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| Michelle Fee, Vicky Garcia and others from Cruise Planners on stage at the "Cruisitude Revolution," Cruise Planners' annual conference in Hollywood, FL // All photos by Susan J. Young |
Nearly 500 agents listened, learned and then rocked at the opening session of the Cruise Planners - American Express Travel conference at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL, this week.
First quarter 2013 advance bookings for the cruise franchise group are up 27 percent compared with first quarter 2012 advance reservations on the books at the same time last year, according to Tom Kruszewski, Cruise Planners' CFO.
Even more impressively, second quarter 2013 bookings are up 50 percent, compared with bookings for the comparable quarter in 2012. "You are front loading faster than ever before," he stressed to the agents.
Themed as “Cruisitude Revolution,” the annual conference – which also includes a short cruise this weekend on the new Celebrity Reflection - began with an update of sales, marketing, technology and branding efforts.
“What sets Cruise Planners apart is our recognizable and trustworthy name and that is what has allowed us to continuously grow year after year,” said Michelle Fee, co-founder and CEO, Cruise Planners. She urged agents to capitalize on using the Cruise Planners name rather than opting for a more personalized agency name such as Bob’s Cruises.
Cruise Planners now has 12 different business card templates to help agencies brand themselves. In addition, Cruise Planners introduced a new car wrap program to the applause of the audience.
Fee said, “2012 has been a great year for us with our agents doubling their sales of land tours, the launch of our successful destination weddings program and the unveiling of our award-winning newly enhanced website.”
Cruise Planners had increased their land and tour sales by 33 percent between 2010 and 2011, but those sales were up even higher - 107 percent - between 2011 and 2012.
The organization launched CP Vacations packages last year, offering more than 300 package options that combine a cruise vacation with hotel nights, a rental car and air tickets. Fee said the response to CP Vacations was outstanding and "we had no idea it would be this popular."
For the coming year, look for Cruise Planners to keep the most popular destinations for CP Vacations packages including Hawaii (43 percent of all package bookings), Caribbean (34 percent) and Alaska (9 percent) and to add to that some new European destinations.
Many new tools revealed to agents during the first major session stemmed from regional meetings conducted this year throughout the country and hosted by Fee and Vicky Garcia, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Cruise Planners. That helped the organization's home office determine what was most desired and needed by franchise owners.
A new Cruise Planners consumer smartphone app will be released in January 2013. Brian Shultz, Cruise Planners’ vice president of technology, told the agents it will be available for iOS and Android and will be named after the home office evaluates ideas provided in an online naming contest.
Shultz also announced Web site upgrades. With a new MyTrips feature, clients may log in, view their upcoming trips and share them with friends and family via social media. They may also directly purchase shore excursions that are fully commissionable to the agent.
Cruise Planners also announced Client Snapshots, a new tool that allow agents to see an intelligent view of their clients’ buying and travel patterns. With a new Cruise Fare Reduction tool, agents will know if a client’s cruise fare has dropped since booking so the agent can notify the client about the good news.
In addition, Cruise Planners is enhancing its Cruise Sheets, which are promotional emails that detail specific cruises. Now these have live pricing and clients can book right from the sheets.
One conference attendee, Michael Sinn of Cruise Planners in Las Vegas, NV, said he was getting a lot out of the conference and particularly impressed with the technology enhancements announced Thursday.
Garcia also talked to the agents about the importance of social networking and engaging with clients in the way they wish to communicate. She also announced the company’s new social media platform, CPSocial. As an addition to the Facebook Business Fan Page launched last year, CPSocial will now allow the headquarters staff to post content on behalf of travel advisors weekly.
The social media platform will provide a user-friendly dashboard for managing Facebook pages with suggested content and a calendar setting so posts can be scheduled to coincide with promotions and other news. The new platform will also incorporate Twitter, LinkedIn and Flickr to the dashboard system in the first quarter of 2013.
Among the statistics provided to help agents understand the changing marketplace? When clients go on vacation, 76 percent of returning vacationers will post vacation photos to a social networking site, 46 percent will provide hotel reviews, 40 percent will post activity or attraction reviews, and 40 percent will write restaurant reviews.
Additionally, the company will be launching a directory listing service to ensure agents are listed accurately and on the top of search engine results within their local markets.
Technology aside, Vicki Freed, senior vice president, sales, trade support and service, Royal Caribbean International (www.cruisingpower.com) spoke to the group about branding and the importance of one-on-one communications.
She urged agents to personalize their communications, to talk verbally not just via email, and to stand out from the crowd. Freed told the audience that four of five clients who return from a trip choose another agent to use the next time.
Freed stressed that service, while very important, wasn't the only reason that clients remained with an agent. "Good service is the entry point," she said, but noted that it's really so much more. "You are what makes the vacation experience come alive," she said, noting that personal branding is critical.
She also urged agents to embrace change, remarking that if the cruise industry had not changed and built ship mega-ship with every amenity like Oasis of the Seas, clients would still be sailing on ships like Song of Norway, Mardi Gras or The Norway. “We have to view change as something very positive,” Freed said.
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| Cruise Planners home office staff circulate to dance and motivate agents during the annual conference. |
Officials also updated agents on CPCares, the company’s corporate social responsibility program. Benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) this year, the company is on course to raise $150,000 through events, auctions and selling its signature “bling” clothing and accessories.
As part of the CPCares presentation, the company named guest speaker CJ George, cancer survivor and LLS Boy of the Year, as the official Cruisitude Youth Ambassador. After an inspiring talk to the audience about his challenges and plans to raise money for cancer research, George received a standing ovation from the agents.
The first mid-morning session at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino ended with humongous balloons bounding around the crowd and Cruise Planners staff dancing around the ballroom as agents cheered, clapped and rocked along with the music.