Today, hopping onto e-booking platforms like Expedia or Travelocity seems like a no-brainer; after all, why would you call an agency when you could swipe-tap-plan your vacation on a smartphone? But for all that digital bookings might seem ubiquitous to consumers today, the online travel space has long been challenging for the small-to-medium players who couldn’t afford the massive expense that most online booking tools posed — until DeepQuest. 

In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, we take a dive into DeepQuest: an affordable but powerful Salesforce-based CRM platform that gives smaller players the means to compete with e-booking giants. During this exploration, host Chris Henry connects with two travel-industry veterans to discuss:

2:17 — Why the onset of internet and social media sparked a transformation in the travel sector

4:41 — How the inaccessibility of e-booking software drove Gerent’s Travel Lead, Ketta Reilly, to conceptualize Deep Quest as an affordable solution for small and medium companies

11:11 — Why having an affordable and industry-specific CRM software proved to be transformative for one Alaskan-based cruise line

Episode Guests:

Ketta Riley‍

Travel & Hospitality Practice Lead, Gerent

Ketta Riley has over 35 years of travel and hospitality leadership experience, ten of which have been spent working on Salesforce implementations. At Gerent, she leverages her CRM expertise and extensive knowledge of industry market trends to facilitate digital transformations within the travel sector. 

Douglass McLatchie

Alaskan Dream Cruises

Douglass McLatchie is a top-producing sales professional and corporate leader. As the Director of Sales for Alaskan Dream Cruises, he spearheaded overarching sales strategy development and collaborated with executive leadership and marketing teams to maximize sales success.