital component of any supplier agreement.

"It's inevitable when you sell the world that something will go wrong so you've got to have the right suppliers," he reasons. "Are we being genuine to our members? We've got more than 1,000 agent members, which is massive."

A large chunk of our 30-minute chat onboard Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas ship is spent discussing Vision – TTNG's new platform for members, which incorporates between eight and 10 different systems.

'Built by an agent, for agents'

Vision was created by a Travel Trust Association agent member. Once it became clear what TTNG had on its hands, and once it was deemed scalable, it was shown to Lewis and Vim Vithaldas, now TTNG's Chief Strategy Officer, who Cross has succeeded.

Cross, like Commercial Director Katharina Peck and seemingly every TTNG employee, is extremely excited about Vision.

Vision stores leads and bookings while showing balances, and features reminders, tasks, customer records, payments and analytics.

The platform also generates customer-facing itineraries for every booking and allows members to access TTNG's content library.

Cross explains how customer databases can be segmented and using AI documents can be personalised on Vision.

"It's really impressive as it was one of the TTA [Travel Trust Association] members who was using it on their own business. He made this system that's been scaled up.

"The agent – Jhy Worsnop-Hesford – is now our Digital Transformation Director."

Cross says TTNG has spent much of the past few months trying to scale it for its membership. "It's made by a travel for a travel agent," he adds. "We're not using it to make money. We using it to enable travel agents."

He goes a step further. "There's not really any systems out there that combine the different parts together," he claims. "It's a one-stop shop. That's why we call it Vision because of the way you can see and manage your business."

Between 35% to 40% of TTNG members are now using Vision, with different membership segments being migrated at various stages.

Worldchoice – a TTNG-owned retail brand – has been set up on Vision. TTA members are currently being migrated across.

Cross says that the platform is so powerful that it generates strong feedback from members, meaning TTNG doesn't have to promote it to businesses so much.

Cross confirms the goal is to migrate every member before the consortium's upcoming conference in Prague, but admits that won't necessarily happen.

"We are not dictating to members that they must be on it," he continues. "There might be some businesses that just won't feel comfortable."

But he adds he would be surprised if members don't choose to use it once they get time to "get a feel for this system and see what it can do for their business".

It is clear from talking to Cross for any length of time that he is in lock-step with agents. He understands how to make them tick and what their needs and wants are.

'People buy from people'

So how, then, does he view the future for the travel agent community amid the advent of AI? His response is surprisingly upbeat.

"I think the more AI and technology comes into it, the more people will want to buy from people, even if the AI and the technology helps to make the overall transaction seamless," he muses.

"If I go to a restaurant, or wherever and you have an enjoyable experience when somebody remembers your name or they know your kids' names, it makes you feel good and want to go back to there time and again.

"I think travel agents can create that experience, and that doesn't matter if they're interacting with the customer over the phone or in a retail shop."

The suppliers who are now working with Cross, or are yet to work with him, to deliver for TTNG members will hope that his prophecy rings true.