Introducing Audley Travel
Uncertainty in the skies fuelled a new run for travel operators and agencies across the globe. For Audley Travel, a well-established high-end travel operator based in Oxford, United Kingdom, the past 18 months have been a time for meticulous self-reflection. As a new era for international travel dawned since the ease of restrictions last summer, the travel operator saw long-time customers and first comers unequivocally entrusting them to plan a long-awaited holiday.
The Audley way of travelling
Audley Travel sees travelling as a deeply personal affair, counting more than 25 years of experience in the global travel market. Their travel experts handcraft bespoke holiday experiences for their discerning clientele, with global destinations spanning 80 countries. Depending on the customer’s preferences, the so-called country specialist, a well-trodden expert with extensive local insight across the country’s sub-regions, plans an intuitive and tailor-made trip, with every detail planned through and through. This personalised approach and in-depth experiential insight are what makes travelling ‘the Audley way’ a soulful breed of its own.
The challenge
With travellers staying grounded for months because of Covid-19 restrictions, Audley Travel decided to take a closer inner look and prepare for the next phase of the industry. Their business strategy overhaul included updating core operational systems to modern, future-proof infrastructures that could support Audley Travel’s next chapter. Payments were an integral part of the strategic revamp; Covid-19 added further layers of complexity to the already intricate ecosystem that is the travel sector. It was key to partner with a trusted payment service provider that truly understands the level of complexity tied with the travel industry, comprehends their business model and shares a joint vision.
The solutions at a glance
The award-winning travel operator selected emerchantpay as their payments partner to support their post-Covid operations, due to our unique and extensive experience in payments for the travel industry, among other verticals. Offering sleek and fully personalised experiences to travellers is at the heart of everything that Audley Travel does. With more than 20 years of experience in the vertical, emerchantpay’s travel team was well-placed to enable the business' plans to design seamless payment journeys for their customers.
To deliver a truly bespoke experience, an Audley Travel country specialist arranges a phone or video call with the customer to identify their travel requirements and propose a detailed, tailored plan that suits their preferences. After the customer approves it, they confirm the booking with the travel operator over the phone, where they are then directed to a secure line to make the payment. Leveraging emerchantpay’s payment gateway and Virtual Terminal, Audley Travel accepts highly secure and PCI-compliant over the phone payments from their customers with ease.
Additionally, for specific travel packages such as honeymoons, emerchantpay’s Pay by Link service allows the travel operator to generate secure payment links that can be sent to customers via email or text messages. On top of that, Audley Travel can send reminders with payment links with customisable settings to fit their timeframes through the Virtual Terminal.
Perhaps, the most important feature of the emerchantpay service to Audley Travel is the one-on-one advisory and support that helped the travel operator navigate the most tumultuous time faced by the global travel ecosystem. With a dedicated team of travel payment specialists on-hand, Audley Travel can operate with confidence that their payment strategy is working for them – and not the opposite.
Deep insights into transaction data, advanced risk management and fraud prevention capabilities, identifying areas for modifications and generally optimising critical aspects of the payment journey have been some areas that emerchantpay helped Audley Travel adjust and, in the end, achieve.
"We are delighted to be able to support Audley Travel enter its new phase of growth. Crafting a tailored payments strategy with ad hoc advisory from our experienced travel team has been instrumental to the brand’s achievements."John Harris | VP Travel at emerchantpay
The impact
The travel industry has proven resilient ever since the onset of Covid-19. Audley Travel’s mission to design an immersive, end-to-end experience for their travellers is all the more relevant in the post-pandemic travel times.
"emerchantpay is a strategic partner for Audley Travel. They keep their finger on the pulse of the travel market and the payments landscape whilst dedicating time and resources to tailor their solution to our unique business needs."Tim Stagg | Group Financial Controller at Audley Travel
Forging relationships with customers is integral to accomplishing this goal; equally, when it comes to payments, they were looking for a strategic and trusted partner than a mere technology supplier with siloed operations and no agility. emerchantpay’s proven track record within the travel sector, coupled with our collaborative and personable support, and a robust technical offering, including our payment gateway, acquiring and risk management capabilities, have yielded a fruitful, solid and successful relationship between the two brands. And this is just the beginning of greater things to come as the world slowly but surely starts to open up.
Get in touch today with emerchantpay’s travel payment experts and maximise your profitability.