Just Picture It Now

Monday, July 28, 2008

Backpedaling….

Last Tuesday I posted about Royal Caribbean’s troubles concerning their second quarter earnings. Some major changes are going on right now down in Miami in attempts to right a sinking ship. Of course we found out that the layoffs have begun, with 400 jobs being eliminated. Something else was posted in Travel Weekly last week, which I had scheduled to post, but due to other events, it’s been bumped and a little more information added for today.

If you recall, Royal Caribbean announced that they will be giving the “Royal Shaft” to some 472 Agencies by upping the commission threshold, in some cases doubling the threshold starting in 2009.

After the result of a 34% decline over 2007 numbers, it appears that Royal Caribbean has either done an about face, or Vicki Freed simply got tired of the cries and whining by those pesky Traditional Travel Agents who do tend to be rather boisterous. (As we’ve come to know all too well.)

I have to hand it to Vicki; she’s ALWAYS handled things very well and is the ultimate professional. I love her quote about this new gray area concerning exceptions and tweaks depending on how loud these agents were.

“All along, when agents were emailing me or calling me after our initial announcement, we were customizing our 2009 commission deals, and sometimes giving agents more time to reach the new levels, to ‘fit’ the circumstances”

To be fair, I’d be upset too if a cruise line increased my threshold some 36% to 76%. Royal Caribbean told these Agencies back in October that they were going to support THEM by terminating the growing competition that keeps getting bigger and bigger no mater what they do to try to curb it’s growth.

So, with Royal Caribbean in dire need of support right now, it’s not surprising that there’s been some “special arrangements” made concerning the commission tiers announced just a few months back.

At this point in time, I could really care less which side you want to pick here. You could side with this notion that Royal Caribbean is backpedaling due to financial reasons, or you could side with how the Agent community loves to cry so loudly that they just gave in. Either choice is fine; because the water just keeps getting churned up the further away we get from last October.

It’s clear that the Suppliers in this industry need help and support, not the bickering and whining that I see all over the internet. A few Agents clearly have way too much time on their hands, and if they don’t buckle down and get to work soon, some suppliers won’t make this crunch they are experiencing right now.

We’ve already seen what it’s done to Royal Caribbean, and news of Dynamic Leisure ceasing operations was also reported in Travel Weekly. While I have not seen anything about this in the trades as of yet, YTB’s very own Travel Compass, (you know the one, it’s that “Travel Newsletter” we get) reported the Rockwell Tours has also decided to close its doors, effective last Friday.

On a side note, and I’m guessing it’s alright to mention this now since Rockwell’s web site is already down and not accepting any further bookings, I noticed while doing my Newsletter this weekend and after attaching a link to the notice sent out from Rockwell something very strange at the bottom of the page.

“All Travel Agency commissions due will be paid by Rockwell Tours as per the normal schedule, that being upon completion of customer travel.”

So while we’ve been told by the Agent Community that YTB is holding our commissions, we find that at least one supplier pays just like YTB says they do, upon completion of the customer travel.

Yep…the truth always has a way of coming to light.

But I digress. Not everyone in the Agent community is obsessed with spinning things, and there ARE organizations who are stepping up to the plate and understand the real issues at hand. ARTA has decided to postpone its launch of their special ID cards in an effort to actually help suppliers in this crunch. It’s been reported that TRIP has advised its key marketing and sales personnel to focus on sales.

“The industry has been clear that a new identification program is sorely needed, but with the current oil crisis, its direct impact on routes and lift changes to destinations, and a significant downturn in business travel, suppliers from all sectors of the industry have indicated that they must let there issues overshadow others at this time.”

Good for them. I just wish everyone would focus on the task at hand.

After all, we ARE Professionals, and can sell this product better than anyone else. (Right?)

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: ARTA, Royal Caribbean, Travel Agent Commission, Travel Agent Issues, Travel MLM, Vicki Freed

Posted by TravelPro at 5:41 AM | Permalink

Friday, June 20, 2008

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.

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

Posted by TravelPro at 3:32 PM | Permalink

Monday, March 03, 2008

Looking For Keys In The Dark

I started a huge task weeks ago when I promised John Frenaye that I would get his questions answered. ALL his questions. Over the next couple weeks due to the length of this list, I have focused on each of these questions one at a time. My goal here is not only to answer the question, but also point out why this question is even asked in the first place.

