Monumental sales and an increase in higher-priced purchases indicate that travel agents affiliated with home-based franchise opportunity CruiseOne and Dream Vacations, and business opportunity Cruises Inc. are on track to have a record-breaking 2017. Committed to helping agents increase their individual earnings and run profitable businesses, CruiseOne/Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc. continue to launch new innovations that increase the bottom line and improve efficiencies.
“Our agents’ success is our only business, so everything we do is to support our franchisees and independent agents,” said Debbie Fiorino, senior vice president. “We are committed to maintaining the best support staff to agent ratios in the industry, and in 2017 we are funding more than one million dollars in marketing promotions and launching a personal concierge service to assist agents in building their groups business.”
It’s Snow Secret Promotion
It’s Snow Secret that the first exclusive promotion of the year, which offered an onboard credit on cruises and a vacation credit for resort stays, led to record-breaking sales. As a result of this headquarters-funded promotion, agents individually experienced an average of 43 percent growth in sales and a 27 percent increase in bookings. In addition, 2017 bookings exhibit that consumers are purchasing more balconies and suites, and their destination of choice is still the Caribbean, while Europe is making a strong comeback.
“The richness of the offer coupled with our agent’s engagement and utilization of marketing assets contributed to the overall success of this promotion and stellar start to 2017,” said Rosemarie Reed, vice president of sales & marketing. “Cruise lines’ shift in marketing strategies to focus on value-adds rather than price coupled with our rich exclusive promotions has resulted in consumers buying higher-priced vacation options. We expect this trend to continue through wave season and beyond, and we are thrilled because it means our agents are earning more.”
Virtual Cruise Nights
With only 20 percent of the population having been on a cruise, CruiseOne, Dream Vacations and Cruises Inc. believe that educating consumers about cruising will be instrumental in gaining market share among first-timers. Continuing its support of how its network of home-based travel agents educate and attract new business, Dream Vacations is launching a series of virtual cruise nights that are hosted by General Manager Drew Daly. Cruise line representatives will have the opportunity to share the latest news on what their cruise line has to offer, while listeners will be able to take advantage of exclusive promotions. The first virtual cruise night is with Carnival Cruise Line on February 13 at 7:30 p.m. EST. Visit http://bit.ly/2loSQod to learn how to sign up.
Groups Concierge
With cruisers learning the value of booking in advance and the benefits of group travel, the new Groups Concierge will revolutionize the ease in which travel franchise owners and independent agents capitalize on this travel trend by walking them step-by-step through the entire complex process — from group acquisition, contract negotiation and marketing to closing sales, data entry, servicing and booking for groups as small as eight cabins and as large as full ship charters. “Applause to the Operations team. We have been waiting for this kind of groups support,” said Dream Vacations Franchise Owner Neil Ralph from View Park, Calif.
“We have a lot to celebrate in 2017 with all three of our agencies having an anniversary, and with this year shaping up to be one for the books,” added Fiorino. “Supporting our home-based agents has and always will remain our top priority.”
