Travel Agent - September 24, 2007 - (Page 19)

Pitch holiday family cruises to your customers as a good way to rack up last-minute business multiple lines sail from Florida, the Gulf Coast and the West Coast. As a bonus, the booking lead time is shorter. 7. Participate in the World’s Largest Cruise Night (WLCN): Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) will conduct its annual World’s Largest Cruise Night on October 17. In 2006, more than 700 agencies fielded WLCN events, generated $18.5 million in bookings and received $2.4 million in commission. Many brick-and-mortar agencies will hold events, while homebased agents will opt for other promotions. “People go to market in many go to “People many market in ways. Not everything has to be large, grand and expensive. —BOB SHARAK ” ways,” says Bob Sharak, CLIA’s executive vice president of marketing and distribution. “People may rent space at hotels, or perhaps host a more intimate gathering at a local restaurant or bookstore.” New this year is a Virtual Cruise Night event, a web-based tool; register at www.cruising. org. “It’s really a case of taking advantage of what we’re doing, using your creativity and executing,” says Sharak, adding that “not everything has to be large, grand and expensive.” Most agents appreciate CLIA’s flexible approach. Last year Sherry Kennedy was a home-based agency owner with a limited budget. So she used her e-mail newsletter to focus on WLCN and offer booking incentives. “The bookings I received as a result of one simple e-mail newsletter deemed my virtual WLCN a success,” says Kennedy. But this year, as travel manager for AAA Travel of Melbourne, FL, Ken- nedy is planning a major event featuring 10 cruise line representatives; 350 invitations to past AAA clients will be mailed two weeks in advance. “As fall is generally a slower booking period, a national cruise night event is a good way to stimulate sales and get a jump start on Wave Season,” says Kennedy. 8. Corral E-tools and Technology: Customize the free postcards, flyers or e-mails the cruise lines provide. “[Agents] can use these tools to create demand, close more sales and earn more commission,” says Lisa Bauer, senior vice president of sales for Royal Caribbean International. Are you using all the technology tools available from your travel suppliers? Bauer says when agents send Royal Caribbean’s personalized, e-marketing CruisePlanner, clients open it 64 percent of the time. Definitely register for online travel agent locators; many lines have this feature. 9. Examine Clients’ Vacation Timing: Review your records. Single out all clients who have previously cruised in the fourth quarter, recommends Smith. Send a flyer Continued on page 20 September 24, 2007 TravelAgent 19

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - September 24, 2007

Contents Editor's Letter News You Can Use Agenda: Fam Trips, Calendar of Events, Deal of the Week Cover Story - Down the Stretch: Ramping Up 2007 Sales Central & South America: Anthony’s Key Resort, Roatan, Honduras Florida: Hotel Packages for Cruise-Bound Travelers Cruises: A Tale of Two Lines Agent Exchange Classified Marketplace Luxury Travel Expo Update Advertisers’ Information People & Places

Travel Agent - September 24, 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.