PHOTO: Vicky Garcia, COO and co-owner of Cruise Planners. (Courtesy of Cruise Planners)
Cruise Planners - it isn't just for cruise sales. Cruise Planners said its agents are selling increased numbers of land vacations.
"Land vacations, including tours and all-inclusive resorts, now account for about 30 percent of Cruise Planners' business, up from roughly 5 percent a decade ago," said Vicky Garcia, chief operating officer and co-owner of Cruise Planners, an American Express representative.
Garcia noted that its land tour sales this year have already surpassed sales in 2013.
She stressed that the growth is not a shift away from cruises. "Our overall market share has really gotten larger, which includes land and cruise sales," she said. "Our cruise business continues to be growing at a healthy pace and remains our staple."
The company has always encouraged its agents to sell all travel segments, said Garcia. "We never wanted our agents to lose out on a sale from a loyal cruise customer who wanted to take an all-inclusive or other land-based vacation," she said. "However, in the last few years we have really beefed up our training, tools, partnerships, and home office support to help our agents capture a larger share of this market.
Cruise Planners has also branched out into another area: ticket sales. The company just launched a preferred partnership agreement with TicketMonster.
"It was received with rave reviews and positive feedback from our franchise owners," said Garcia. "It's too early to report its overall impact, but it's certainly a great value-add service offering that our travel advisors can offer their clients as they curate their perfect vacation."
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