CruiseOne® Notes 35% Increase In Land Sales

By: Dream Vacations / CruiseOne | 2 Shares 68 Reads

Nearly 200 Franchisees and Agents Have Already Enrolled in Network’s New Land Certification Program, Which Includes Self-Study Classes, Product Training & More

September 27, 2012 // Franchising.com // Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. – With just weeks until their first-ever joint land and sea National Conference, CruiseOne® & Cruises Inc.™– which comprise one of the nation’s top travel retail networks as part of World Travel Holdings (WTH) – today revealed a 35% spike in land sales versus the same period last year. Citing a growing interest in diversifying amongst agents, the sister brands recently launched a new Land Certification Program, which has welcomed nearly 200 agents, with more than 70 already completing it.

“While cruising will always remain the core of our business, we know that it is important to continue evolving our offerings to the agent community,” said Dwain Wall, Senior Vice President and General Manager for CruiseOne® & Cruises Inc.™ “Many consumers cruise annually but there are some who don’t, seeking other options. We are committed to helping our agents become true full-service travel professionals who are able to plan every imaginable type of dream vacation, and we expect for our land sales to continue to grow into 2013 as a result.”

The new CruiseOne® & Cruises Inc.™ Land Certification Program helps interested agents become comfortable selling multiple product types. Designed as a flexible self-study program, it gives agents the opportunity to learn at their own pace, based on their own timeframe. With a comprehensive curriculum, the program features ten modules focusing on various aspects of land sales, including courses on navigating online hotel training programs, land vendor product sessions, destination-specific training and more. The course covers everything from air – a new offering as part of CruiseOne® & Cruises Inc.’s SelectAir program – to travel insurance, increasing overall agent commissions and thus, profitability.

“One of the biggest obstacles agents face in selling more land is understanding all of the product options available,” said Drew Daly, VP of Sales Performance for CruiseOne® & Cruises Inc.™ “As a result of our extensive Land Certification Program, agents now have a better understanding of all that is associated with a land vacation in order to assist them in choosing the right vacation for their customer’s individual needs.”

CruiseOne® & Cruises Inc.™ will include land curriculum during their first-ever joint land and sea National Conference, which is set to take place October 14 to 21 with four nights at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and three nights aboard Disney Dream. Each year, the network’s National Conference welcoming hundreds of franchisees and independent contractors, supplier partners and industry VIPs for a dynamic, week-long continuing education program. Marking the companies’ 20th and 30th anniversaries, respectively, this year’s CruiseOne® & Cruises Inc.™ National Conference will include interactive general sessions, sales-building workshops, power networking opportunities and a keynote presentation by Jon Wolske of Zappos!

“The continuing education we have access to as part of CruiseOne® is critical to the growth of our franchise and the Land Certification Program is no exception,” said CruiseOne® Carrollton, Texas Owner, Lucinda Belden. “It is important for us to continue servicing our loyal cruise customers and at the same time, to attract new categories of customers. This program has helped us do that and we are already seeing results.”

To learn more about CruiseOne®, visit www.CruiseOneFranchise.com. To become part of the Cruises Inc.™ family, visit www.SellCruises.com.

About CruiseOne® & Cruises Inc.™

CruiseOne®, the nation’s largest home-based franchise travel agent network, was founded in 1992. Cruises Inc.™, the original cruise travel host agency, was founded in 1982. Together, the companies’ 1,200+ agents are part of World Travel Holdings (WTH), one of the nation’s top travel retail networks. CruiseOne® & Cruises Inc.™ are industry leaders, providing agents with innovative support, training, marketing and technology programs to successfully grow their business. The companies have relationships with every major cruise line and many tour operators and as a result, offer the highest commissions in the business. Both are consistently recognized for their efforts, including being named Royal Caribbean’s “Partner of the Year,” Celebrity Cruises’ “National Account Partner of the Year” and Carnival Cruise Line’s “Travel Partner of the Year.”

A proud member of the International Franchise Association (IFA), MinorityFRAN, and VetFRAN, CruiseOne® is consistently ranked in major editorial awards including Entrepreneur magazine’s “Top 500″, Forbes magazine’s “Top 20 Franchises to Start,” the Franchise Market’s “Top 100 Companies,” and FranchiseBusinessReview’s “Top Low-Cost Franchises.”

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