Technology

When you become part of the Cruise Planners brand family, you’ll open your host travel agency, enjoying some distinct advantages, like our decades of industry experience, our expert marketing on your behalf, and technology that will keep you ahead of the competition. In fact, it’s our technology that really separates us as a turnkey business opportunity, allowing you to provide services to your clients that will keep them coming to you time and again for unique and memorable travel experiences.

When you become part of the Cruise Planners brand family, you’ll open your host travel agency, enjoying some distinct advantages, like our decades of industry experience, our expert marketing on your behalf, and technology that will keep you ahead of the competition. In fact, it’s our technology that really separates us as a turnkey business opportunity, allowing you to provide services to your clients that will keep them coming to you time and again for unique and memorable travel experiences.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Aug.08, 2022— In an era where technology is king, Cruise Planners makes it a point to create and develop technology fit for royalty (travel advisor royalty that is) and answers the needs of advisors as they navigate an unprecedented booking season with finesse. The company recently partnered with Travel Market Report to produce a free, in-depth eBook titled: “How Travel Technology is Transforming the Role of Travel Advisors: What Every Travel Advisor Needs to Know Now.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Jun. 23, 2023— Cruise Planners continues to pave the way in the field of technology and was recognized at the 5th annual Franchise Innovation Awards in Atlanta, GA during the Franchise Customer Experience Conference. The company took home the coveted “Most Innovative Use of Technology: Products” award for their patent pending LivePlanner™ tool that they unveiled in November 2022 at their annual convention. The goal of the awards is to identify and recognize the franchisors creating and implementing the most original and successful innovative strategies and tactics to build their brand. “It is an incredible honor to be recognized for the undisputed talent of our technology team,” said Michelle Fee, CEO & founder of Cruise Planners. “LivePlanner™ is a gamechanger and will help our advisors deliver the best experience they can for their clients and we’ve only seen the beginning.” An independent jury of judges evaluated the innovation and objective of each of the more than 150 entrants, and we’re proud to say that we were one of the 22 recognized. Franchise innovators, game-changers, and disruptors competed in four categories: Marketing & Branding, Products & Services, Operations, and Human Resources. Twenty-two winners were chosen from among the four categories. Each winner will be profiled in Franchise Update magazine. Cruise Planners’ LivePlanner™ is the first interactive vacation planning tool of its kind within the travel industry. Hosted within Cruise Planners’ proprietary business management software, CP Maxx, LivePlanner™ gives franchises the opportunity to complete a live walkthrough of vacation options with their clients. These options include cruise itineraries with all major cruise lines, all-inclusive resorts, custom vacation packages, and more. With Cruise Planners advanced technology, there will be even more travel options available to advisors as the program evolves. Cruise Planners agents have had thousands of sessions since launching in 2022 Average sale is 26% higher than a traditional sale without the use of LivePlanner™ The average close rate is above 45% “I’m immensely proud of our team for consistently creating tools and applications that make a tangible difference for our advisors,” said Brian Shultz, CIO. “We always want to be one step ahead of their needs and continuously innovate to have more great things coming down the pike for them, so stay tuned.”

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – March 17, 2023 – Innovation is the root of technology and how it makes our lives easier. When it comes to travel, there are countless new ways that companies are making the experiences more seamless, more enjoyable, and less stressful. “What propels Cruise Planners forward as a trailblazer in the travel industry is our award-winning technology,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and Founder of Cruise Planners. “We invest heavily into developing proprietary technology tools that are the driving force for our marketing programs and tools that help our advisors elevate their business.” With 2023 proclaimed as being the “Year of Travel,” here are some travel technology trends we are keeping our eyes on. Here are the top 4 tech trends for travel advisors to pay attention to in 2023: 🔮 Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Solutions: AI-powered technologies like chatbots and virtual assistants are becoming increasingly popular in the travel industry. These solutions are being used to help customers make travel decisions, book flights, and more. While AI will allow customers and advisors to work together to narrow down destination options, it will never replace the “human touch” of an advisor offering personal recommendations for tours, restaurants, hotels, and more. ⚡ LivePlanner: With the rise of online meeting/webinar services, consumers are more comfortable with online presentations from the comfort of their homes. LivePlanner is a new, patent-pending, interactive travel planning and presenting tool from Cruise Planners that allows travel advisors to share information about cruise lines, tour companies, all-inclusive resorts, and activities with images, videos, itineraries, and more to educate and make recommendations that will help plan the perfect vacation for their clients. 👩‍💻 Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR): AR and VR technologies are being used to create immersive experiences for travelers. It can be used to simulate a variety of travel experiences, from exploring a breathtaking tropical beach to taking a close-up look at a famous architectural landmark. VR technology is also used to create immersive experiences for travelers, from virtual tours of cities to interactive activities such as zip-lining through a forest or scuba diving in an exotic location. VR can also be used to create an immersive educational experience for travelers, allowing them to learn about the history, culture, and natural wonders of a destination. This technology can be used in a variety of ways to enhance the travel experience and provide travelers with an unforgettable journey. 📱 Mobile Applications for Travel Advisors: Mobile applications are becoming increasingly popular in the travel industry. From booking flights to checking in at airports, customers are using mobile applications to make their travel experience more efficient and convenient. Cruise Planners' award-winning Cruise Planners app allows clients to keep all their travel updates and reminders in one space. With CP Maxx mobile, clients can book activities, integrate with Yelp for recommendations while traveling, and keep important documents and schedules in one place. “We never rest on our laurels when it comes to technology,” said Brian Shultz, CIO of Cruise Planners. “We are constantly evolving and taking into consideration the needs of our advisors and how we can make them more efficient—it’s what drives our innovation.” With all these innovations geared toward helping travelers plan and book vacations with ease, Cruise Planners will continue to harness emerging technologies to help their network of expert advisors be successful.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. Dec. 27- With the myriad of offers and promotions that are available from travel suppliers, consortia partners, Cruise Planner’s Home Office team and more, Cruise Planners has created a new tool called the Amenity Tracker. This tool will help streamline and organize these perks by allowing agents to add any kind of amenity such as onboard credits, prepaid gratuities, beverage packages, specialty dining, Wi-Fi and more to a reservation in Cruise Planners’ proprietary booking engine CP Maxx. “This tool was an idea from one of our top producing advisors. It will save him and his team several hours and ensure that they are delivering all of the amenities that were promised to their clients at the time of booking,” said Brian Shultz, Cruise Planners’ chief information officer. The amenity tracking features enable agents to add the amenity type, assign dollar values and special notes to their clients. Advisors also have the ability to show these amenities on their customer’s invoice and in their myTrips accounts for their upcoming trip. “We rolled out several new tools our at our annual convention including our patent-pending trip planning tool LivePlanner and that was just the beginning of what we had in store,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and founder of Cruise Planners. “With LivePlanner and Amenity Tracker, we are again delivering tools that help our advisors stand out from the competition and work more efficiently to have time to make more sales.” Additionally, advisors can run reporting through the Amenity Tracker tool for any date range of departures. This removes the need to keep spreadsheets, review reservation comments and any other way that advisors have been keeping track of amenities on reservations. Advisors can also check off when an amenity has been confirmed and added to the reservation as well.