Carnival Corp. sister brands - Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn and Cunard - are joining Carnival Cruise Line in maintaining travel agent commission rates earned in 2019 through 2022.
"In gratitude for the work travel advisors have done during the past year and as a testament to our partnership, we wanted to assure travel advisors that we are protecting their commission levels," said John Chernesky, senior vice president-North America sales and trade marketing for Princess.
The brands had previously announced that commission tiers would be maintained through 2021, so this announcement extends this protection for an additional year. Commissions are typically commensurate with sailed booking volumes, and since sales plummeted due to the pandemic and cruise shutdown, travel agents won't have to deal with dramatically lower commissions in 2021 and 2022.
"Holland America Line appreciates the support and business efforts of travel advisors during these challenging times," said Michelle Sutter, vice president-North America sales. "We are partners in this journey and must lean into our collective community as we move forward to a return to cruise. Our focus is to do everything we can to support the pursuit of cruise sales and reassure travel advisors that, once we are back in full swing, they will be in a strong position for success."
"We recognize the difficulties our industry continues to face but remain focused on a successful return to service together," said Steve Smotrys, vice president of global sales at Seabourn. "This extension is intended to help travel advisors focus on the long-term health of their business so we can all be successful once travel returns in full."
"Our travel partners are passionately committed to Cunard, and are critically key to our business," said Jamie Paiko, vice president of sales for Cunard-North America. "We are especially grateful for their steadfast dedication to Cunard in 2020 and will protect their commission levels through 2022."
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