Cruise Planners Honored for Outstanding Achievements in Travel Innovation, Technology, and Marketing with Four Magellan Awards

 

Coral Springs, Fla., Nov. 20, 2024— Cruise Planners has been honored with five Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, solidifying its position as an industry leader. The Magellan Awards celebrate outstanding achievements across the travel industry, and Cruise Planners’ innovative technology and marketing initiatives have once again set a benchmark for excellence. This recognition reflects Cruise Planners’ continued efforts to equip advisors with best-in-industry, time saving tools while also delivering impactful consumer-facing programs that inspire travelers.

 

This year, Cruise Planners received Magellan awards for its Digital Marketing Experiences and “Beyond the Caribbean” marketing consumer campaigns; new technology tools, Maxx Creator and Maxx Intelligence, and Cruise Planners’ top advisor, Michael Consoli also received a Gold Magellan for Travel Innovation. Gold Magellan for Travel Innovation.

 

“We are thrilled to bring home multiple Magellan awards again this year,” said Michelle Fee, founder and CEO of Cruise Planners. “These accolades reflect our team’s commitment to excellence in marketing, technology, and innovation. I couldn’t be prouder of the work we do to empower our advisors and provide industry leading efficiency tools to help their businesses thrive.”

 

The award-winning Marketing programs include:

 

Digital Marketing Experiences

Cruise Planners introduced a series of digital experiences that launch in tandem with its successful direct mail campaigns. Designed to amplify print and email campaigns, These media-rich experiences provide new ways for advisors to showcase vacation options and inspire travelers. Each experience, developed by the Cruise Planners in-house marketing team, is integrated seamlessly into advisor websites and social media, and features exclusive offers, video content and consumer trip giveaways to engage clients and attract new customers. Optimized for all devices, the initiative has driven increased web traffic, enhanced partnerships with travel brands, and enriched the consumer experience by offering engaging, self-paced exploration and exclusive offers.

 

“Beyond the Caribbean” Consumer Campaign

Cruise Planners rolled out its “Beyond the Caribbean” campaign to encourage travelers to explore destinations beyond familiar Caribbean getaways. Drawing on travel trends, data and customer segmentation tools, the campaign targeted consumers ready to expand their horizons to places like Alaska, Europe, and other exotic locations across Australia, Africa, Asia, and beyond. The multi-channel campaign included direct mailers, personalized emails with exclusive offers, engaging digital experiences, and targeted social media outreach designed to spark wanderlust and travel inquiries. The campaign resulted in a 20% increase in new travel purchases, including a 46% increase in Europe bookings, 20% increase in Alaska bookings and 220% increase in Polar Region travel.

 

The award-winning Technology tools include:

 

Maxx Creator

Maxx Creator is Cruise Planners’ innovation, revolutionizing email and newsletter composition with a seamless, user-friendly platform. Designed to simplify email creation while maintaining brand integrity, Maxx Creator empowers users to effortlessly craft compelling communications. The tool offers three preconfigured templates to jumpstart the process, along with the ability for users to design their own custom templates—complete with branding elements that can be saved for consistent messaging. This customization ensures alignment across franchises, reinforcing brand integrity and consistency. Maxx Creator’s powerful feature set includes exclusive Cruise Planners promotions, call-to-action buttons, scheduling tools, and Maxx Intelligence powered by ChatGPT. With these capabilities, Maxx Creator goes beyond being just an email tool—it’s a comprehensive solution that enhances digital communication and maximizes marketing efforts.

 

Maxx Intelligence

Maxx Intelligence, powered by ChatGPT, streamlines marketing by helping advisors generate travel itineraries, newsletters, and emails with ease. Simply input a prompt, and the tool delivers high-quality, customizable content, saving time while ensuring consistency. With features like personalized editing and tracking of recent prompts, Maxx Intelligence boosts productivity and empowers users to create engaging content that resonates with clients.

 

About Cruise Planners

 

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 hands-on 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 2 years.

 

Cruise Planners received a 99% franchise owner satisfaction report from Franchise Business Review for 2024. 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/.