The Avanti Cruise Advantage

Avanti Destinations is leveraging its expertise in Europe, South America and Asia to create customized pre- and post-cruise programs.

The programs offer travel agents opportunity to significantly broaden the range of options for their cruise clients who want to dig deeper into the destinations they visit.

“We’re trying to provide convenience and flexibility, and a wider array of properties than what is normally available through cruise lines,” said Harry Dalgaard, Avanti’s founder. “We’re not knocking the cruise lines, but we find that travelers like the personalization of having private transfers with someone standing there portside with their name and a vehicle ready to go rather than getting on a motorcoach.”

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Avanti, which has specialized in providing independent land travel packages for decades, started selling Europe during1981, South America in 1990 and expanded to Asia in recent years.

Dalgaard defines Avanti’s specialty as “crafting seamless connections for multi-destination independent itineraries.”

The company enables travel agents to piece together travel packages by combining individual components such as lodging, transportation, sightseeing and activities, which are tailored to the needs of individual clients. Avanti developed a proprietary technology system nearly 20 years ago that makes it easy for travel agents to interweave various components into an itinerary incorporating multiple destinations.

Dalgaard said Avanti’s style of packaging independent travel programs based on what the client chooses to do makes it easy to coordinate pre- and post-cruise arrangements to fit with the departure and arrival times of various cruise ships.

Avanti is targeting upscale cruisers who appreciate customized individual service.

“The cruise lines offer different categories [of accommodations], from the more economical inside cabins, all the way up to suites with butler service,” Dalgaard said. “Those are the people who want personalization and customization – and we’re able to fulfill that.”

The company’s breadth of product is also a key selling point.

“We offer a lot more flexibility in that one- or two-night pre- and post-period with a wide choice of accommodations and experiences,” he said. “The diversity of tours and depth of product Avanti has in these destinations – those are things the cruise lines don’t [have].”

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Avanti is also equipped to provide a range of components beyond hotels, such as restaurant reservations, theater tickets, tours and activities. Additionally, travel agents can book through Avanti and earn commission on those bookings.

Dalgaard noted that Avanti is receiving a significant amount of business from small groups of friends and families: “Where we do well is with small groups of three or four couples, or a family of 12 that needs customized shore excursions. They come into Livorno in Tuscany and they want a private tour rather than getting on a motorcoach with 40 or 50 people.”

For those who have already booked trips through Avanti, the company’s pre- and post-cruise packages are an easy sell.

“There is a continuity of concept and product,” Dalgaard said. “The customers know that if they had a good experience in Europe they will have a good one in Asia because our principle of contracting and creating a program is pretty much the same.”