They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and after over a year of being apart, Cruise Planners and over 600 franchisee travel advisors reunited on the beautiful sandy shores of Cancun, Mexico for a 4-day convention that can only be described as “epic”.
CPCON 2021 is the first in-person event the company has held since the start of the pandemic and the El Dorado Royale resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico was the perfect place to do it. With a cheeky nod to the beloved classic “Back to the Future”, CP executives opened the convention on hoverboards and a DeLorean and unveiled 20 new technological advances aimed at helping facilitate agent bookings. The only way to describe the energy is “electric”.
“The Power of Cruise Planners is strong, we are ready to put the pandemic behind us and focus on the future of travel,” said Cruise Planners CEO and Founder Michelle Fee.
Cruise Planners has 12 in-person events planned for 2022 including Star University trainings, boot camp trainings, Elite Summits, CP Tech Days, Land & Luxury Form, and of course, the highly anticipated annual convention! In addition, CP will continue our “Where2Next” virtual event series, which garnered over 18,000 clients tuning in and nearly $20 million in sales generated. When we keep moving and learn to pivot, we win!
In addition to new technology initiatives, Cruise Planners is rolling out customizable white-label websites for travel advisors to augment the marketing plans for 2022. An automated email program will also analyze past customers’ travel behavior and send out emails with custom vacation suggestions without the advisor having to do a single thing. Helping streamline social media and marketing on behalf of our advisors is paramount to our company’s success and we are continuously looking for ways to support our franchisees.
Top Cruise Planners franchise owners also took the time to share their stories, from the hardships to revelations and successes of the past year. Panel discussions led by Ana Parodi, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, focused on the growing segment of land travel. Suppliers and vendors also attended the convention to showcase what they had in store for the coming year.
And no CP Convention is complete without a CP Cares initiative. This year, the CP Cares and the Cruise Planners network of advisors helped support a local charity in Mexico, the Karisma Foundation, by donating diapers, personal hygiene supplies, and children’s toys for pediatric patients along with a cash donation of $10,000.
Looking forward to the future, the CP executive team announced the next convention will take place in November 2022 and will involve an inaugural trade sailing of the new Norwegian Prima. So much to look forward to, as we head back to life and back to the future of travel.
