In the News: Expedia CruiseShipCenters Recognized with Three Silver Magellan Awards

The article was published October 2018 in FranchiseHarbor and FranchiseFarm

Bellevue, Wash. – The top cruise travel agency franchise in North America, Expedia Cruise Ship Centers, was recently honored by Travel Weekly for its Magellan Awards, the premier awards program that recognizes the best in the travel industry.

This year, the cruise specialists received three Silver Magellan awards under the Travel Agent Organizations category – Travel Agent Recruitment Marketing in the Web Marketing category, Dream Voyages in the Direct Mail Marketing category, and Princess 3-Day Sale Campaign in the Campaign Marketing category.

This past year, Expedia CruiseShipCenters undertook a significant redesign of its website, bringing together marketing, development, and user experience specialists. The redesigned website features simplified navigation, streamlined search results and enhanced, meaningful content for improved lead generation.

Dream Voyages® is Expedia CruiseShipCenters’ custom-designed cruise and travel magazine that is sent to the most valued customers. Featuring an array of travel inspired editorial, imagery, and an eclectic mix of cruise travel product ranging from contemporary to luxury to river cruises and land excursions, Dream Voyages showcases the best ships and destinations that cruise vacations have to offer. Each magazine is imprinted with the contact information of the local franchises and can be further personalized with custom letters and inserts within the piece.

The company’s biggest promotion in history has been this past year’s Princess 3-Day Sale Campaign. Expedia CruiseShipCenters’ combination of tools including targeted flyer mailouts, email marketing invitations, and high-targeted Facebook advertisements successfully encouraged consumers to attend one of the Center events or contact a Vacation Consultant with an inquiry on the offer. The sale generated over $32 million in demand over three days, an amazing 140 percent increase over the prior year’s event.

“We are thrilled to have been recognized for these three prestigious industry awards,” said Matthew Eichhorst, president of Expedia CruiseShipCenters. “We have put a major emphasis on leveraging the power of technology to not only personalize our marketing materials at the hyper-local level, but also provide more relevant and customized information to our customers. Our programs have demonstrated huge success as our sales leads continue to increase.”

Theses honors add to the already stellar list of Expedia CruiseShipCenters’ award-winning marketing efforts which have helped its 5,500+ Vacation Consultants generate leads, increase sales, and build stronger relationships with their clients. This has, in turn, helped grow the profitability of the company’s 255 retail centers across North America.

At Expedia CruiseShipCenters, customers can choose from numerous vacation possibilities over land, sea and air, including customized trips, coach and rail tours and insurance – all at Expedia prices. Each franchise location offers personal vacation consultations in person, through email or over the phone, so customers have the freedom to book when, where, and how they choose. As part of the Expedia Group family of brands, customers get to enjoy the best of two worlds: competitive pricing on a wide range of travel products and expert, personalized advice from a real person connected to a locally owned business.

Expedia CruiseShipCenters offers cruise vacations and more through its 255 locations across North America. Customers can choose from numerous vacation possibilities over land, sea and air, including customized trips, coach and rail tours, and insurance – all at Expedia prices. Each franchise location offers personal vacation consultations in person, through email or over the phone, so customers have the freedom to book when, where, and how they choose. As part of the Expedia family of brands, customers get to enjoy the best of two worlds: competitive pricing on a wide range of travel products and expert, personalized advice from a real person connected to a locally owned business.

For more details about the Expedia CruiseShipCenters franchise opportunity fill out the form below or take a look at this six step overview of our retail travel agency franchise opportunity here.