Headquarters Happenings: Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc.

Travel advisor success really comes down to “educating your customer that everything they receive from the vendor is available through you — and you provide a lot more,” says World Travel Holdings Co-Chairman and Co-CEO Brad Tolkin.

That’s a message he’s intent on getting out to consumers — and of course, as the nation’s top franchise seller of cruises, he knows the value of a good pied piper in promoting the cruise story. So, if you’ve been watching “Wheel of Fortune” on TV lately, you’ve likely seen the latest and most unusual pied piper for the travel-agency community, as Pat Sajak promotes Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. — and gives away free cruises to 100 lucky game-show winners.

In perfect timing, the seventh “Wheel of Fortune” giveaway ran on Friday, Oct. 26, serving as a fitting finale for the company’s annual DARE conference, held this year aboard Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas.

“2019 was the year we had the most exposure, with our first aggressive TV campaign,” including ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and the ‘Rachael Ray’ and ‘Steve Harvey’ shows, said SVP of Marketing Rosemarie Reed, spreading the word that cruises are a great vacation, and travel advisors are the best way to book them.

But that’s just part of a larger focus on marketing and reputation management at the three World Travel Holdings sister companies, and especially at the two franchise arms, Dream Vacations and CruiseOne. In addition to getting their names out to consumers, new software rolling out in November will help clients capture reviews and testimonials, and revolutionize the direct mail program to target the right person at the right time.

In addition, a new partnership with Travel Leaders Network will “revolutionize our program with Big Data” and send out 44% more direct mail pieces, Reed said.

Next-level geo-targeting will bring custom marketing that speaks directly to local customers in each region, applying a combination of demographic (like age and marital status), psychographics (what they like), behavioral (where they have gone in the past), and geographic location data to email templates and flyers to target customers, she said.

A new toolkit for veterans also will roll out, aimed at the 35% of the agent network that is former military. And a new suite of tools will help with social media, so agents can get online reviews and reply to them, and comment in all their social media in one place. A revised agent profile system will include a picture and a paragraph, making it easier for customers to find them through Google.

Events on the schedule
In this person-to-person business, there’s no better way to learn and to network than at a live event — and so, 2020 will see even more of those, said SVP and General Manager Drew Daly. Calling events “a cornerstone of our success,” he announced a new focus on regional trainings, in addition to a repeat of the successful Land Summits (started last year), and River Cruise Summits (rolled out in 2019). In addition to the River Cruise Summit on the AmaMagna in 2020, the Luxury Summit also will set sail this year on an Oceania cruise to Bermuda.

The company’s headquarters staff will be mingling more, as well, attending more events at the local level. “The more we can get our BDMs into your backyard, the better,” Daly said. Look for mix-ups with the corporate team delivering content and partnering with suppliers, with a focus on conversation rather than formal education.

The growing interest in marketing among the independent franchisees in the Dream vacations and CruiseOne networks also has convinced headquarters to launch a Marketing Summit designed to help advisors “use social media more effectively, stand out locally and tap into niches, and grow digitally,” Daly said. “We believe knowing how to stand out is the next evolution for the home-based business.”

Talking tech
On the back end, meanwhile, the technology team is focused on improving the customer experience for both agents and consumers, adding the “wow factors that save time.” The land booking tool has been upgraded so agents can send task reminders to the workflow queue and make payments to multiple vendors.

A partnership with Travefy now sends bookings to the Travel Planner itinerary builder, which adds imagery and personalization, so customers now can receive “an elaborate invoice with vouchers and the itinerary and pictures,” and can chat with their travel advisor in real time during their trip. In the group arena, Uplift in the first quarter of 2020 will allow customers to pay for their trip in installments, while the travel advisor receives commissions upfront.

Parent company World Travel Holdings “continues to invest in this division with more resources, more headcount, more technology, to deliver what the network wants and the staff we need to support them,” said COO Debbie Fiorino. “We work on things the network asks for and also what we think they really need, not what will help us sell franchises but what will help them sell.”

“We’re playing the long game,” said WTH Co-Chairman and Co-CEO Brad Tolkin. “This team is driving a lot of growth, and we continue to approve investments in this division.”

Cruise business
In addition to 20% growth in its UK division, up to almost $200 million, and “tremendous growth” in the three companies here, World Travel Holdings this year picked up the cruise business of RCI, one of two major international timeshare companies.

Overall, “I’ve never seen a year like this in the Caribbean,” he said, despite issues with Cuba and Hurricane Dorian.

Where the cruise lines used to talk about the European market, he noted, “now it’s North America filling those Europe itineraries, and they are setting our goals higher and higher.” Alaska was more of a challenge, as deployment outran the demand and so pricing was much more challenged.

Cruise prices seem to have been moderating over the past 30-45 days, Tolkin noted, and while first quarter pricing still looks strong, it also may well follow that trend. “That doesn’t necessarily mean it will be lower, but we were enjoying 4-5% growth and that could be more like 2%.”

Sell yourself
His tip for travel advisors? “If there’s one thing I want to stress, it’s that it’s your customer. You must reach out to the customer before the vendor does. You must understand that the vendor will bombard the customer with offers, probably at a level that’s impossible for you to match. But they don’t want to steal your customer; they just want the customer to come back. It’s your job to educate your customer that everything they receive from the vendor is available through you — and you provide a lot more. You have to hammer this point home time and time again, because they will be bombarded with offers.”

Sell yourself, he said: “If you are not your own No. 1 fan, then who will be? Pick up the phone and give your customer a call. Tell them you are the professional; you will put them on the right product, where the vendors will only sell their product. Say, ‘I’ll do everything for you. I won’t rush you. I will talk to you for as long as you want. I am going to call you on Tuesday at 5pm, is that a good time? You will love our interaction.’

 “Your customer is your customer. Please do not let them get away.”