Cruise Planners 2016 Convention Focuses on Relationships and Meaningful Interactions
Coral Springs, Fla. (PRWEB) July 14, 2016 -- Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, the nation’s largest work-at-home travel agent franchise network in the industry, today announced the theme and highlights for the sold-out Cruise Planners 2016 Annual Convention. This year’s Cruise Planners Convention theme is “I Am CP.”
“This confident theme is Cruise Planners’ commitment to our entire network of travel professionals,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and co-founder of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative.
The “I Am CP” theme is a mixture of positive declarations that Cruise Planners franchise owners, preferred travel partners and Home Office Team can proudly declare and are in line with Cruise Planners unique brand positioning – for example:
• I Am Innovative
• I Am Connected
• I Am Inspired
• I Am a Change Maker
• I Am Full of CruisitudeTM
“The goal for 2016’s Convention is for Cruise Planners agents to hone their skills and help define and focus what their specialties are using “I Am CP” for inspiration,” Fee said. “Our suppliers and industry partners are a critical component of agents’ success and can provide direction and support for agents looking to develop their niche.”
More than 600 Cruise Planners travel advisors are expected at the sold-out event furthering a sense of camaraderie throughout the entire home-based network. There will be multiple ways for agents to connect on a large scale and individual basis with travel suppliers.
Convention will be focused on advanced training with the goal of providing agents with tools for success through preferred partners’ engagement including:
• Motivational sales and marketing workshops
• Preferred travel and destination partner forums
• Cruise line, destination, land and tour company executive presentations
• Industry trade show where CP agents can network and strengthen relationships
Travel advisors will attend multiple days of training specifically tailored to their success including some new introductions such as:
• CP Genius Lab: An in-house help desk of sorts answering a variety of agent’s back-end business and technology questions on how to best run their travel agency. Topics can range from mobile technology assistance and setting up emails to search engine optimization and accounting and QuickBooks.
• Destination to Success: As more savvy travelers want to go to off-the-beaten path trips, it is even more important for agents to be familiar and comfortable with global geography. Cruise Planners will have an interactive geography game focused on top cruise ports, how to best book land and destination wedding groups, and more.
• Additional Niche Marketing Sessions: Cruise Planners recognizes the value in travel agents finding their niche and will offer sessions on special needs travel, small ship cruising, and specializing in theme parks and attraction vacations.
• Focus on More than Just Cruises: Cruise Planners sales mix continues to grow with river cruise, luxury travel, all inclusives, land vacations and ticket sales as the company continues to grow in both cruise sales while expanding its land business. As such, there will be more learning and networking opportunities for exclusive partnerships with Cruise Planners.
As always, Cruise Planners will incorporate charitable giving into its convention and this year the 600+ group will participate in Light the Night and low-impact walk around Bayfront Park in Miami to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
The first few days of the annual convention, November 3rd – 8th, will be held at the Miami Intercontinental Hotel, then hundreds of agents will sail on Royal Caribbean International’s Harmony of the Seas North American Debut sailing, out of PortMiami on November 8th.
“I Am CP, and each of our travel agents helps make up the entire CP Family,” Fee said. “And together, we are all CP.”
About Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative
Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the travel industry. Cruise Planners operates a network of more than 1,400 franchise owners who independently book amazing vacation and travel experiences for their clients. The Florida-based Home Office Team positions a nation-wide network of franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing, booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industry’s top executives. The company continues to be lauded and has been named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 13 consecutive years. Cruise Planners was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology, has been consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by the South Florida Business Journal, is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, has been ranked as the #1 travel franchise by Franchise Business Review for 5 years in a row, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel since it started ranking companies.
Headquartered in Coral Springs, Fla. with more than 22 years of experience, Cruise Planners has achieved top producer status with every major cruise line. Accolades include numerous Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly for the past seven years, American Express Travel Representative Excellence Award for 11 consecutive years (2004-2014), American Express Agency of the Year (2010), Royal Caribbean International Chairman’s Award (2015), Royal Caribbean International President’s Award for Overall Achievement (2012 and 2014), Royal Caribbean International Home-Based Partner of the Year (2007-2013), Norwegian Cruise Line Franchise Agency of the Year (2011-2015), Celebrity Cruises Field Sales Account of the Year (2015), Celebrity Cruises Home-Based Account of the Year (2013-2014) and Celebrity Cruises Southeast Region Travel Agent Partner of the Year (2010), American Express Vacations Best of the Best Globe Award (2008-2015), Globus Family of Brands Premier Agency Partner (2009-2014), Platinum Member of the 500 Club for Sales Excellence (2014), Platinum Circle Member with Viking River Cruises (2009-2012), Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection Top Producer (2008-2014) and Regent Seven Seas Cruises Top Producer. Cruise Planners is one of the Top 50 franchises for Veterans according to GI magazine, the Top Franchise Brand for Veterans according to Franchise Business Review, has been named one of the Top 25 franchises for African-Americans by Black Enterprise magazine and is a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. For more information, visit http://www.cruiseplanners.com.
Stay in Touch: Media can stay up-to-date with Cruise Planners by visiting our media room, following us on Twitter @Cruisitude or on Facebook. For additional information or to make reservations, vacationers should locate a travel advisor near them. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit our franchise website.
Caitlin Murphy Gardner, Cruise Planners, http://www.cruiseplanners.com, +1 (954) 344-8060 Ext: 117, [email protected]
Share this article