While I hoped this would be an excellent opportunity and tool for anyone with additional comments about each of the specific questions to get better clarification, I seem to have been doing an outstanding job. Very little has come from the "other side" to contradict what I have to say. The comments section to discuss each of the questions in greater detail has been lacking at best. I think they've learned early on in this process that documentation beats conversation any day of the week.

Here are the questions we have gone over thus far.

Question #1 - Why a compensation plan takes 12 pages to define?

Question #2 - How YTB arrived at $226 Million in travel sold for 2006. (Still waiting.)

Question #3 - Why so little of the "training" at the annual convention was for travel. (OK, YTB only believes in training at other meetings. We can let this one go.)

Question #4 - How nearly 150,000 RTAs can pay in the course of 9 months $79 million dollars in website sales, fees, and training; and receive $9.3 million in return. (This is huge...anyone?)

Question #5 - And for those that say I don't get the math, I did not learn how nearly 150,000 people paid in $79 million dollars and only got $64 million in return. (Hello? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?)

Question #6 - Why it is a good thing to have your top executives selling off stock. (There were no takers on this one, so I am gonna assume that it probably is NOT a good thing as everyone initially thought.)

Question #7 - Why a 3:1 split was a good deal when two of the three shares are worthless. (Thanks to Doug for the most reasonable explanation of this. The split may have been a good deal but with the current value of the stock, it is anyone's guess.)

Question #8 - Why employees at YTB could not sell me a cruise on November 9th. (Still no answer on this one yet other than they don’t do anything till an RTA sells it. Well, the YTB site said to call them. Coach in an interview was touting how the res center is all staffed with professional agents. So, why is it that they cannot sell me a cruise, and how is it that they do not know that cruises do not depart from Phoenix?)

Question #9 - Why when presented with facts and figures, the argument mysteriously turns to "you don't understand". (This is another one that we will just have to say...because that is the way it is.)

Question #10 - How many RTAs drop out in a month...a year..... (This number I fear will NEVER be known.)

Question #11 - How long does an RTA continue to pay the fee before canceling? (Answered. They continue to pay as long as YTB continues to charge them and they jump through the hoops to get them to stop.)

Question #12 - How it is a misunderstanding with IATAN and Royal Caribbean. (Answered. It apparently was NOT a misunderstanding and RCCL called a spade a spade and it is what it is. YTB has moved on and said they would never do business with RCCL again.)

From what I’ve learned about the IATAN and Royal Caribbean situations, I believe YTB needs to take blame for IATAN, and Royal Caribbean needs to take blame for Royal Caribbean. John is correct however, that YTB has clearly moved on and while everyone thought this would devastate our business back in October and November, here we are months later, still selling travel, still being paid on travel, and still finding new people who want to become a part of this company. Unofficial word currently is that YTB’s first month in Canada brought in some 9000 new RTA’s into the fold.

While IATA and Royal Caribbean have certainly been uncomfortable for most people, it’s had very little effect on day to day operations and abilities YTB as a whole.

I find it amusing that everyone wants YTB RTA’s to answer these questions concerning IATA and Royal Caribbean. While all the attention is focused on YTB RTA’s, demanding why this and why that, all these demands are focused in the wrong area. Dr. Wayne Dyer has given the best analogy I’ve ever read in his book "The Power of Intention".

Dr. Dyer tells a story of how someone has lost their keys inside the house. As they are looking for their keys, the electricity goes out and it’s dark inside, making it useless to search for anything let alone keys. As they ponder what to do, they see a street light outside and the idea pops in their head that they can see with the light on. So they go outside to look for their keys.

After a few minutes a neighbor friend comes over to ask what they are doing, and the person looking explains “I’ve lost my keys.” Being the good neighbor, the neighbor offers to help and now they are both looking for keys under the street light.

A few minutes go by and the neighbor says, “I don’t see them anywhere here. Were did you loose them?”

The man responds “I lost them inside the house, but I can’t see a thing in there so I figured I’d look here under the light.”

