Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has updated its Tour Conductor credit (TC) policy for Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises, according to a statement from the company provided to Travel Agent.
Starting with groups sailing in 2018, travel agents’ TC credits will now be calculated using the average cruise fare of the total stateroom categories booked within a group. Royal Caribbean said that the new policy would make the TC credit more valuable to travel agents, increasing their profitability.
The new policy applies to group sailings on or after January 1, 2018. All systems and group reports will be updated in June 2017 to support the new TC credit policy. TC credits for groups sailing before January 1, 2018 will continue with the current policy in which they are determined by the cruise fare of the stateroom category where the group has booked the most space.
Royal Caribbean said that the new policy is based on travel agent feedback, and follows other enhancements for travel agents, including the launch of the new Espresso booking system. The second phase of that system launched in October of last year, and included the ability to create and book headquarter group space, simplified group management and introduced the system’s first group amenity points redemption feature.
Other new features of Espresso included streamlined payments for groups, expanded groups reporting and the ability to find available staterooms on multiple decks with interactive deck plans. The system was first introduced in 2015, offering a new single-view function that allows travel agents to access a side-by-side comparison on individual and groups pricing and availability.
The full TC credit policy is available at cruisingpower.com.