Coral Springs, Fla., Feb. 7, 2025—Cruise Planners, the nation’s largest home-based travel franchise network along with its top-performing travel advisors were honored at a special appreciation event hosted by Global Marine Travel (GMT) and Singapore Airlines (SQ) on January 22, 2025, at the Tower Club in Fort Lauderdale. The evening celebrated the achievements of Cruise Planners advisors and recognized the franchise network’s continued excellence in the travel and cruise industries.
The event showcased the strong collaboration between Cruise Planners and GMT, highlighting the success of Cruise Planners advisors in leveraging the CruiseLink online booking platform to provide exceptional service to their clients. The evening began with cocktails, networking, and engaging presentations including remarks from Chris Podolsky, GMT’s General Manager North America and Head of Global Sales, who expressed appreciation for Cruise Planners’ contributions and their role in the partnership with Singapore Airlines.
Cruise Planners Ana Parodi and Adolfo Granadillo shared insights into the organization’s ongoing achievements, reinforcing the company’s commitment to innovation and travel excellence. Representatives from Singapore Airlines, Joy Casantosan and Kamran Ahmed, also presented updates on the airline’s latest offerings, including a captivating Airbus A380 video highlighting SQ’s luxury travel experience.
The highlight of the evening was the awards presentation, where Cruise Planners advisors were recognized for their outstanding performance:
Top Ticketing Agent Awards for 2024:
- 1st Place: Mark Francis
- 2nd Place: Margarita Alvarez
- 3rd Place: Anoop Mittra
Additionally, Cruise Planners was honored with the prestigious “Top Home-Based Travel Agent Franchise Network” award for 2024, underscoring the franchise’s industry leadership and its advisors’ dedication to excellence.
“This event was a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our Cruise Planners advisors, whose success continues to set us apart in the travel industry,” said Cruise Planners Vice President of Sales and Business Development Ana Parodi. “We are honored to receive these prestigious awards and deeply value our partnership with GMT and Singapore Airlines. We look forward to building on this success in the years to come.”
The celebration concluded with a raffle featuring exciting prizes, attendees also received parting gifts, including GMT/CruiseLink laptop cases and sustainable sprout pencils courtesy of Singapore Airlines.
Michelle Fee, founder and CEO of Cruise Planners, added, “Our advisors are the heart of Cruise Planners, and their dedication to providing exceptional travel experiences is what makes us a leader in the industry. Winning these awards is a testament to their hard work, and we are incredibly proud of their accomplishments. Partnerships like the one we have with GMT and Singapore Airlines help us continue to grow and thrive, ensuring our advisors have the best tools and support to succeed.”
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/.