The keys were lost at IATA and Royal Caribbean folks, and while everyone is looking at the spotlight that’s focused on YTB, the answers are inside with the keys at IATA and Royal Caribbean. All IATA provided was something about violating accreditation standards forbidding the "improper lending, subcontracting or hiring to a third party of an IATA numeric code by agencies." What that probably means based on what I gather is that YTB RTA’s were trying to book direct with a vendor as “ABC Travel” and when asked the IATA number, they were giving YTB’s IATA. I by the way have always told vendors and suppliers that I’m an outside agent with YTB Travel Network, not I’m the owner of BandBVacations.com.

Yet, those that oppose our company and business model demand answers and when given the answers provided by the company, it’s not good enough. (Any wonder why it’s not good enough and they want more?) At this point, anything further is mute. I’m still able to book travel directly with vendors, I’m still booking travel on my booking engine and I’m still being paid on this travel. Furthermore, YTB’s been able to attract the largest vendor in China with an exclusive partnership here in the US, and YTB has expanded into Canada, Bermuda, Bahamas, Guam, American Soma, and Virgin Islands since this accreditation was lost in the dark secrecy of IATA.

Maybe it’s not nearly as important as some would like you to believe. (Who knew?)

Royal Caribbean on the other hand is in my view turning out to be a “Royal Mistake” on their part. While everyone thought this was the beginning of the end back in October when it first happened, no other major suppliers have followed suit nor have any more than four Agencies been terminated. What followed after Lisa Bauer sent out just 4 letters, Carnival hooked up with YTB less than a month later for our One Day Sale, Lisa Bauer then moved into Hotel Operations in early December, and Vicki Freed then moved into her position just a month later. Even Joystar, the only other Agency named publically in the “Royal Mistake” believes it was nothing more than a “misunderstanding” and hopes to enter back into the fold with Royal Caribbean.

Traditionalists in the industry will never look at any of this as back peddling, and why should they? They (the Traditionalist’s) believe YTB is only about selling web sites and not selling travel. It’s comical how Traditionalists know this as “fact”. I’ve been round and round trying to help them come to grips that the $226 Million sold in Travel Weekly’s Power List as “travel sales”, but they insist they know better than I do. Suppliers on the other hand seem to have a quite different perspective based on what data they have available to them. Vicki, being politically correct as always, finds their view “interesting”. She pointed out that was published that YTB booked $13 Million with Royal Caribbean during the first 9 months of 2007, about 18,000 7 week equivalent weeks for Carnival. Last I heard YTB has 40,000 7 week equivalents with Carnival alone so far for 2008.

Wonder what these Traditionalists who have stuck their head in the sand will do when YTB comes in this year with somewhere around $550 Million in “verified travel sales”? Based on the 2007 Travel Weekly report, that would put YTB in the Top 20, and when YTB reaches its goal of $1 Billion in Travel Sales for 2008 (with or without Royal Caribbean or IATA) puts YTB in the Top 12 Agencies.

It may take a little time, much like the profits that showed up this year. I just keep the main thing, the main thing, and that’s building my YTB business. Everything else will take care of itself.

Subscribe to Just Picture It Now for additional announcements and details!

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: "Card Mill", Dr. Wayne Dyer, Lisa Bauer, Modern Agent, Royal Caribbean, Travel MLM, Travel Trade, Travel Weekly, Vicki Freed

Posted by TravelPro at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Letting It Go...

I started a huge task last week when I promised John Frenaye that I would get his questions answered. ALL his questions. Over the next couple weeks due to the length of this list, I’m going to focus on each of these questions one at a time. My goal here is not only to answer the question, but also point out why this question is even asked in the first place.

This will also be an excellent opportunity and tool for anyone with additional comments about each of the specific questions to get better clarification. Use the comments section to discuss each of the questions in greater detail. I remind you that I learned how to accomplish such a huge task from Brian Tracy and his courses, which teach that you focus on the each task one at a time, focus on the solution, break it down into manageable chunks, and before you know it, you’ve achieved your goal. (By the way...I just got an e-mail from Brian regarding a New Years Coupon to Save 20% on all his courses!)

It should be a really fun debate, and for those of you in YTB, take this information and documentation and use it. Here are the questions we have gone over thus far.

Question #1 - Why a compensation plan takes 12 pages to define?

Question #2 - How YTB arrived at $226 Million in travel sold for 2006. (Still waiting.)

Question #3 - Why so little of the "training" at the annual convention was for travel. (OK, YTB only believes in training at other meetings. We can let this one go.)

