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| (c) 2011 Oceania Cruises |
Travel agents always strive to provide customers with the complete vacation experience, says Expedia CruiseShipCenters' sales manager Pat Heathfield, reiterating CVC's commitment to develop new tools to help agents do this more easily and efficiently. Thus the addition of a new Shore Excursioin capability to CVC's Online Booking system.
"Now, when a customer visits one of our agent's personalized Expedia CruiseShipCenters websites, they can choose to view all of the shore excursions available for their cruise. Customers can fill their shopping cart with all the great adventures ashore and their Cruise Consultant will be notified once the purchase is complete. Our CruiseDesk system then keeps track of the full commission the agent will receive," says Heathfield.
This new feature augments the agent-level booking engine which launched in February 2010, Heathfield says, and is the first of its kind to allow customers to book cruises online directly with their travel agent.
"'The user-friendly interface now displays a shore excursion icon on the itinerary page next to any port of call where an excursion is available. When the icon is clicked, the customer is able to book the excursion of their choice, with their Cruise Consultant. The Consultant's photo and contact information are featured on every page to remind the customer that their agent is with them during every stage of the booking process and will be available afterwards to answer any questions or make any necessary changes," Heathfield says.
"Our agents don't just sell cruises, they plan incredible experiences for their clients every day," Heathfield says, urging agents to attend an Expedia CruiseShipCenters live webinar. Agents will get to see a live demonstration of CruiseDesk in action.
Visit www.cruiseshipcenters.com