PHOTO: Cruise Planners COO Vicky Garcia in the company's trademark green. (Courtesy of Cruise Planners)
Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is a leading travel agent network that is sponsoring the first-ever Agent@Home Travel Summit.
The summits are scheduled for both coasts - Sept. 15-18 in Long Beach, Calif., and Sept. 29-Oct. 2 in Atlantic City, N.J. For more details on the conferences, click here.
Vicky Garcia, COO and co-owner of Cruise Planners, explained why the organization is participating as Silver Sponsors.
"Cruise Planners is participating in the Agent@Home Summit to network with our own Cruise Planners travel advisors in attendance as well as showcase our business model to those who may not have an affiliation with a host agency, consortia or franchisor," Garcia says. "We feel strongly that travel agents should look at joining an organization that not only offers them top commissions, but also provides them with strong marketing tools, exclusive offers, cutting-edge technology, training and business development support. There is way too much information in the travel industry, and home-based agents should have the support so they aren't alone."
Cruise Planners is a work-from-home franchise opportunity for those who have a passion for travel.
"Our franchisees can operate their business part-time or full-time, from home, on a glacier or from the beach," Garcia says. "We have turn-key solutions. We offer a 'Business in a Box.' Cruise Planners' headquarters office does not sell travel, so 100 percent of our success is built on the success of our travel advisors - so we are behind them all the way!"
Some suppliers say they have a hard time finding and working with home-based travel agents. The Agent@Home Travel Summit is designed so those suppliers can learn about home-based travel agents and get in front of them.
"Yes, the Agent@Home Summit is a great venue for suppliers and can introduce suppliers to new agents who are home-based, but affiliated with a host or franchise, since those agents have the marketing and technology support and back-end tools to allow the agent to focus on relationship building and selling," Garcia says.
And that can lead to a fruitful relationship that benefits both the travel agency franchise and the suppliers.
"Our franchisees have strong relationships with all of our preferred partners and many of them recognize the Cruise Planners 'Sea of Green' that is at all travel industry events," Garcia says, referring to the company's trademark color evident in agent shirts as well as company logos. "We are very transparent with suppliers offering them to ability to identify and work closely with our travel advisors in their local markets."
The Agent@Home Travel Summit is organized by Agent@Home Magazine in conjunction with MSE Management, the leading international events marketing agency, responsible for the New York Times Travel Show. To view the full agenda, click here. Suppliers interested in exhibiting at the summits can email here.
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