Fresh of its report on growing sales opportunities in luxury and river cruising, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has opened its 2011 agency membership enrollment, providing new enrollees the opportunity to receive the entire platform of CLIA benefits for as many as 16 months for the price of a 2011 membership. CLIA offers extensive professional development and certification programs and now counts over 16,000 members.
"By opening 2011 membership enrollment early, we are able to give our new agency members all the benefits of CLIA membership as soon as they sign up, as well as the added incentive of receiving more than 16 months of benefits rather than 12 months," said Bob Sharak, CLIA's executive vice president, marketing and distribution.
CLIA member agencies benefits include preferred access to CLIA "Gold Standard" training and certification programs, access to "members only" marketing programs such as "World's Largest Cruise Night," the CLIA Cruise Manual and a comprehensive portfolio of tools and materials designed to enhance and augment an agency's sales, marketing and promotional skills and capabilities.
Members also get preferred pricing access to special events such as cruise3sixty, CLIA's annual cruise conference and trade show. CLIA also notes that member agents credit CLIA training and certification for increases in cruise sales of as much as 261 percent. Trade and consumer surveys also consistently indicate that CLIA member travel agencies enjoy an enhanced professional stature among consumers and travel industry colleagues.
Visit http://www.cruising.org/membership-center.