Cruise Planners (CP) just hosted more than 700 travel advisers at its annual convention, celebrating exciting news and recent developments.
Among the highlights? The franchise network is offering space travel, growing sales and debuting new tools for its members.
Space Travel — The Final Frontier
At the beginning of November, CP revealed that it would become the first franchise travel agency to sell Space Perspective’s Spaceship Neptune. The network has reserved two full SpaceBalloon capsules scheduled to fly in 2025 and 2027, respectively. Each six-hour space cruise will leisurely take eight clients to the edge of space, where they can toast to their otherworldly travel achievement with a glass of Champagne and share the experience via onboard Wi-Fi.
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From Nov. 11-14, Cruise Planners hosted its “CP World”-themed 2022 convention in Miami at the InterContinental Miami — dedicated to Vicky Garcia, the company’s late COO and co-owner.
CP shared that not only has it successfully recovered from the pandemic, but it has grown substantially since 2019, increasing overall sales by 28%. Contributing to that figure are 21% more river cruise departures and an 18% growth in land travel.
“It’s been a stellar year of growth for Cruise Planners, and the energy at the convention is electric and palpable,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and founder of Cruise Planners. “You never leave without feeling rejuvenated and empowered, and we’re thrilled to share all the innovations we’ve been working on and to celebrate the milestones and hard work of our advisors and home office team.”
New Tools for Travel Advisors
As a constant innovator, CP also unveiled new technology tools that its franchisees can take advantage of for growing their individual businesses, the most notable of which is LivePlanner.
Described as a “first-of-its-kind” tool, the feature accommodates live vacation planning and presenting.
The screen-sharing platform allows agents to present specific content to their clients in real time. LivePlanner Collections curate destinations, brands, ships, resorts and tours in a unified design per supplier. When combined with the Trip Summary tool, LivePlanner can construct a daily itinerary to be reviewed with clients on the fly.
Additional tool announcements include the following, according to CP:
- Destination Microsites: inspirational websites with imagery and information about popular destinations
- Destination Hub: an addition to CP Maxx (Cruise Planners’ proprietary CRM system) in the form of on-demand destination details
- Amenity Tracker: also in CP Maxx, a client perk and gift tracker
- Chat Feature for Care Support Team: the ability to promptly chat with CP’s support team
- Navitrip Hotel Booking Engine: access to more than 100,000 global hotels and resorts and the means to control franchisee commissions and client savings
- Trip Summary 2.0: integrated within CP Maxx, client trip summaries are conveniently available with images, itinerary information and any special notes or recommendations
Upcoming Events
For 2023, Cruise Planners has scheduled a total of 16 in-person events, including its future annual convention, two Elite Summits, three Tech Days, five Boot Camps, three Sales Academies, a Land Forum and a Luxury Forum.
Advisor Success Selling Icon of the Seas
CP is also looking forward to the arrival of Royal Caribbean International’s new Icon of the Seas in the fall of 2023, due to the franchise’s recent success selling the upcoming vessel. The ship, which is already slated to become the largest cruise ship in the world, led to record sales for the franchise in its first week of open reservations.
“Every time Royal Caribbean introduces a new ship, we see a direct correlation in our sales, and Icon of the Seas did not disappoint,” Fee said. “Families are ready to make memories and they want to be wowed. Royal Caribbean continues to outdo themselves and we are excited for families to have this option when planning their next cruise vacation.”
