Travel Agent Support...
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably know by now that I believe that the truth always has a way of coming to light, and two, I never like any type of speculation. You also know that Ronda and I love to cruise, and we got started with YTB because we’ve been telling people for years that a cruise is the best vacation money could buy.
Back when Vicki Freed jumped ship over to Royal Caribbean after Gerry Cahill was named CEO, it was speculated that “They [Carnival] have a great reservations center and have amassed a huge database of past cruisers on Carnival--and their other brands! The time is right to regain some of the "lost" revenue and go net.”
Now that Carnivals Q2 Earning Report are out showing sales up 17 percent to $3.38 billion from $2.9 billion. But higher fuel prices cost the company 19 cents per share in the latest quarter profits are considered flat. Carnival paid $530 per metric ton to feed its fleet, up from $333 per metric ton last year.
Never the less, Travel Weekly just came out with a report this morning which attributes this gain to “Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Gerry Cahill and his team for deciding to sell more cruises through the travel agent channel. The result has been decreased general and administrative expenses and improved yields.”
So there you have it. Travel Agents are actually saving Carnival money and this notion of “lost” revenue is nothing more than a pipe dream. I’d like to further add that YTB is probably one of the biggest leaders in saving Carnival this money since there is ZERO money spent in Co-Op advertising and support. YTB takes nothing away from Carnival and only pays out what we on our own PRODUCE for them. And since YTB has Pinnacle Awards dating back the last three years, you can be assured that YTB does a significant amount of revenue with Carnival.
So while we have those who speculated that a “bean counter” would go direct we instead find that "Gerry and his team ... have really revaluated the [direct sales] program, and the fact is that they have significantly reduced the business from that program," Arison said. "The result is and will be, at least for the time being, less direct business."
"The travel agent distribution system has been an effective and efficient distribution system for this company for 35 years, and it got us to where we are," Arison said. "We clearly believe that we need to continue to support them. They have shown this year that they can give us the yield improvements we need to overcome these higher fuel costs."
The "other" forecast we were told by those that like to speculate about how much they know about the industry was that “she [Vicki Freed] needs to move to a company that does support travel agents--Royal Caribbean!”
We already know how Royal Caribbean handled this by giving it’s Agents “The Royal Shaft” and upping their commission threshold earlier in the month while at the same time the stock is hitting new 52 week lows and current Analysts are not as confident about Royal Caribbean’s earnings.
I don’t know about you, but I have to wonder with all the new Genesis Class ships Royal Caribbean has in the works, the largest ships in the world, how they’re going to fair without someone like YTB helping them out like we are with Carnival. Not to mention that Carnival is a much better “value” for most consumers, (at least the ones I sell too) and in these economic times why pay more for a cruise?
Looks to me like the new leadership at Carnival is doin' it right yet again, first with the minimum booking requirements for FAMS, and now this report sends a message to us (YTB) being a major player with Carnival, that they appreciate the business we send their way. If you listened to the training call a couple weeks ago with Carnival’s Regional Vice President Mike Julius, you heard that 40% of our cruise business is with Carnival alone.
Make no mistake, when Carnival makes a statement about “Travel Agents”, they include YTB in this mix.
PS - If you’d like to keep up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB feel free to sign up for my FREE Newsletter. Just like here, it’s loaded with food, water and sunshine to grow your YTB business.
Back when Vicki Freed jumped ship over to Royal Caribbean after Gerry Cahill was named CEO, it was speculated that “They [Carnival] have a great reservations center and have amassed a huge database of past cruisers on Carnival--and their other brands! The time is right to regain some of the "lost" revenue and go net.” Now that Carnivals Q2 Earning Report are out showing sales up 17 percent to $3.38 billion from $2.9 billion. But higher fuel prices cost the company 19 cents per share in the latest quarter profits are considered flat. Carnival paid $530 per metric ton to feed its fleet, up from $333 per metric ton last year.
Never the less, Travel Weekly just came out with a report this morning which attributes this gain to “Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Gerry Cahill and his team for deciding to sell more cruises through the travel agent channel. The result has been decreased general and administrative expenses and improved yields.”
So there you have it. Travel Agents are actually saving Carnival money and this notion of “lost” revenue is nothing more than a pipe dream. I’d like to further add that YTB is probably one of the biggest leaders in saving Carnival this money since there is ZERO money spent in Co-Op advertising and support. YTB takes nothing away from Carnival and only pays out what we on our own PRODUCE for them. And since YTB has Pinnacle Awards dating back the last three years, you can be assured that YTB does a significant amount of revenue with Carnival.
So while we have those who speculated that a “bean counter” would go direct we instead find that "Gerry and his team ... have really revaluated the [direct sales] program, and the fact is that they have significantly reduced the business from that program," Arison said. "The result is and will be, at least for the time being, less direct business."
"The travel agent distribution system has been an effective and efficient distribution system for this company for 35 years, and it got us to where we are," Arison said. "We clearly believe that we need to continue to support them. They have shown this year that they can give us the yield improvements we need to overcome these higher fuel costs."
The "other" forecast we were told by those that like to speculate about how much they know about the industry was that “she [Vicki Freed] needs to move to a company that does support travel agents--Royal Caribbean!”
We already know how Royal Caribbean handled this by giving it’s Agents “The Royal Shaft” and upping their commission threshold earlier in the month while at the same time the stock is hitting new 52 week lows and current Analysts are not as confident about Royal Caribbean’s earnings.
I don’t know about you, but I have to wonder with all the new Genesis Class ships Royal Caribbean has in the works, the largest ships in the world, how they’re going to fair without someone like YTB helping them out like we are with Carnival. Not to mention that Carnival is a much better “value” for most consumers, (at least the ones I sell too) and in these economic times why pay more for a cruise?
Looks to me like the new leadership at Carnival is doin' it right yet again, first with the minimum booking requirements for FAMS, and now this report sends a message to us (YTB) being a major player with Carnival, that they appreciate the business we send their way. If you listened to the training call a couple weeks ago with Carnival’s Regional Vice President Mike Julius, you heard that 40% of our cruise business is with Carnival alone.
Make no mistake, when Carnival makes a statement about “Travel Agents”, they include YTB in this mix.
PS - If you’d like to keep up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB feel free to sign up for my FREE Newsletter. Just like here, it’s loaded with food, water and sunshine to grow your YTB business.
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
Learn How To Become A Travel Agent
Book Your Travel & Vacations With
Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635
Labels: Carnival, Travel Agent Issues, Travel MLM, Vicki Freed, YTB Travel Network