While we are led to believe that there was “little” training at the annual convention, I pulled up the schedule to see if I or anyone else could spend a day or two just focused on travel. Here is a list of “Travel Related” topics from our National Convention.

Flight 150
Avoid Turbulence in Booking Cruises

Flight 675-1
Get Familiar with Your Booking Engine and Travel Portal - Know Your Product

Flight 927-1
How to Sell Escorted Tours: Emphasis on Australia/New Zealand

Flight 7889-1
What is Your Niche?

Flight 826-1
High Altitude Earnings through Group Travel

Flight 1179-2
Mastering your Booking Engine

Flight 978-1
International Consolidator Airfares–Passport to Profits

Flight 388-1
Easy $ailing: Charting Successful Group Cruises

Flight 815-1
Groups: They Do a Business Good!

Flight 8408
What’s New with Apple Vacations and our #1 Top Selling Destination Cancun

Any RTA who wanted “Travel Training” during YTBU, (YTB University) not only could have gotten it, but spent the entire time focused on nothing but “Travel Training”.

In addition, major announcements were made concerning our Travel Business during the General Sessions of the convention, including free Health and Life Insurance for those RTA’s who produce $25,000 in Travel Commissions, (just like our Directors who build teams), a travel sales contest for the Coach’s Birthday Bash, new RTA Credential qualifications and minimum booking requirements, a Two Fly Free Program for our clients, introduction of Fun & Travel Magazine with a focus on Travel, not recruiting, a new booking engine upgrade with a totally new look, and a very generous offer to all those Traditionalists out there to join YTB, one of the largest Travel companies in the country right now.

(Word has it that we’ve doubled our Travel Sales from $226 Million to $550 Million in just one year, but we’ll be rehashing that in June, don’t worry.)

Oh…and that “other training” nobody wants you to know about…
Last year YTB held two travel trade shows called Funshine. One was held in April in San Diego, and the other was held in October in Orlando. Funshine is a “Travel Show” where our suppliers conduct seminars, and it’s also an opportunity to gain first hand knowledge of vendor specific products.

Check out what an Industry Insider said about YTB’s Travel Training.

Freed said she attended YTB's conference in early October and saw more than 1,000 attendees in each educational forum. "The desire to learn about the travel business was evident even after I spoke to the general session (over 6,000 attendees) when the CLIA instructor followed me on stage and taught niche marketing," Freed wrote. "No one left the room, and in fact, the overflow ballroom with big screens set up was packed as well. These folks paid for the conference, and there were no free meals or give-aways."

Isn’t that the same Vicki Freed who just came on board with Royal Caribbean?

In addition, YTB holds two travel training calls each week, one is “Getting Started” on Monday nights, and the other is vendor specific call held on Thursday nights. In addition, YTB launched E-Campus, which was designed by Dr. Marc Mancini and built by TheAcademy.com. (Another course recently added YTB, check it out in your Travel Portal!) CRTA Training is held each weekend across the country with all the emphasis during the morning season focused on Travel.

Those who don’t recognize how much Travel Training YTB actually does doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Most of our Traditionalists are too wrapped up in all the recruiting we do, and that’s not too shabby either, growing by about 40,000 since the National Convention. Based on the massive numbers and growth YTB is experiencing, even with all the adversity they attempt to throw our way, YTB keeps getting bigger, better, and more powerful at every turn.

While “letting it go” is a good start, there is still plenty to let go of before some will realize what YTB is truly all about.

Subscribe to Just Picture It Now for additional announcements and details!

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: "Card Mill", Funshine, National Convention, Travel Agent Training, Travel MLM, Vicki Freed

Posted by TravelPro at 5:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Let's Begin, at the Beginning

Have you ever looked at a task and at the outset it looks really daunting? Probably the best example I can give anyone at this time is our Directors program. When someone new comes into YTB and they don’t have even their first person in the business yet, anyone would wonder…”How the heck am I going to get 500 RTA’s?” I recently took an Ultimate Goals Program written by Brain Tracy, (I’d highly recommend any of Brian Tracy's courses by the way) and he’s about the umpteenth person who has told me to “break it down into manageable chunks”.

