Cruise Planners Reigns as a Top Travel Franchise for Women
Cruise Planners Reigns as a Top Travel Franchise for Women
Franchise Business Review’s recognition affirms Cruise Planners’ status as a top franchise for those with a passion for entrepreneurship
Coral Springs, Fla. – February 23, 2017 – Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, has been recognized as a Top Franchise for Women on a newly debuted report by Franchise Business Review. The franchise rankings are based solely on first-hand experiences around franchisee satisfaction and performance.
“Cruise Planners is more than just a franchise, it is a nation-wide family of home-based travel agents,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and co-owner of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative. “Our franchise owners have our support in marketing, technology, business development and training, which all contributed to Cruise Planners’ recognition as a top franchise for women in the travel industry.”
Cruise Planners franchise owner, Jennifer Klingsmith prepares to embrace CEO Michelle Fee at Cruise Planners’ 2016 Convention in Miami, Fla. Klingsmith was recognized for her work as a travel agent and over time has fostered more than 100 children in her home. She says the Cruise Planners work-from-home business model allows her the flexibility to care for her family and sell travel.
Cruise Planners offers a unique business model and is ideal for women, including those seeking home business opportunities, those looking to supplement their family income and those interested in entrepreneurship. One franchise owner, Jennifer Klingsmith, has benefited from the home-based business model as a foster mother to more than 100 children in addition to having 5 children of her own.
“It’s not easy having a large family plus working on top of that, but Cruise Planners makes it easy and you make it what you want it to be,” Klingsmith said. “We spend our days with lots of kids’ activities and we also have our travel business that we love!”
The Klingsmiths work-from-home travel business allows for flexibility. Running her home-based business out of their busy house in Indianapolis allows Jennifer to work when she can and take care of the children first.
“You have to be organized, use a calendar and be flexible, which Cruise Planners helps me do,” she said. “We love traveling with our special needs family!”
In addition to being one of the best franchises to own for women, Cruise Planners is ranked as a top women-owned business in South Florida. Co-owners Fee and Vicky Garcia, COO, are leaders in the travel industry and have been recognized for their accomplishments with awards such as EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year (Fee) and Top 25 Influential Business Women Award (Garcia) and serve on the boards of industry partners such as Royal Caribbean International, American Express Travel and Norwegian Cruise Line.
“As a mother and grandmother myself, I understand the importance and need for a career that has a flexible schedule,” Fee said. “Cruise Planners franchisees are able to have work-from-home careers in travel that fit their individual needs as business owners, women and travel enthusiasts.”
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 amazing 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 by Entrepreneur magazine for 14 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 the South Florida Business Journal, is on theInc. 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 Sentinelsince it started ranking companies.
Headquartered in Coral Springs, Fla. with more than 22 years of experience, Cruise Planners has achieved top producer status with every major cruise line. Accolades include numerous Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly, American Express Travel Representative Excellence Award for 13 consecutive years (2004-2016), American Express Agency of the Year (2010), Royal Caribbean International Chairman’s Award (2015), Royal Caribbean International President’s Award for Overall Achievement (2012 and 2014), Royal Caribbean International Home-Based Partner of the Year (2007-2013), Norwegian Cruise Line Elite Agency of the Year (2016), Norwegian Cruise Line Franchise Agency of the Year (2011-2015), Celebrity Cruises Home-Based Partner of the Year (2016), Celebrity Cruises Field Sales Account of the Year (2015), Celebrity Cruises Home-Based Account of the Year (2013-2014) and Celebrity Cruises Southeast Region Travel Agent Partner of the Year (2010), Travel Impressions Best of the Best Globe Award (2008-2016), Sandals Top Host – Worldwide, Globus Family of Brands Premier Agency Partner (2009-2016), Platinum Circle Member with Viking River Cruises (2009-2015), Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection Top Producer (2008-2014) and Regent Seven Seas Cruises Top Producer. Cruise Planners is one of the Top 50 franchises for Veterans according to GI magazine, the Top Franchise Brand for Veterans according to Franchise Business Review, has been named one of the Top 25 franchises for African-Americans by Black Enterprisemagazine and is a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. For more information, visit www.cruiseplanners.com.
Stay in Touch: Media can stay up-to-date with Cruise Planners by visiting ourmedia 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.