TourRadar providing students with opportunity for work experience and travel.
Courtney Bannatyne, Contributor
TourRadar travellers looking for their next adventure. SUPPLIED
RRC students can start packing, as long as they start referring friends.
TourRadar, an international travel booking website, has a new promotion geared toward students seeking work experience. People that create an account on TourRadar automatically get signed up for the Friends with Benefits program and become a TourRadar Ambassador.
“We tried to make it as simple as possible. I know what students want is simplicity when it comes to something like this,” said Katie Stanwyck, marketing coordinator for TourRadar.
Every time an Ambassador’s referrals books something, she’ll get five per cent of that booking toward a trip of her own.
“You can essentially fund your own tour if you’re patient enough and want to put that work into it,” said Stanwyck.
The program launched in early October. Stanwyck said people are starting to sign up for the program, but there haven’t been any referral bookings yet. She hopes to gain momentum by informing people across the country.
“I’ve had a bit of feedback where people are saying, ‘I’m working on it, and I really want this to happen,’ so I know how hard people are trying to push,” said Stanwyck. “It shows you how hard sales and marketing can be. That’s kind of what our goal is, to show students that they’re getting the practical experience. What you’re learning in class, you can practice out there, too.”
Applied accounting student Tigist Gebreselassie, 30, said she would be interested in signing up for the program, but said she was unsure of how many referrals she could do.
“Maybe if I was organizing a classroom trip,” said Gebreselassie. “It would be hard to get people outside of the college.”
On top of the five per cent discounts, the top ten ambassadors whose referrals had the most bookings get entered in a draw to win $1,000 toward a flight for their tour. Every ambassador also has a chance to win Beats Solo2 wireless headphones. The contest will run until March 1, 2016.
Graphic design student Adria Warren, 24, said she thinks the program is a great idea for students.
“Students and recent graduates are usually who travel the most. People travel before they settle down, find a job, and start a family,” said Warren. “I don’t think students would be too busy for this since you can refer to anyone whenever you’d like, on your own time.”