Last week I promised John Frenaye that I would get his questions answered. ALL his questions. If you take a look at this list you might wonder as I do, how in the world can someone come up with so many questions? That’s part of John’s design, it’s meant to overwhelm you in the hopes that so many questions will cause you to just give up, allowing him to win the argument, and also allowing his positioning and views to remain out there on the internet unanswered. I’ve seen this for years, but John happens to be very unique. He’s very intelligent, and he’s done a ton of research on the YTB business model and Multi-Level Marketing in general. Unfortunately, most of what he’s researching is how to position YTB and Multi-Level Marketing in a negative light.

Garbage in – Garbage out.

Over the next couple of days, okay maybe weeks due to the length of this list, I’m going to focus on each of these questions one at a time. My goal here is not only to answer the question, but also point out why this question is even asked in the first place. How the wording is uniquely used, or words are changed to define something entirely different from its original intent and context.

This will also be an excellent opportunity and tool for anyone with additional comments about each of the specific questions to get better clarification. Use the comments section to discuss each of the questions in greater detail. Again, back to Brian Tracy and his courses, which teach that you focus on the each task one at a time, focus on the solution, break it down into manageable chunks, and before you know it, you’ve achieved your goal.

It should be a really fun debate, and for those of you in YTB, take this information and documentation and use it.

Ready? Let’s begin.

Question #1 - Why a compensation plan takes 12 pages to define. (Giving up on this one. It just does.)

I wonder how many pages Vicki Freed is reading right now for her new position with Royal Caribbean concerning her compensation. Seriously! Do you think it might be more than 12 pages?

There appears to be a real fascination with the YTB compensation plan, (which everyone will clearly see in later issues) and while it appears that each of these pages are loaded with dollar signs, and ways to make money, it begs the question of what defines 12 pages.

The first page being a cover, and the last page being blank, we are already down to 10 pages of “defining our compensation”. Of the remaining 10 pages that should therefore cover “compensation” actually talk about the YTB Team Structure, that being definitions of First Team, Power Team, Dream Team and Directors Program. In addition, while I would certainly consider Group Health and Life Insurance compensation, I do not believe this type of benefit would even be recognized by most who oppose our model. (MLM’s simply don’t offer that type of “compensation” or benefit.) The last three pages, (excluding the blank page of course) defines our
UCC-1 Financing statement, filed with both the State of Illinois and New Jersey which documents our Bill of Rights, established to protect those of us who have partnered with YourTravelBiz.com.

If you are counting with me that leaves the middle of page 4 which starts with “Direct Sales Commission”, page 5 which covers Power Team and Dream Team Sales, and we finish with page 6 which cover all the Leadership Bonuses which cover $1000 and $10,000 bonuses.

I would also include our Directors compensation on page 7, but I’m sure no one would be interested in learning how to make and extra $2000 to $8000 in extra guaranteed income per month. In case anyone wants to consider an extra $8000 a month in extra income, we can therefore complete our “compensation package” down from 12 pages to just 3 ½ pages.

While John has “given up”, I would advise that you do not. The YTB Team Structure & Copyrighted Compensation Plan is an essential part in helping anyone in making an informed, educated decision about the YTB pay plan and business model. For most of you who are with larger corporations such as BellSouth, IBM, Sprint, or Microsoft, 12 pages is a simple read compared to the hundreds of pages of policies and procedures with these companies. (Right Vicki?)

As to why they do and we don’t? It just does. ;-P

Subscribe to Just Picture It Now for additional announcements and details!

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: Anti-MLM, Brian Tracy, John Frenaye, Travel MLM, Vicki Freed, YTB

Posted by TravelPro at 5:51 AM | Permalink | Comments

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Vicki Freed "The Magnificent"

I’ve been contemplating and also doing some reading over the weekend concerning Vicki Freed’s stunning move from Carnival over to Royal Caribbean. There really hasn’t been all that much that I can find concerning the subject at this time, which isn’t surprising since this news came late Friday afternoon and most of the world is spending time doing something else on the weekend. I’ve always noticed a big drop in readership during the weekend, Saturday’s more so than Sunday, so it’s not surprising that there isn’t much out there right now. Besides, it’s Championship Sunday!

Dahhh!

To say that this move from #1 Carnival to #2 Royal Caribbean by Vicki isn’t news however couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s a real shocker to most, (including me) and the few comments and posts I’ve seen have people stunned. Everyone who’s been in this industry for some time, or is passionate about the cruising industry certainly knew that Royal Caribbean was looking for a new Sr. VP of Sales after moving Lisa Bauer over to Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations. Vicki Freed however, a fixture with Carnival for 29 years, was probably the LAST person anyone would have predicted to fill this void. It came as a big surprise to just about everyone, most of all Carnival.

