CruiseOne®/Dream Vacations recently recognized its top-producing travel franchise owners who are members of the home-based network’s prestigious “Circle of Excellence,” with an Enchanting Danube River Cruise aboard Uniworld’s SS Maria Theresa from Passau, Germany to Budapest, Hungary.
“Our Circle of Excellence is comprised of an elite group of agents who have not only achieved an impressive level of sales success year-after-year, but are engaged owners within our network who are role models for our new and seasoned agents,” said Debbie Fiorino, senior vice president of CruiseOne/Dream Vacations. “This celebratory trip is just one way we show our appreciation for all they do, and it is possible because of the support of our travel partners.”
Escorted by John Restuccia, director of national accounts at Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, the members of the Circle of Excellence attended a weeklong cruise as well as executives from the CruiseOne/Dream Vacations leadership team including Co-CEO/Chairman of World Travel Holdings, CruiseOne/Dream Vacations’ parent company, Brad Tolkin; Jennifer Gasser, vice president of supplier relations and product for parent company World Travel Holdings; Senior Vice President Debbie Fiorino; General Manager of Network Engagement and Performance Drew Daly; and Vice President of Sales and Marketing Rosemarie Reed.
The attendees were immersed in the boutique luxury that Uniworld provides and were culturally enriched with tours around the quaint cities along the Danube. Additional highlights included the “Be Our Guest” luncheon experience hosted by Trafalgar at an organic bee farm outside Salzburg, as well as Edie Rodriguez, CEO of Crystal Cruises, hosting the Circle of Excellence for a day aboard the new Crystal Mozart river cruise ship and treating them to a “Crystal Moment” — a private tour of Budapest in vintage Trabant cars where they experienced the local culture, wine and arts.
Other VIP guests and trip sponsors included
• Pura Fritzius, manager, national accounts & marketing at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
• Janet Wygert, vice president, strategic partnerships at Carnival Cruise Line
• Cory Wallace, national account manager at Celebrity Cruises
• Walter Littlejohn III, vice president & managing director at Crystal River Cruises
• Shanel Knight-Tarver, senior manager of key accounts at Norwegian Cruise Line
• Ashley Vaughan, senior development manager, Host Accounts at Trafalgar Travel
“The Circle of Excellence to me is more appropriately the ‘Circle of Experience’. Being a part of this group and having the opportunity to network with other members affords me the opportunity to continue learning from others who have reached similar levels of success in our organization,” said Gary Smith, Dream Vacations franchise owner and vacation specialist in Eugene, Ore. “It is this giving of ideas and learning from others that has helped fuel my personal and organizational growth. The annual Circle of Excellence trip is the single greatest opportunity for this learning as we have several days devoted to being together as a group.”
The Circle of Excellence is an elite program that recognizes agents for top sales achievement and is an honor that many agents strive to attain. Members receive benefits such as priority-access to corporate support phone lines and training programs, complimentary agent site visits and business planning sessions, select free marketing collateral, one complimentary cabin at the annual award-winning National Conference, invitations to select inaugural cruises, a “Circle of Excellence” logo for use in marketing materials and more.
