Cruise Planners Celebrated for Exceptional Achievements in Travel Innovation, Technology and Marketing with 3 GOLD and 1 SILVER Magellan Awards
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. Oct. 26, 2023 – Cruise Planners once again is recognized by Travel Weekly with three GOLD and one SILVER Magellan awards. Travel Weekly’s Magellan Awards honor the best in the travel industry, and Cruise Planners has been recognized for technology and marketing, setting a remarkable benchmark for excellence for advisor tools and consumer-facing programs.
This year, Cruise Planners received a total of four Magellan awards for its groundbreaking advisor tool, Amenity Tracker (GOLD), patent-pending, first-of-its-kind LivePlanner virtual consultation tool (GOLD), Luxury Marketing campaign (GOLD), and Where2Next Virtual Series (SILVER). In addition, Cruise Planners franchisees, Julie Irovando and Tawnee Sons, won three Magellan awards; one gold in business strategy and two silvers in travel agent innovation and marketing for the first annual “fan cruise” with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“We are ecstatic to add several Magellan awards to our trophy case this year,” said Michelle Fee, founder, and CEO of Cruise Planners. “These awards are a testament to our team’s dedication and hard work in marketing, technology, and innovation. I could not be prouder the work we do to help our advisors grow their businesses.”
Amenity Tracker- GOLD WINNER
Amenity Tracker gives advisors the ability to add an amenity to their reservations and include details such as amenity type, dollar values and special notes to their clients. Advisors also can show these amenities on customer invoices, in their myTrips accounts and in the Cruise Planners mobile app for upcoming trips. Amenity Tracker also allows advisors to run robust reporting—removing the need for spreadsheets. Advisors can also check off when an amenity has been confirmed and added to the reservation.
LivePlannerTM- GOLD WINNER
LivePlannerTM is a new custom consultation tool for advisors to conduct live presentations to their clients in real-time. This proprietary tool is an industry first and streamlines the vacation planning process. Both advisors and their clients can schedule live sessions to compare itineraries and review destinations from a variety of Cruises, All-Inclusive Resorts and Vacation Packages.
Luxury Campaign- GOLD WINNER
The Luxury Travel Campaign was designed to inspire affluent travelers to plan vacations with luxury cruises and tours, longer stays and visiting exotic destinations. Elements of the campaign included targeted direct mail, email marketing and the Luxury Forum training and networking event for advisors who focus on selling luxury travel. The campaign helped spark interest with Cruise Planners clients and new customers, with a 51% increase in 2023 luxury travel purchases.
Where2Next Virtual Event Series- SILVER WINNER
The Where2Next Virtual Event Series educates consumers on trending destinations and new offerings from cruises, tours and all-inclusive resorts. Completely automated for advisors, these virtual events are hosted by Cruise Planners executives and provide exclusive limited-time offers to stimulate bookings. The Cruise Planners Home Office team handles everything from client invitations, to filming and broadcasting, to marketing the special offers to clients and new customers. In 2023, the six Where2Next events resulted in $18.6 million in travel purchases.
Company Background:
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 2,500 franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing programs, proprietary and cutting-edge booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and travel agent 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 awarded by Franchise Business Review as “Best-In-Category” for 3 years and ranked #18 on Travel Weekly’s 2022 Power List.
