World Travel Holdings Celebrates Banner Year
Last year was a great one for sister companies Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc., and 2018 is shaping up to be even better.
That’s one of the key messages heard at the organizations’ National Conference, which attracted 1,000 attendees late last year on Royal Caribbean International’s Harmony of the Seas.
The theme of the 2017 conference was “Achieve,” and it appears home-based agents did just that based on the business assessment provided by Debbie Fiorino, senior vice president of Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc.
“For 2017 over 2016, we experienced a double-digit increase in cruise business and a significant double-digit increase in land,” she said. “This year is looking really strong so far. We’re turning the year in better shape from 2017 to 2018 than we even saw from 2016 to 2017. And at that point, we thought it was a really good turn, but it’s even better going into 2018.”
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To what does she attribute such strong growth?
“I think Brad Tolkin, [co-chairman/CEO of parent company World Travel Holdings] said it was that unemployment is the best it’s ever been, consumer confidence is really high, and, regardless of what’s happening in politics, people feel really good,” Fiorino said. “Travel itself has become something people want to experience more than to buy things. It’s not just Millennials—everyone wants experiences now. Travel is a big part of those experiences.”
Fiorino also credited continued strength and innovation in the cruise segment.
“Companies like Ritz-Carlton and Virgin would not be doing what they’re doing [building cruise ships] if they didn’t see what’s happening in cruise as an opportunity,” she said. “And that’s going to bring more new-to-cruise customers, without a doubt.”
Additionally, Fiorino updated attendees on the progress made by the new Dream Vacations brand, which launched in April 2016. Initially, 50 percent of CruiseOne agencies converted to Dream Vacations to better convey that they sell land trips as well as cruises, with more planning to switch over during the next year and a half.
“About 99 percent of the new people coming in are choosing Dream Vacations,” she added.
Currently, there are about 1,100 Dream Vacations and CruiseOne franchises.
“It’s one business model with two brands,” Fiorino said.
Cruises Inc. has approximately 500 independent contractors.
“A lot of time people grow to a certain size and they move over [and buy a franchise],” she said.
In other news, it was announced that Tensi Westreicher will serve as business development manager to solely focus on new agents.
“If you’re new, it’s very easy to be overwhelmed,” said Drew Daly, general manager of network engagement and performance. “You get all this training content and wonder, what am I going to do first?”
Also, BDM territories were realigned, with Karen Hermann now covering the Western region, Adam Taylor the Midwest and Jackie Thompson the East Coast.
Technology, meanwhile, is always a major topic at the National Conference. Sandi Szalay, vice president of IT, promised to deliver the next generation of technology made possible by a multimillion-dollar investment from parent World Travel Holdings.
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Szalay said her goal is to reimagine the online vacation shopping experience by simplifying promotions and improving the overall experience for consumers. The websites will make it easier to understand this promotion-rich environment that emphasizes value over savings. Other updates on the horizon include further upgrades in the group booking process and enhancements to resort vacation booking and fulfillment, with the ability to pull reservations directly from preferred vendors.
Also new is the companies’ first River Cruise Summit, scheduled to be held March 15-22, 2019, on AmaWaterways’ AmaLea.
“We’ll have about 120 people on board,” Daly said. “We’ll experience the river cruise product, have workshops and training, do tours and a fun theme night or two.”
The 2018 National Conference will take place on a Mexican Riviera cruise out of Los Angeles aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Bliss.
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