Learn Valuable Skills from your Peers at CruiseWorld

Written By: Theresa Bednarczyk, Event Director, Travel Weekly Events

 

 

With November fast approaching, everyone on the CruiseWorld speaker roster is busy preparing their presentations for over 800 attendees. Among these esteemed speakers are a number of successful travel advisors invited to share their most valuable advice with our eager-to-learn attendees. Content Director Mary Pat Sullivan has put together four different educational tracks, should travel advisors decide to venture down a specific path. All taught on Friday, these tracks include: Growth Market, Business Boost, Marketing & Sales, and Customer Acquisition. 

 

The Growth Market track focuses on expanding your sales repertoire. The first workshop will be taught by Rob Clabbers, President of Q Cruise + Travel. He will discuss how to decide whether delving into luxury travel is the right step for you, and if it is, the steps to take to do so. If you’re looking to break into romance travel, Donna Alkarmi’s workshop on destination weddings is the class for you. Donna, Owner of Lone Star Travel, will teach an expedited master class on everything you need to know to make your clients happy and keep them coming back. Last in the Growth Market’s lineup is a class on getting into incentive travel, taught by Anthony Cheng, COO of GoLatin Travel, and Jason Coleman, Business Development Manager with UNIGLOBE Travel Center. In this workshop, they’ll teach you the basic steps for identifying, managing, and keeping incentive travel groups—and how to give them unforgettable travel experiences. 

 

The Business Boost track may interest you if you’re looking to ramp up the operations part of your business in order to ultimately increase revenue. Patti Lehman, Owner of Travel67, leads off this track with a session on charging service fees and how to come to a practical financial solution for you and your clients.  The session lead by Geoff Millar, Owner of Ultimate All-Inclusive Travel Inc, covers hiring ICs. He will touch on legal and practical aspects of the process so you can leave feeling confident in your staffing endeavors. Also in this session track is a panel discussion on relating to your BDM, moderated by Lisa Fitzgerald, Owner of Fitzgerald Travel, and Lisa Fletcher, Director of Education and Training for Gifted Travel Network. Rounding out the Business Boost track is a session on working from home, taught by Travel Professional NEWS’ very own Joanie Ogg! Joanie will give a comprehensive overview of all of the options available to you when you decide to bring your business to your home. 

 

Another sure to be popular set of sessions is the Marketing & Sales track. Lorraine Simpson, Owner of Concierge Travel Group, heads off this block with a workshop on taking your business out of the basement. Lorraine started her business in the basement, but wants you to know it doesn’t have to stay there! You may also be interested in a workshop on social media and how you can use it to advance your business. It’s 2017 and social media is not something you can ignore anymore! Finally, Geoff Millar makes a second appearance to teach a Marketing 101 course, offering up all of the different methods to attract clients to your business, from someone who has tried them all. 

 

Also available to you is the Customer Acquisition track, which focuses entirely on bringing in more clients. Travel Professional NEWS is excited to have their own Andy Ogg teach a class on selling to the largest generation—millennials. He will dive into all the different ways to gain and keep millennial clients. To reach a different audience, you may want to attend the workshop by Sally Black, Owner of VacationKids. Sally will focus on servicing today’s family travelers and making sure you reap the benefits of this evolving traveler segment. 

 

Take advantage of all these incredible educational opportunities when you attend Travel Weekly’s CruiseWorld, held November 15-17, 2017 at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Register now at cruiseworldshow.com/register, and receive $25 off the current registration rate when you use code HBTA.