CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Jul. 31, 2023—In an effort to continuously educate advisors in the fast-growing land sector, Cruise Planners recently hosted their popular Land Symposium to help advisors network, learn and fine-tune their professional development skills. The event, which began in 2014, has become one of the most anticipated industry-leading events, bringing together land suppliers and Cruise Planners travel advisors for training and resource-sharing opportunities. The event showcases Cruise Planners’ evolution from a cruise-dominant company to a leader in land sales as well.
The four-day event was hosted by Cruise Planners CEO Michelle Fee, COO Theresa Scalzitti, Chief Strategy Officer Scott Koepf, CIO Brian Shultz along with several Home Office Team members at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
“Land vacations have been a steadily increasing sector of what our advisors are selling so we are thrilled to be able to offer this annual event to help educate them to grow their confidence in so many different types of land sales – from all-inclusive resorts, escorted tours, FIT travel, group travel and more,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and founder of Cruise Planners. “We know this is a valuable opportunity that allows our advisors to sell the world, which leads to more bookings, higher sales and strong commissions.”
Many executives from Cruise Planners’ partner companies were on hand to meet with advisors during the symposium, including Globus, ALG, Collette, Delta Vacations, CIE, American Airlines Vacations and many, many more. They participated in various panel discussions, a Destination Showcase, one-on-one appointments and a trade show.
In addition, Scalzitti and Fee both moderated separate Agent Panels with top producing agents during the three-day event to share personal best practices and tips that helped them succeed. Cruise Planners Home Office Teams also took the opportunity to share more about new programs and tools including LivePlanner™, Trip Summary, All Inclusive Tool, NaviTripHotels and a panel titled “Ask CP Maxx” hosted by CIO Brian Shultz and VP of Technology Phill Guerra.
The event welcomed more than 175 Cruise Planners travel professionals and over 70 suppliers. Cruise Planners is also preparing for their Luxury Forum in August in Jamaica at Secrets Wild Orchid.
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 award-winning and 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 #20 on Travel Weekly’s 2023 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/.