I saw one quote that expressed very well what Carnival has done in the cruise industry. “Carnival basically took the formality out of cruising, and made it available to the masses. They revolutionized an industry, all from very humble beginnings as the underdog. It was history in the making and Freed was a part of it.” and someone else continued with “She is as much a part of Carnival as Ted Arison, Bob Dickinson, Micky Arison, Maurice Zarmati, Roger Blum, Roberta Jacoby, Cherie Weinstein, and Meshulam Zonis. These individuals were truly the "rat pack" of Carnival Cruise Lines.”

This is BIG – BIG news in the industry.

Some Industry Insiders have already posted predictions, speculating, or forecasting what all this could mean for the Cruise Industry as a whole. I’ve posted about my belief in “predictions” or speculation recently and based on this move of Vicki’s being such a stunning move only adds validity to my belief that no one can accurately predict the future. Especially in this industry! What you need to understand about people who make predictions like this is that this speculation is based on what they “want” to happen, not necessarily “believe” will happen. It’s anyone’s guess, both positive or negative at this stage of the game, (Vicki doesn’t move into her new digs officially until Tuesday) and to make any assumption about what Vicki, Carnival, or Royal Caribbean will do without being Vicki, Carnival, or Royal Caribbean is foolish.

With the changing of the guard at Carnival with CEO Bob Dickinson now retired after 35 years, and new CEO, Gerry Cahill now “in” the time was right for Vicki to make this move. It’s no secret that Vicki is both widely admired and loved by just about everyone in the industry. Like Lisa Bauer being “The Face” of Royal Caribbean back in October, Vicki Freed was “The Face” of Carnival for 29 years. While researching for this post, I found that many thought Vicki was upset about NOT being named CEO and President. After all she’s the one who’s been driving sales with Carnival for years. Some “speculated” that she would be the next obvious choice to move into Dickinson’s position once he retired. But instead, Vicki was overlooked and the responsibility fell to CFO, Gerry Cahill.

I laughed at this comment: “Hell hath no furry, like a woman scorned. Can't necessarily say I blame her after putting in 29 years. I'll bet some of the higher ups at Carnival are kicking their collective butts right now.”

Cahill being a finance guy, (bean counter?) admitted to knowing very little about the Travel MLM and “card mill” issues that have been debated so heavily in the industry in recent months. When I was first introduced to Cahill as CEO and President back in November he was asked point blank about his understanding of “card mills” and if he would follow Royal Caribbean’s lead in terminating Carnivals relationship with, and I quote “questionable travel selling organizations”. Cahill answered "I have no understanding of what the distinction Royal Caribbean is making." and he did emphasize he wanted to “learn more about it”.

Cahill DID learn more; and Carnival is NOT following Royal Caribbean’s lead in terminating Travel MLM’s. Cahill may have looked with Vicki concerning “the numbers” when the question came up at Carnival Corporate. Remember Vicki is quoted in Modern Agent “Your statement of YTB not being in the business of selling travel is interesting because our revenue production suggests differently. It has been published that they sold over $13 million of business with another cruise line and I can assure you that we also have millions of dollars in cruise revenue generated as well." After Cahill was also assured just how much business a company like YTB produces for their brand a CFO mind concluded that terminating a relationship like YTB, financially did not make sense. However to keep everyone happy a mandate of new minimum booking requirements were handed out two months later on January 9th.

Problem solved.

So with Royal Caribbean out at sea all by itself after 3 months, and the #1 Cruise Line, The Most Popular Cruise Line in the World, telling Royal Caribbean in so many words that they may not like the model, but they certainly like the money it generates, what can you do?

I could make a case that Royal Caribbean fell flat on its face by terminating its relationship with YTB and Joystar. Sure they expected the industry to follow, but very few if any of the big names actually did. Now with Carnival upstaging Royal Caribbean with a way to curb the FAM’s AND keep the sales, Royal Caribbean not only needs to back peddle, but is in desperate need of smoothing things over with the largest Travel MLM in the industry. Who better to bring on board someone who not only knows how much YTB actually does in sales, but has publicly expressed support for the YTB business model as the perfect fit to fix their Royal Blunder.

