eCRM specialist, CreatorMail, has developed MyThomson, an interactive, personalised, pre-departure web portal for TUI Travel UK.

Published: 23 Feb 2010

eCRM specialist, CreatorMail, has developed MyThomson, an interactive, personalised, pre-departure web portal for TUI Travel UK.

The portal will “capture and generate excitement and anticipation during the period between booking and departure by providing essential holiday information, options and extras”.

The development, which was successfully piloted in the summer, has now been rolled out to all online holiday bookers.

This is much more than online pre-holiday administration, said Mark Brennan, managing director of CreatorMail.

“For most people, after booking a holiday online the period until departure has historically been free of communication until the tickets arrive. MyThomson fills this gap through real, personalised interaction,” said Brennan.

He added, “Every customer experience is unique and shaped by the choices they make. Through email communication, we create a logical, informative and fun countdown that encourages customers to frequently visit their personal website to view the dynamic content. This maintains regular contact and generates immense pre-holiday excitement. Customers can even download a daily countdown widget to heighten their anticipation until the big day arrives.”

Preparing for a holiday

After a holiday has been booked, all online customers receive an invitation informing them of their MyThomson and personal login details. MyThomson is tailored to the resort destination providing photographs and video clips of the location and surrounding areas of interest. It also provides information and practical advice to ensure holidaymakers are suitably prepared before the holiday commences and customers are also given the opportunity to pre-book additional services, such as parking, car hire, insurance, seating reservations and holiday excursions.

During the run up to the holiday, a series of personalised emails is sent to every customer - the frequency of which is based on the lead-time between booking and departure - providing additional information and offers including the top ten places to visit, resort highlights and excursions and help with getting to and parking at the airport. On return, a welcome back message is emailed to encourage feedback and re-bookings.

Since its launch, nearly 90 percent of users said the programme really brought their holiday to life, stated the company.