The Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (SLTA) has revamped its travel agent specialist program. The recently upgraded program is called “Saint Lucia Expert” or SLEx and is open to travel agents in North America and the UK. SLEx is an innovative online educational and loyalty programme designed to engage travel agents and serve as their central repository for all resources that will enable them to sell destination Saint Lucia, optimally. Additionally, SLEx is mobile friendly with customizable features to equip today’s digitally-savvy travel professional with the cutting-edge tools they need for destination marketing and sales.

Through the provision of engaging modules and multimedia tools, SLEx allows travel professionals to explore the destination fully and offers various niche market specialization in areas that include Dive, Romance and Family Travel. The revamped program provides a simple structure for all travel agents to participate and increases engagement with them while supporting the growth of the destination and the travel agent business.

The SLTA aims to support travel partners further, by providing graduates of the program a certificate of completion, which will unlock features and benefits of being a Saint Lucia Expert. The recognition will also include a combination of three status tiers to highlight the best producers and provide additional incentives and support to each tier. SLEx awards agents marketing credits based on room nights within the following tiers:

Gold                -  50 - 149 room nights

Platinum          - 150 - 299 room nights

Diamond         - 300+ room nights

Benefits also include:

Three continuing education credits from The Travel Institute or the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) Personalized certificate; and a printable education packet.

Travel agents can participate by enrolling in the Saint Lucia Expert program, which is available online at http://edu.recommend.com/saintlucia. Current Saint Lucia Specialists are not required to retake the course but will benefit from the new resources and status.

As an additional incentive, the top recording travel agents and their agencies will be awarded monthly prizes in the sums of US $250 cash for the agent and US $250 marketing credit for the agency, which would go towards Saint Lucia business development. The new platform will allow agents to track their progress in real time.

Other benefits include:

Lead generation via website inclusion by: zip code, agency name and contact details;

Customization of collateral, including package flyers, plus social media resources;

Special recognition and awards; Discounted FAMs & agent rates with Saint Lucia Agent Months (SLAM); Special promotions and offers; Agent’s own SLEX e-newsletter Template; Special recognition in SLTA press releases and stories “Tell us about your client’s vacation experience in Saint Lucia;” Invitation to attend The PITON INSPIRO Awards – the SLTA’s premier event to recognize travel agents; and

An SLTA logo for business cards and website.

The SLTA encourages travel professionals to LEARN, EARN and GROW with SLEx!