Women Leading the Way: Cruise Planners Marks Women’s History Month with Top Franchise for Women Honor

Franchise Business Review names the company among its 2026 Top Franchises for Women, highlighting the growing impact of women in travel and franchising 

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — (March 17, 2026) — Cruise Planners, the nation’s largest homebased travel agency franchise, has once again been named one of Franchise Business Review’s Top Franchises for Women, marking the seventh time the company has earned this honor. The recognition underscores Cruise Planners’ longstanding commitment to empowering women entrepreneurs and supporting their ability to build thriving travel businesses while balancing family life, personal aspirations, and financial success. 

The annual ranking from Franchise Business Review is based on surveys from more than 8,000 women franchise owners across 325 franchise brands, evaluating factors such as leadership, training and support, financial opportunity, and work life balance. A recent study revealed that 88% of women reported enjoying being part of their franchise organization, and three out of four said they would recommend their franchise to others, with Cruise Planners’ supportive and systematic success plan topping the list of opportunities in the travel space. 

For Cruise Planners, the recognition carries particular significance because 99% of franchisees report that they enjoy operating their Cruise Planners business, are likely to recommend the franchise to others, and hold Founder and CEO Michelle Fee in high regard for developing a business model that enables entrepreneurs-- many of them women-- to build a successful travel businesses while maintaining flexibility and independence. 

Breaking the Glass Ceiling in Travel Leadership 

Women have been a significant force in the travel advisor profession for quite some time. In fact, nearly 80% of travel advisors in the U.S. are women, and they also own a substantial portion of travel agencies across the country. However, within the broader travel and tourism sector, women remain underrepresented in executive roles, holding only about one-third of board seats in major travel and hospitality companies.  

Cruise Planners’ franchise model aims to bridge this gap by empowering women entrepreneurs with the backing of a nationally recognized, billion-dollar travel enterprise. 

“Empowering women to build businesses and shape their own futures has always been at the heart of Cruise Planners,” said Michelle Fee, Founder and CEO of Cruise Planners. “Women have long been a powerful force in the travel industry, despite leadership roles not always reflecting our influence. Entrepreneurship creates pathways forward, and the work we do here is helping to break barriers by providing the tools, support, and platform for women to become CEOs of their own travel businesses, benefit from the strength of a national brand, and define success on their own terms.” 

Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Travel 

As the largest home-based travel franchise in the nation, Cruise Planners boasts a thriving network of women franchise owners. Their success is rooted in a robust foundation of mentorship, innovative training programs like STAR University, turnkey marketing programs and cutting-edge technology. 

“As more women pursue entrepreneurship, franchising offers an accessible and supportive pathway to business ownership,” added Chief Operations Officer, Theresa Scalzitti. “We are honored to be part of that journey and to help thousands of women turn their love of travel into successful careers.” 

For more information about Cruise Planners and franchise opportunities, visit www.cruiseplannersfranchise.com. 

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About Cruise Planners 

Cruise Planners was founded in 1994 and is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network. As a leader in the travel franchise industry, Cruise Planners positions a nation-wide network of 3,000 franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing programs, proprietary and cutting-edge booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industry’s top executives. The company continues to be an industry leader and was named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 18 consecutive years and was awarded by Franchise Business Review as “Best-In-Category” for three years. 

Cruise Planners received a 99% franchise owner satisfaction report from Franchise Business Review for 2023, 2024 and 2025. Franchise Business Review also ranked Cruise Planners #3 OVERALL on their list of Top 200 Franchises. 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, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel. 

Visit our website, www.cruiseplanners.com, for more information or to view the complete list of awards and honors. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit https://www.cruiseplannersfranchise.com/.