Who is Expedia Cruises?
The travel industry has changed a lot since we started out in 1987. Although many mom-and-pop travel agencies went out of business as online travel agencies gained market share, Expedia Cruises has flourished through its integration with Expedia, its customer-centric omnichannel business model, and a proven franchise system.
With a committed focus on personalized customer service and a seamless online and offline experience through Expedia.com, Expedia.ca, and Expediacruises.com, as well as brick-and-mortar retail storefronts, Expedia Cruises’ sales have grown, on average, 20% a year for the past two decades.
So how exactly did we get here? Our humble roots began over 35 years ago as CruiseShipCenters. We thrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, and had grown to establish ourselves as the cruise vacation booking network of choice in North America. Concurrently, Expedia had become the world’s most powerful travel booking engine. CruiseShipCenters’ 20 years of consistent growth attracted Expedia Group® to invest in our franchise system in 2007.
Expedia knew that cruise vacations were more complex to book than other travel products being sold through their online subsidiaries like Expedia.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Hotels.com. They also knew that cruisers felt more comfortable booking with a trusted professional; a cruise specialist who could help guide the way. As a result, Expedia Group formed a partnership with CruiseShipCenters to tap into our network of brick-and-mortar locations that offered personal service to cruise customers. In 2008, CruiseShipCenters officially became part of the Expedia Group family; thereafter being known as Expedia CruiseShipCenters.
Fast forward to 2020, Expedia CruiseShipCenters embarked on its newest and most exciting brand voyage – rebranding to Expedia Cruises. With a tag line of “Air, Land, and Sea Vacations,” the shorter name is not only more impactful, but promises a much broader and enriching offer to our customers as well as additional lead generation channels for our franchisees. Deeper integration with the cutting-edge technology, powerful resources, and brand recognition of the Expedia name, has successfully positioned us to be the single solution to our travelers’ needs.
Expedia Cruises’ omnichannel business model ensures that its customers receive unrivaled travel expertise, exceptional value, and a seamless booking experience at every service touch-point, while providing franchisees with revenue streams and lead generation channels from the #1 travel platform in North America – Expedia.
An Award-Winning Franchise System
Expedia Cruises is a leading seller of cruises and vacations in North America. We’ve been recognized as a top seller with every major cruise line and have been the recipients of cruise line accolades year after year. We’ve also been consistently ranked as a “Top 50 Franchise” by Franchise Business Review and in “Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500”. In addition, we were inducted into the Canadian Franchise Association’s Hall of Fame for our continued excellence in franchising. With a dominating market share in Canada, our franchise opportunity is now expanding rapidly throughout the United States, with plans to reach 500 locations in the next several years.