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Cruise Planners’ 2nd 2023 Elite Summit Sails on the Seabourn Encore

Cruise Planners CEO and Founder Michelle Fee, Chief Operations Officer Theresa Scalzitti and Chief Strategy Officer Scott Koepf hosted the eight-day event.

“You’re looking at the best of the best and when these movers and shakers all gather in one place, magic, memories and Cruisitude is abound,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and Founder of Cruise Planners. “To be able to celebrate and recognize these top producers for a successful 2022 is one of the most rewarding experiences for me personally.”

The Elite Summit featured supplier partner one-on-one meetings and exclusive Cruise Planners receptions, dinner events, a private excursion, entertainment and more. Industry partners in attendance included:

    • Seabourn – Steve Smotrys, Vice President, Global Sales
    • Seabourn- Wendy Whitener, Director, North American Sales
    • Allianz – Tim Behm, District Director Sales
    • AmaWaterways – Kristin Karst, Co-Owner & Executive Vice President
    • AmaWaterways– Rudi Schreiner, Co-Founder, Co-Owner & President
    • Azamara – Lori Nojaim, Key Account Manager
    • Carnival Cruise Line – Adolfo Perez, Senior Vice President Global Sales & Trade Marketing
    • Celebrity Cruises – Yolanda Sheppard, National Sales Manager
    • Holland America Line – Rob Coleman, Vice President – North America Sales
    • MSC Cruises – Koreen McNutt, Senior VP of Sales & Trade Engagement
    • Norwegian Cruise Line – Richard Sims, Key Account Sr. Manager
    • Princess Cruises – Mary Jencen, Manager, National Accounts
    • Royal Caribbean – Joanne Schimelman, Vice President, Sales & National Accounts
    • Viking Cruises – Sandra Marshall, Director, Field Sales

The Elite summit is essential for advisors to network and learn more from suppliers through one-on-one meetings and executive presentations. Excursions included options to see Ephesus, enjoy wine-tastings, island hopping in Greece and highlight tours of Tel Aviv to name a few. Guests also learned firsthand how premiere olive oil is made and partook in a group cooking lesson that showcased the traditional cuisine of Kos in Turkey.

Cruise Planners hosts two Elite Summits each year, and recently completed their previous Elite Summit on Avalon Waterways’ Envision in Europe in March.

Company Background

Cruise Planners was founded in 1994 and is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network. As a leader in the travel franchise industry, Cruise Planners positions a nation-wide network of 2,500 franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing programs, proprietary and cutting-edge booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and travel agent training with the industry’s top executives. The company continues to be an industry leader and was named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 18 consecutive years and awarded by Franchise Business Review as “Best-In-Category” for 3 years and ranked #18 on Travel Weekly’s 2022 Power List.

Franchise Business Review also ranked Cruise Planners #3 OVERALL on their list of Top 200 Franchises of 2022. 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 the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel.

Visit our website, www.cruiseplanners.com, for more information or to view the complete list of awards and honors. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit https://www.cruiseplannersfranchise.com/.