Agents, you should have these recently launched cruise incentives, resources and tools on your radar. So we’ve rounded up a few bits of news to make sure you’re up-to-date.
Carnival’s Fun eCollateral for Agents
After receiving agents’ feedback on its website, Carnival Cruise Line redesigned its travel agent marketing collateral library with new e-flyer designs, enhanced customization options and easier navigation. The enhanced Fun eCollateral Library, part of the line’s Onboard with You program, was created to provide agents with a more streamlined process to creating custom-designed marketing materials. Agents can log onto goccl.com, where they’ll find their preferred flyers, in addition to content that has been filed into categories that agents indicated were most beneficial to their marketing needs. The site’s new “lifestyle” category features flyers highlighting target markets, including families, groups, couples, millennials and seniors, while the new “onboard” category includes flyers covering the overall cruise experience, including dining and staterooms. “Destination” flyers, an existing part of the library, now feature an enhanced design. Larger customization boxes were also added to give agents more space to insert their own marketing message and a call to action. Additionally, the Fun eCollateral Library’s collection of e-brochures and e-banners continue to be available. For more information, visit goccl.com.
Celebrity Cruises Travel Agent Appreciation Month
Celebrity Cruises kicked off its Travel Agent Appreciation Month on April 1 with a brand-new program awarding agents with prizes on each of the five Fridays in April. Each Wednesday in April, agents will receive information about weekly travel partner offerings created by Celebrity’s senior v.p. Dondra Ritzenthaler and v.p. of field sales and national accounts, North America Keith Lane. Then on Fridays, agents have the opportunity to earn bonus commissions and prizes such as an Apple TV, GoPro cameras and more, by booking Celebrity cruises within a specified timeframe.
At the end of the month, those agents who participate in all five promotions will be eligible to win the grand prize—a Celebrity Cruises EuroXPass vacation for two in 2016, including Celebrity ChoiceAir roundtrip coach-class travel, accommodations in a Veranda Stateroom, airport transfers, and the choice of two of Celebrity’s onboard amenities. For more information, call (800) 647-2251 or visit celebritycruises.com.
Dream Vacations Start With You
More than 50 percent of CruiseOne’s existing franchise owners have transitioned over to its new travel agency franchise Dream Vacations, which launched on April 5. At the CruiseOne/Cruises Inc. National Conference last November, Recommend’s associate editor, Michelle Marie Arean, sat down with the creative minds behind the experiential-focused brand—Brad Tolkin, Co-CEO and chairman of World Travel Holdings; Debbie Fiorino, senior v.p. of CruiseOne/Cruises Inc.; and Drew Daly, general manager of network engagement and performance at CruiseOne/Cruises Inc.—to discuss what the new brand means for CruiseOne and World Travel Holdings in an interview which you can read in its entirety here.
According to Tolkin, the decision to evolve CruiseOne’s tagline “Dream Vacations Start Here” into a sister brand came about because of the uptick the company saw in its land and resort vacation business after introducing the tagline in 2011. “We wanted to make sure we understood what the growth of our resorts business was, understand the networks’ need, and make sure we picked a brand that spoke to what they wanted,” says Tolkin. “Dream Vacations was staring us in the face.”
All franchisees and customers under World Travel Holdings’ CruiseOne and Dream Vacations brands receive the same support and advantages, the differentiation with Dream Vacations is having a name that conveys the product that is being sold. Dream Vacations franchisees are selling more than just cruise. Tolkin expects the move to help agents’ bottom line. “I think the Dream Vacations brand will help our franchisees build their businesses because it speaks to what we are selling, which are travel experiences or experiences with a vacation as the end result,” says Tolkin. “So I think it will help our franchisees who choose to use the brand to expand their overall buying power both in cruise and in resort vacations. To us, a cruise is a dream vacation.”
To sign up, agents can go through an automated process on cruiseonefranchise.com. After checking off that they want to make the switch, they’ll complete a survey that is unique to them and their business. For more information, call (888) 249-8235 or visit dreamvacations.com.