Oh I could certainly make a case that Royal Caribbean is in desperate need of a "Royal Makeover".

But I won’t. (;wink ;wink)

Besides, I have more important things to do at the moment…

Like Championship Football!

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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, FAM's, Royal Caribbean, Travel MLM, Vicki Freed

Posted by TravelPro at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments

Friday, January 18, 2008

Vicki Freed Jumps Ship to Royal Caribbean

Who would have predicted this? I got to tell you, right now the travel industry has more twist and turns and is moving faster then the Kingda Ka rollercoaster these days. It’s making MY head spin.

If you recall, Lisa Bauer, then Sr. Vice President of Sales with Royal Caribbean sent out 4 letters to Travel Agencies terminating their agreement in October. Lisa then moved to Vice President of Hotel Operations just a few short weeks later in early December.

Today we find that none other than Carnivals Vick Freed has filled the void left by Lisa to take over Sr. Vice President of Sales for Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean International today named cruise industry veteran Vicki Freed as the company's senior vice president, sales.

Freed joins the company after 29 years with Carnival Cruise Lines, where she spent the last 15 years as senior vice president of sales and marketing. Prior to that, Freed served in a variety of sales management positions within the cruise line.

From 1998 to 2000, Freed also served as the first, and only, female chairman of the Cruise Line International Association, the marketing and travel agent training arm of the North American cruise industry.

"Vicki has an outstanding and proven background within our industry and we are very pleased to have her join our team," said Adam Goldstein, president and chief executive officer, Royal Caribbean International. "Vicki's passionate support of travel agents has been well chronicled and recognized. She will be a great asset to our brand as we continue to grow."

In her new role, Freed will take charge of the company's 345-person sales force, the largest sales team in the cruise industry. She will also manage the company's Trade Support and Services division, which includes Reservations, Group Sales, Customer Service, and Loyalty Programs. Freed will report to Goldstein.

Freed earned a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Colorado, and holds a Certified Travel Counselor designation. She also serves as a trustee of the United Way of Miami-Dade County.

Vicki has always been a great supporter and team member to YTB and I wish her well. She understands our model and recognizes how our large numbers of small producers can create impressive sales for a cruise line. She was present during the Funshine show in Orlando awarding YTB it’s third Pinnacle Award, and attended one of the largest, (if not THE largest) crowd for a single CLIA training on record. It will be interesting to see if we have lost a true ally in this industry, or if this ally can knock some sense into a very stubborn cruise line.

I don’t know Vicki personally, but what I do know of her, is she is a very warm and decent person. She could also hold her own with the Travel Agents who ridiculed her when she publicly supported YTB and the MLM model.

Makes me wonder if she could do the same with RCCL?

Hmmmm.

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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, Royal Caribbean, Vicki Freed, YTB Travel Network

Posted by TravelPro at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments

Thursday, January 10, 2008

YTB offers FREE Cruise with Carnival...

I thought that might get your attention… ;-p

I’ve got a couple of questions.

I’m wondering if Carnival has a chance in the next couple days to get the word out about their new sales requirements for FAM’s to those of us in YTB? I’m also wondering what most of YTB will think of Carnival for making this move after our Top Producers enjoy a cruise with them for free. I couldn’t tell you if this has ever been done before, and I imagine that it probably has, but I’m wondering how often Carnival or any other cruise line reserves and entire ship for one company?

Wow…I have a lot of questions today, don’t I?

I spend a lot of time reading comments and posts on forums, message boards, and blogs and I find some of the positioning about what Carnival announced on Wednesday about their new requirements concerning FAM trips. For some reason, everyone who opposes the YTB business model thinks (in general terms) that Carnival is “putting the screws” to YTB for making this move, “turning up the heat” if you will.

Chaaa…right!

What Carnival is doing is trying to let the rest of the travel industry know they hear and understand the issues that Traditional Travel Agents have. For good reason too, Vicki Freed was hammered so bad on her Blog that she had to remove all comments from irate Travel Agents who condemned Carnival for supporting YTB and other Travel MLM’s. The problem is that Carnival knows exactly who and what YTB is. Not only has Carnival awarded their Pinnacle Award to YTB for the last three years in a row, but Carnival was also the company who came to YTB’s aid back in November to help prove to the rest of the industry that YTB sells travel.

