More than 800 cruise industry experts—Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. travel advisors and franchise owners, staffers from parent company, World Travel Holdings, and major cruise and vacation industry suppliers—boarded Celebrity Cruises’ new Celebrity Apex at Port Everglades, FL, on Saturday. They're now sailing for the week in the western Caribbean and attending general sessions, workshops and other programs of the "Together" conference; it's the group's first in-person, annual conference since the pandemic began.
Welcoming the eager group aboard was Drew Daly, senior vice president and general manager, Dream Vacations/CruiseOne, who spoke about the industry’s recovery and how far the cruise lines have come with safety and protocols. He said that being on a cruise ship such as Celebrity Apex was “the safest place on Planet Earth.”
Delivering an emotional and energizing presentation to advisors on Sunday, Debbie Fiorino, chief operating officer of Dream Vacations/CruiseOne, proclaimed: "We have made it through to the other side." Good news? She told the advisors that 71 percent of cruise industry capacity is now back in the water sailing, and the group’s resort vacation sales are at the highest volume ever.
David Crooks, senior vice president, product and operations, World Travel Holdings, interviewed Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Celebrity Cruises' president and CEO. He also put multiple cruise industry suppliers as well as one land vacation supplier “On the Hot Seat" with individual Q&A sessions.
Look for key "takeaways" from these and other sessions in a separate story later this week, but here are a few major announcements of interest.
New Associate Recruitment Program
On Monday morning, World Travel Holdings announced that in January 2022 it will introduce an Associate Recruitment Program. That will bring in independent contractor associates to help existing franchise owners of Dream Vacations/CruiseOne in growing their businesses and becoming bigger, stronger sellers through the recruitment of additional advisors who will help them sell.
“Many of our travel agency franchise owners have expressed to us that they want to expand their business, diversify their offerings and grow their agency footprint by adding associates, yet they do not have the time or resources to invest in recruiting,” says Fiorino. Branded externally as "Dream Vacations Advisor," the new effort will recruit additional independent contractors solely on behalf of Dream Vacations/CruiseOne franchise owners through the new Associate Recruitment Program.
While she told Travel Agent that there will be a fee for franchise owners who desire this recruitment effort on their behalf, she also notes that WTH will do the financial heavy lifting via search engine marketing and other marketing to identify and bring high quality candidates to the program.
It's possible that new associates working remotely will do so from a different city or state from the franchise agency—thus helping that agency spread its influence and bring in new clients. Fiorino says the new program is a good example of how WTH listens to feedback from its franchise network, invests in its franchise owners and launches initiatives to enhance its franchise system and positively impact franchisees’ bottom lines.
"Our goal is not to have the largest travel agency franchise system, but rather to have the most successful travel agency franchises," she adds.
Believing the program will help grow his business is Jerry March, franchise owner of Bean-March Travel Group – Dream Vacations in Clayton, NC, and 2022 chair of the Dream Vacations/CruiseOne Advisory Council. “One of our biggest obstacles is having the time and resources to recruit” independent contractors, says March. He adds the new effort will essentially give an agency its own recruitment department to help it find those people.
For nearly 40 years, World Travel Holdings has recruited independent contractors with its Cruises Inc. brand; however, several weeks ago, WTH announced that it will merge Cruises Inc. into the Dream Vacations/CruiseOne business model. Those Cruises Inc. independent advisors are now either transitioning to becoming a Dream Vacations franchise owner or moving into an associate role as an independent contractor with an existing Dream Vacations/CruiseOne franchise.
WTH officials say the new Dream Vacations Advisor program is designed to appeal to potential, new independent contractors who want to sell travel by joining a reputable and established host. The independent contractors who become a Dream Vacations advisor will have a built-in mentor in their agency franchise owner. They'll also reap the trade benefits of being part of World Travel Holdings.
Alicia Linden, director of marketing, Dream Vacations/CruiseOne, further explained that those associates will have access to a new dedicated web site, dedicated database growth tools, dedicated e-mail marketing, an automatic social program, video marketing assets and more.
Believing the new program has a dual benefit, Daly says the new program will enable independent contractors to have more individualized support and greater success, while, at the same time, he's confident it will make franchisees more successful by increasing their same-store sales.”
Marketing and Technology Enhancements
Also on the horizon for 2022 for franchise owners are new data base growth tools, headquarters’ funded promotions, custom landing pages, emails and video, and, according to Linden, "we are going to make sure the marketing we are delivering for you is the most effective it can be.”
On Monday, Sandi Szalay, vice president of information technology, Dream Vacations/CruiseOne, also "teased" a few details to the audience—giving franchise owners a bit of intel about a new group application planned for 2022. “This is our next significant change that we’ll go through together,” she noted.
So, Dream Vacations/CruiseOne travel advisors will soon have a new group user interface that offers a new design and easier navigation. Advisors will be able to start a new contract in two clicks. The new technology will also feature consolidated views, so advisors can view all financial info and reports in one place.
The advisors will discover new group tools and attachments, pop up notes, a group booking designed to fit guest level payments and allocate payments by guests, as well as a guest level financial summary.
For more information, visit www.dreamvacations.com.
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