Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - (Page 75)

Carnival’s Direction—Not Direct CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES (WWW.CARNIVAL.COM) IS REDUCING ITS DIRECTBUSINESS MODEL, MICKY ARISON, Carnival Corp.’s chairman and CEO, said during his company’s second-quarter earnings call with analysts this past month. “As far as direct business, what I can say is that since Bob Dickinson [Carnival’s former president and CEO] retired, two of Carnival’s senior sales and marketing executives, who were clearly the most aggressive in growing Carnival Cruise Lines’ personal vacation planner and direct business, left the company,” Arison said, responding to a question posed by an analyst regarding the percentage of Carnival’s direct business, call center and online bookings vs. traditional travel agent channels. “Since that time, Gerry [Cahill, president and CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines] and his team have reevaluated that program [direct business], and the fact is they have significantly reduced the business from that program. The result is, and will be at least for the time being, less direct business.” He continued: “I think it’s very important to state that the travel agency distribution system has been an effective and efficient distribution system for this company for 35 years, and it got us to where we are. We clearly believe that we need to continue to support them. They have shown this year that they can give us the yield improvements we need to overcome—at least partially—these higher fuel costs; so, despite the fact that I would expect that we would have a little bit less direct business David Eisen Micky Arison, Carnival Corp.’s chairman and CEO next year, particularly at Carnival Cruise Lines, the effect of that will be higher yields.” Shunning direct business is sweet music to a travel agent’s ear. Not only does it represent the prospect of more business, it demonstrates the value that the biggest cruise line in the world places on travel agents. One more thing: If Arison says it, it’s got to be true. “[He] is a straight shooter: He talks the talk and walks the walk,” says Jeff Kivet, chairman and CEO of Cruise Value Center in East Brunswick, NJ. “If he said it, you can take it to the bank. It’s a great idea.” A colleague of Kivet’s agrees. “It’s a smart move—three cheers for Micky Arison,” says Anthony Hamawy, vice president and managing director of Cruise.com in Port Everglades, FL. “I think that Carnival really took a close look at something the agencies have been saying for years.” Hamawy says that Carnival worked on expanding its call center business when it felt that agencies were becoming less inclined to sell cheaper cruises. “When agents begin to fear the product because they feel they are being undercut, they will stop selling,” Hamawy says. “You lose goodwill.” Another reason is cost. Running call centers is far more expensive than letting agents simply sell the cruises. “I hope other lines follow,” Hamawy says. Also, in the same earnings call, Arison touched on Royal Caribbean’s recent decision to increase sales thresholds for agents to reach certain commission levels. Steve Wieczynski, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, an investment bank based in St. Louis, MO, asked if Royal Caribbean’s decision presented opportunity for Carnival to take away some of Royal Caribbean’s business from certain agents. Arison said that Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd.’s and Carnival Corp.’s business models were so different that it would be unfair to compare. Royal Caribbean’s commission program operates on the corporate level, while Carnival’s commission programs are brandspecific. “That doesn’t mean that our brands won’t take a very strong look at what was done and see if there is opportunity or not,” Arison said. “Our philosophy has been that the needs of each brand are different and you can’t do these things from our perspective on a corporate basis.” — DAVID EISEN CONNECTING YOU For more news on the cruise industry, visit www.travelagentcentral. com/cruises July 21, 2008 TravelAgent | 75 http://WWW.CARNIVAL.COM http://Cruise.com http://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises http://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - July 21, 2008

Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 Online Now Contents Contributors From the Editor Europe Pacific/Asia Tanzania South Pacific Pacific Northwest Las Vegas Florida Mexico The Caribbean Comes to D.C. Cruises Tours Hotels Agenda Luxury Travel Expo Global Destination Update Small Luxury Hotels Expands into Asia ASTA is Changing, and Growing Carnival Reduces Direct Business In the Spotlight Classified Marketplace Editorial Index Advertising Index Trendwatch

Travel Agent - July 21, 2008

Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 (Page Cover1) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 (Page Cover2) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 (Page 1) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Online Now (Page 2) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Online Now (Page 3) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Contents (Page 4) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Contents (Page 6) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Contents (Page 7) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Contributors (Page 8) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Contributors (Page 9) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 10) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 11) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 12) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 13) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 14) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 15) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Europe (Page 16) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Europe (Page 17) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Europe (Page 18) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Europe (Page 19) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 20) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 21) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 22) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 23) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Tanzania (Page 24) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Tanzania (Page 25) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Tanzania (Page 26) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Tanzania (Page 27) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - South Pacific (Page 28) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - South Pacific (Page 29) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Pacific Northwest (Page 30) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Pacific Northwest (Page 31) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 32) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 33) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 34) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 35) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Florida (Page 36) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Florida (Page 37) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Florida (Page 38) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Florida (Page 39) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Mexico (Page 40) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Mexico (Page 41) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Mexico (Page 42) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Mexico (Page 43) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Mexico (Page 44) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Mexico (Page 45) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - The Caribbean Comes to D.C. (Page 46) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - The Caribbean Comes to D.C. (Page 47) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - The Caribbean Comes to D.C. (Page 48) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - The Caribbean Comes to D.C. (Page 49) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - The Caribbean Comes to D.C. (Page 50) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - The Caribbean Comes to D.C. (Page 51) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - The Caribbean Comes to D.C. (Page 52) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - The Caribbean Comes to D.C. (Page 53) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Cruises (Page 54) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Cruises (Page 55) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Cruises (Page 56) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Cruises (Page 57) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Cruises (Page 58) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Cruises (Page 59) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Cruises (Page 60) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Cruises (Page 61) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Tours (Page 62) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Tours (Page 63) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Tours (Page 64) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Tours (Page 65) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Hotels (Page 66) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Hotels (Page 67) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Agenda (Page 68) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Agenda (Page 69) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Agenda (Page 70) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Luxury Travel Expo (Page 71) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Global Destination Update (Page 72) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Small Luxury Hotels Expands into Asia (Page 73) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - ASTA is Changing, and Growing (Page 74) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Carnival Reduces Direct Business (Page 75) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - In the Spotlight (Page 76) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Classified Marketplace (Page 77) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Editorial Index (Page 78) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Advertising Index (Page 79) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Trendwatch (Page 80) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Trendwatch (Page Cover3) Travel Agent - July 21, 2008 - Trendwatch (Page Cover4) 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