15 Years at the Top: Cruise Planners Continues Legacy as the No.1 Travel Franchise
January 11th, 2018 – Many people wait until retirement to travel the world, but smart business people are investing in the No.1 travel franchise to own, Cruise Planners®, and traveling as part of their career. For 15 years, Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, has ranked as the best travel franchise to own on Entrepreneur’s Annual Franchise 500 list.
“Being the best in travel franchising for 15 consecutive years isn’t just an honor, it’s a legacy, especially as we approach our 25th year of connecting people with a passion for travel and their dream careers,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and founder of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative. “Cruise Planners consistently blurs the boundary between franchisor and family and the meaningful relationships we have between our Home Office Team, franchisees, their clients and our partners – combined, of course, with the industry’s most innovative technology and marketing – is the secret to how we continue to sizzle.”
2017 was marked by many advances for the company, including a suite of technology all designed to provide highly efficient and targeted insight for franchise owners to market to and work with their clients. With all technology and marketing developments, Cruise Planners innovates with the franchisee in mine, providing high-tech solutions to strengthen the connection between travel agents and their clients. The most recent innovations include:
- Alexa Skills—The first-ever Artificial Intelligence for a travel franchise company was introduced by Cruise Planners and includes two voice-activated skills using Artificial Intelligence. One skill acts as a virtual personal assistant for Cruise Planners agents and the other is a hands-free way for customers to connect with their travel agent as they plan and countdown to their vacations.
- CP Maxx™—Cruise Planners’ next-generation booking and customer relationship management system for faster, streamlined results that “Maxximizes” business, efficiencies and profits
- CP Insights™—Highly-efficient and targeted insight for franchise owners to market and work with their clients to provide relevant marketing and customized travel offers.
- CP View™—Tool that curates data across the Cruise Planners network to anticipate client buying habits and target the right clients, leading to increased sales, brand credibility and stronger relationships.
“Even as the travel industry has gone through changes over the past two decades and even as people questioned the relevancy of travel agents, Cruise Planners has consistently remained a top franchise opportunity,” Fee said. “Franchise owners can feel confident when choosing Cruise Planners as we aren’t just the best today, we were the best yesterday and we won’t stop innovating to ensure we continue to be the best for decades to come.”
About Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative
Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the travel industry. Cruise Planners operates a network of more than 1,800 franchise owners who independently book vacation and travel experiences for their clients. The Florida-based Home Office Team positions a nation-wide network of franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing, booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industry’s top executives. The company continues to be lauded and has been named the No.1 travel franchise byEntrepreneur magazine for 15 consecutive years. Cruise Planners was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology, has been consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by theSouth Florida Business Journal, is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, has been ranked as the #1 travel franchise by Franchise Business Review for 6 years in a row, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel since it started ranking companies.
Headquartered in Coral Springs, Fla. since 1994, Cruise Planners has achieved top producer status with every major cruise line and land vendors including Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Viking Cruises, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Travel Impressions and Sandals and Beaches Resorts. Accolades include numerous Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly and Travvy Awards from travAlliance media, American Express Travel Representative Excellence Award for 13 consecutive years (2004-2016). Cruise Planners is one of the Top 50 franchises for Veterans according to GI magazine, the Top Franchise Brand for Veterans according toFranchise Business Review, has been named one of the Top 25 franchises for African-Americans by Black Enterprise magazine and is a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. Visit our website,www.cruiseplanners.com, for the full list of awards and honors or for more information.
Stay in Touch: Media can stay up-to-date with Cruise Planners by visiting our media room, following us on Twitter @Cruisitude or on Facebook. For additional information or to make reservations, vacationers should locate a travel advisor near them. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit the Cruise Planners franchise website.