CLIA will help you highlight the myriad benefits of cruising with its new #ChooseCruise campaign, formerly known as Plan a Cruise Month. “The #ChooseCruise campaign is a way to highlight the many amazing reasons why travelers choose a cruise for vacation,” said Cindy D’Aoust, president and CEO of CLIA.

“From spa experiences on board to one-of-a-kind adventures on land, cruise travel offers the chance to check off bucket-list items in a fun, carefree way.” In addition to increased cruise line exposure, you can take advantage of an array of CLIA-member line discounts and promotions, as well as a toolkit, which are all available on the association’s website.

Building on Last Year’s Success

Agents who have capitalized on CLIA’s Plan a Cruise Month in previous years are looking forward to promoting the new #ChooseCruise campaign. Jessica Pentland of Clementine Travels, a Cruise Planners agency in Waikoloa, Hawaii, noted that last year’s campaign helped her gain exposure—as well as prospective clients.

“Plan a Cruise month was very successful for me,” she said. “Working with Cruise Planners, our October Facebook promotions brought interest from customers looking to book a cruise.”

The 2017 promotion provided Pentland with access to special deals, including free prepaid gratuities, kids sail free specials, onboard credits and more in partnership with Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Princess Cruises, Avalon Waterways and more.

“I’m looking forward to #ChooseCruise this year and hope it will be even more lucrative—for my clients, and me,” she said. “One couple just set sail on their second cruise after they booked with me last October. It is actually the third trip I have put together for them in the past year.”

Help From Hosts

You would be well served to take advantage of your host agency’s online marketing to enhance and deepen #ChooseCruise October promotions. “To help travel professionals in the Avoya Travel network capitalize on CLIA’s #ChooseCruise, Avoya aligns its own month-long marketing campaign and exclusive World’s Largest Cruise Sale to help generate consumer awareness of cruising,” said Ashley Hunter, Avoya Travel’s vice president of business development.

“Specifically for this campaign, Avoya secures exclusive cruise deals with preferred supplier partners so independent agencies can leverage special promotions to make more bookings with new customer Live Leads that are generated during this industry effort.”

Personalized Events

Individual agents are planning personalized events to promote cruises to their clients. “We’re hosting a dinner at a local restaurant to promote an Alaska cruise,” said David Slivken of Huckleberry Travel in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“We’re taking a group in July 2019, and the menu will feature things Alaska is known for, such as salmon and halibut.” Previous Alaska cruise clients will attend the event and discuss “what an incredible cruise experience they had,” he added.

Last year, Slivken hosted a similar event that was highly successful at the same restaurant for Danube River cruises. “We also hosted a Cruise Night at our local bar earlier this year for a group of friends who were interested in an Alaska cruise,” he said. “We showed videos about the experience and shared information and got several bookings from it.”

A Wave of Promotions

Denise Hangsleben of Travel Your Way in Orlando, Fla., has also hosted numerous Cruise Nights, and during events in October, she puts her CLIA toolkit to work. “I have been doing an event for CLIA’s National Cruise Month for about 10 years, all with success,” she said.

“I also promote Wave Season and do well with that, too. I utilize all that CLIA offers on its website, including flyers, and I promote certain sailings from different cruise lines using their flyers and marketing materials. It’s all free, or just the cost to print.”

Hangsleben hosts her events at restaurants, community centers and her home. She advertises around town with posters and flyers, and also sends email invites to clients. She noted that she has spent money advertising these events in the past, but found it did not make a difference in attendance.

“At my events, I usually have different tables featuring a certain destination or cruise line or the sale that I am promoting,” she said. “I used to do a nice brochure at each table about that sale, but found I like walking people through [the information] personally.”