CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – April 21, 2022 – Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) announced the recipients of the 2023 Hall of Fame Cruise Industry Awards and Cruise Planners top agent Michael Consoli took home the prestigious “Travel Innovator or the Year Award”. Award winners were inducted at the CLIA Hall of Fame Cruise Industry Awards Gala Dinner during the CLIA Cruise360 conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Thursday, April 20, 2023.
“I am so incredibly humbled and honored to be recognized with this award,” said Michael Consoli, a franchise owner since 2002. “Our success is a team effort and I am very proud of what we have accomplished in bringing positive ideas and influence to the travel sphere.”
The awards identify individuals and organizations whose efforts and accomplishments represent a significant contribution to the cruise industry. This award specifically recognizes a CLIA Travel Agency Member that has demonstrated innovative and visionary leadership in their approach in promoting cruise travel, growing their cruise travel sales and supporting their affiliated travel advisors.
Consoli has achieved unbelievable sales through sharing his expertise through social media, hosting consumer events and providing his guests with exceptional service. In addition, he curates and personally escorts several unique, invitation-only journeys throughout the year traveling with his guests whom he calls his “Wanderlust Society.” Consoli posted an astounding $20 million dollars in sales in 2021 (despite the pandemic) and beat that by increasing his sales to $24 million in 2022. An amazing fest considering his team consists of just 4 people.
“Michael has broken record after record and shown us how mighty a small, but experienced and dedicated, team can achieve amazing sales,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and Founder of Cruise Planners. “CLIA couldn’t have picked a better recipient for Travel Innovator of the Year and we are very proud of Michael and his team.”
Consoli is the top producing agent at Cruise Planners and has been named their #1 producing luxury agent as well as being named Viking Cruises Global Top Producer for the past nine years.
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/.