THETRADESHOW will offer a diversity of courses for travel agents who specialize in selling cruises or for those who are looking to break into this lucrative niche. Additionally, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is offering up to 60 points toward ACC, MCC, ECC and ECCS certifications for travel agents who attend its sessions.
“As travel agents, being able to correctly qualify cruise prospects and then further, match them to the perfect cruise line and ship, can be a complicated matter when you consider the breadth of the industry,” said Lanie Fagan, director of communications for CLIA.
Cruise-themed topics for training include:
How to Increase Your Share of Luxury Cruise Sales and Directly Increase Your Cruise Sales Profits! Presented by Mark McMullen
Travel agents who wish to learn how to effectively find and sell to luxury prospects should attend. Among the key discussion points will be:
* The psychology behind selling luxury products.
* Understanding which luxury land and cruise products to sell and to whom to sell them.
* Finding and effectively marketing to luxury prospects.
* Successful sales and marketing strategies both online and offline.
* Proven examples of effective luxury product sales and marketing strategies that win group and FIT business.
Cruising - The Ultimate Incentive
Incentive travel is one of the fastest growing segments in the industry. Attendees will learn the fundamentals of incentive travel and gain an understanding of the strategies and techniques they need to succeed during this seminar from CLIA. Participants will be able to identify the points of differentiation from other types of group travel, who the buyers are and what they expect from their cruise experience.
Professional Selling Skills
Geared toward the front-line travel counselor who has experience but wants to sharpen their cruise sales skills this CLIA seminar will give travel agents the ability to:
* Recognize the five essential steps of the sale.
* Qualify a client.
* Overcome the most common barriers to the cruise sale.
* Add value to every sale.
* Employ strategies to get and keep the business.
Other seminars from CLIA include:
Selling Successfully Across Cultures
In today’s global village, one’s ability to deal practically with people from different cultural backgrounds has become a clear-cut asset and highly sought-after skill. In this 90-minute seminar, participants will explore the subtle and often surprising values, behaviors and practices that loom large in any cross-cultural situation providing them with an edge in their multicultural workplace.
Understanding Groups
Attendees will learn how to turn their group business into a profit center. Among the topics covered will be: identifying groups and their characteristics, lead development sources, marketing to groups, working with group leaders and analyzing group potential.
Getting Connected: A Primer on Social Media Networking
Today Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace represent a whole new way to communicate, network and sell. In this three-hour seminar from the CLIA travel agents will explore the strengths and weaknesses of each major social networking site and review more traditional strategies that can help support their networking efforts.
Courses provided by CLIA will not be available through the eLearning Center. For complete information on CLIA education, training, certification and professional development programs, please visit www.cruising.org/training-certification.