CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Jun. 13, 2023– Cruise Planners’ Chief Strategy Officer Scott Koepf was honored with the “Excellence in Leadership Award” at the 2023 TravelAge West WAVE Awards held at the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Ray, CA. Franchise owners Tawnee Sons & Julie Irovando and Claire Maguire were also recognized in their respective categories of “Best Group Booking Effort” and “Best Client Targeted Marketing Idea”. Koepf, a CLIA Hall of Famer also known affectionately as “The Singing Salesman”, accepted his award and thanked Cruise Planners and the organizers for the accolade and recognition.
“I am thrilled and tickled green to be honored with this Excellence in Leadership Award and am in awe of the fellow honorees,” said Scott Koepf, chief strategy officer. “It’s a beautiful night to celebrate a robust return to travel and I’m grateful to be recognized for this award.”
TravelAge West’s Excellence in Leadership Award celebrates a long-standing icon of the travel industry, and recognizes their lifelong commitment to the betterment of the industry. Recipients of this award not only demonstrate outstanding leadership, insight and innovation, but also positively impact both their own organizations and the travel industry overall.
In addition, Cruise Planners franchisees Claire Maguire and Tawnee Sons & Julie Irovando were finalists in the following categories:
Best Group Booking Effort (Runner Up)
- Tawnee Sons & Julie Irovando
Best Client Targeted Marketing Idea (Runner Up)
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- Claire Maguire
(Cruise Planners franchise owners Julie Irovando, Claire Maguire and Tawnee Sons were finalists in their respective categories.)
“I am so happy to be here and represent Cruise Planners,” said Tawnee Sons, co-owner of a Cruise Planners franchise with Julie Irovando. “We had a really unique opportunity to do something that’s never been done before with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Celebrity Cruises and it was a huge success that can be a template for other advisors to follow.”
“This year I crossed off all seven continents and over 100 countries visited and I published a book on top of that,” said Claire Maguire. “To be recognized for this accolade is just fantastic and I’m so proud.”
“What a great year Cruise Planners has had and what a well-deserved award for Scott and our franchisees,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and founder. “I’m so impressed with Tawnee, Julie & Claire, who are standout franchise owners. Congratulations to the Team in Green for these outstanding recognitions.”
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.
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