Costa Cruises has launched a remodeled portal for travel agents: Costa Extra (www.CostaExtra.com). The site, solely for U.S.-, Canada- and Caribbean-based travel advisors, provides essential information, courses and marketing materials to help agents become proficient in Costa Cruises.
The interface includes:
- A bright homepage with a navigational tool bar
- Cruise finder
- The latest news and videos
- A downloadable content search
- Access to Costa Academy
- Links for Costa Extra navigation.
The navigational toolbar is divided into four tabs: Booking Tools, News, Academy and Marketing Tools.
The Booking Tools tab is divided into four sections: “Booking,” “Group,” “Report” and “Excursion.” Travel professionals can use the Booking section to make and manage cruise and excursion reservations for individuals or groups. The section also provides online check-in, a travel document search and a link to the cruise line's agent-specific help desk. Advisors can request invoices related to group trips using the Group section, and they can pull operational reports about agency bookings using the Report section. The Excursion section is a means to search and book CostaTours for individual clients or groups.
The News tab includes press releases, blog posts and videos with up-to-date Costa developments and brand enhancements. The Academy tab is where travel agents can access online courses to learn more about Costa, become Costa-certified travel professionals and increase their cruise sales. At the Academy, travel advisors can also look at their progress and training milestones.
The Marketing Tools tab includes two sections: “Marketing Box” and “Media Center.” Marketing Box has a design feature enabling travel advisors to create personalized brochures, flyers, posters, newsletters, vouchers, banners, invitations and social media posts. Media Center takes agents to the Costa Press Center’s press releases, media library and contact information for public relations representatives.
Travel agents can search for cruises by date range, destination, departure port, ship, fare and display prices using a booking tool at the top of the homepage.
The “Latest News” section on the website provides recent press releases, blog posts, articles and videos pertaining to the Costa brand. In addition, a “Library” menu on the homepage provides an assortment of downloadable content that travel professionals can use to familiarize themselves with the cruise line, promote the brand and plan cruises for clients, including deck plans, beverage packages, pricing, special needs, the Samsara spa menu and Costa branding.
The homepage also has an “Academy” area where travel agents check out the Costa Academy, browse through Frequently Asked Questions and create an account to begin the courses.
For direct contact with Costa, the bottom of the homepage includes call center phone number information.
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