Elevate. That was the theme and resounding message of this year’s highly energetic Dream Vacations/CruiseOne National Conference, which took place aboard the splashy Celebrity Ascent. And the conference certainly seemed to inspire and elevate, with the travel advisors in attendance keenly engaged during general sessions, workshops and festive dress-up cocktail parties. If this conference is any indication, Dream Vacations/Cruise One advisors are going to break booking records in 2025 (and 2024 is already one for the record books when it comes to overall sales within the franchisees).
“We pick a theme every year that we think is appropriate for what we’re going into,” Debbie Fiorino, Sr. VP and COO of Dream Vacations and CruiseOne, tells Recommend. “The leisure travel industry has never been stronger, so how do you take that and elevate your business, your individual business to make sure you are going along with what we are seeing?
“We wanted to inspire them to elevate their individual businesses…and what I try to focus on is it’s about your whole life: If you make yourself better, you make your business better. I talk a lot about making sure that you’re not letting negative thoughts and things get in your way. Focus on small things that can help them create habits that are going to help them with their businesses.
“A lot of times what you see in small businesses is inertia. It’s almost like ‘I’ll do that next month.’ And to elevate, you truly have to be consistent.”
When I asked Fiorino what she heard from advisors after she provided inspiration during her “Debbie’s Take” talk session, which took place during one of the conference’s general sessions, she said, “What I hope happens is they don’t just get inspired here. Some of us go to conferences, we get inspired, then we go back and then we don’t do anything with it. So our job as a franchisor is then to go back and say, how do we continue to push that message out, give them the tools and resources to do it.”
Speaking of providing the right tools, she immediately pointed to the newly enhanced website announced during conference. It is set to launch in early December and will allow franchise owners and their associates to customize the homepage based on travel niches. (We’ve got the 411 on that right here.)
“The website, coming on Dec. 11, is certainly is a big launch for us. That tool is a really easy tool. [It allows] them to create who they are as a franchisee. We always say we’re a market of niches, not everyone’s the same. We kind of give you a business in a box, [and] we allow you to individualize. So, how do we take this message of elevating, make it simple for them, but continue to follow up and make sure that they are using the tools that we’ve spent a lot of time, money and energy on, and that it doesn’t become inertia when they get home and they actually go use those things to help build their business,” she says.
Elevate the Mindset for 2025
“We believe that 2025 is going to be a very strong year, just in terms of consumer spend and the confidence that people have. We don’t see any big headwinds,” says Fiorino. “Obviously, things that are happening in the world always have an impact on travel, but you don’t know what’s going to happen, and we don’t necessarily worry about it. We rebound usually very quickly. But of course, we’re very confident [based on] what we see already on the books, what the cruise lines have told us they see on the books. We’re very positive.”
When it comes to travel advisors and growth within the industry, Fiorino says that the number-one challenge is the public’s perception of this line of work, noting that many people don’t even realize that travel advisors still exist. Travel advisors, she notes, “help curate travel, and I think that’s what really fits well with the younger generation.
“We’re also seeing some of our franchisees bring their children in. We have multiple franchisees on board with their sons and daughters, so I think they’re recognizing that succession planning is important as well for [their] businesses,” she adds.
Another thing that’s important for your business, noted Fiorino during “Debbie’s Take,” is to “not compare your beginning to someone’s else’s middle. Your mindset can hold you back and be devastating to your dreams.” She added, too, that, “You have to do something to become something.”
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