Guys, they threw Travel Agents a bone, and they can chew on it all they want. Like I said in my last post, Carnival figured out a way to have their cake and eat it too. The issues are not either/or, and there is a way to have both.

I have to wonder when some will wake up and smell the coffee. They need to open their eyes and look at what just transpired. Can they not only see support Carnival gives YTB or the supporting documentation Travel Weekly and Modern Agent have provided with quotes about MLM’s producing impressive numbers for suppliers? Even long time opposition to YTB Travel Trade now understands the impact of YTB and our growing sales numbers.

Some also believe this is the beginning of the end of the impressive recruiting numbers that YTB has been producing, more than doubling our sales force from 60K to over 135K in 2007 alone. Little do they know, (or simply ignore) that YTB has been laying the ground work for what’s currently going on for months.

Back in August, at the National Convention, the Coach’s Birthday Bash was announced. While the contest does reward our top Power Team Builders, that’s only HALF of the ship. The other half of the ship this weekend are top Travel Sellers with our company. Winners of Travel sales were based on the number of bookings (double occupancy) for all cruises, tours, and vacation packages booked. Air, car, and hotel were ONLY included in the total if all three are booked together. No other combinations of air, car, and hotel applied.

Other Travel related programs introduced back in August included:

- In addition to our Directors who build teams, now any RTA who earns $25,000 in travel commissions in a 12-month period will qualify for fully paid health insurance with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Commission level must be maintained to continue to receive this benefit.

- Effective January 1, 2008, new requirements were placed in order to qualify for a YTB Referring Travel Agent credential card. RTAs joining as of January 1, 2008 must sell a minimum of $1,500 in travel before applying for the RTA credential card. ($2,500 for CLIA requirements)

- Fun & Travel Magazine was introduced as a twice annual publication all about TRAVEL! (And ONLY Travel) This magazine discusses travel trends, features preferred vendors, and reviews the hottest travel destinations.

- RTAs were also introduced a new opportunity to sell a one-year subscription in a Two Fly Free program for a $300 fee. This will allow for free airfare from select cities when purchased in conjunction with a 7-10 night hotel stay (international destinations are also available).

Many also don’t realize that YTB already had it’s own requirements in place for FAM’s. Any RTA who wanted a FAM trip with Carnival, or any other cruise line, needed to abide and follow the following company requirements.

“Book only two cruises (two cabins) at regular fare for your customers and you’ll be qualified to take another discounted cruise.

In order to book a discount cruise on Princess Cruise Lines you must have sold a minimum of FOUR (4) regular rate cabins on that cruise line. Holland America requires a minimum of FIVE (5) previous bookings of regular rate cabins to qualify.All Reduced Rate cruise requests must be made through the corporate office of YTB Travel Network.

Please submit your request to reducedrates@ytb.com for verification. Any reduced rate requests made directly to the vendor risk cancellation (penalties may apply).”

All announced to YTB Reps and RTA’s long before any of the current issues surrounding Travel MLM’s came to light from the other side. And we still grew like gangbusters in spite of these new requirements and policies that the other side thinks “turns up the heat”.

I have a good friend who’s outside of the industry, (cruisinman) who’s been a real advocate of Travel MLM’s for years. He understands the model very well, as he was with other Travel MLM’s in the mid to late 90’s. For as long as I’ve known Tom, he’s been predicting that suppliers would either turn off, or require exactly what Carnival just announced concerning the FAM issue. If you look at the thread I’ve linked to and comments concerning Tom, you can easily come to the conclusion that not only do Traditional Travel Agents not like him, but he also doesn’t care what they think.

I say “Bully Mr. Coleman for your insight." While Tom hasn’t been on mark, (Nor have I) all the time, he does have a much better overview and understanding of the entire industry. He had this Carnival move pegged years ago, and I’m willing to bet that not one Travel Agent that he irritates will recognize that.

But I will.

Knowledge and understanding is power. For those of us who have a firm grasp of what’s really going on in this industry right now like YTB, this Carnival move helps YTB separate itself from all those “Overpriced Travel Clubs” that Nadine Godwin mentioned in her predictions on Monday. I suppose we will always have individuals who take predictions like Nadine’s and twist them to mean something entirely different. Verbiage like “in some cases” automatically translates to “YTB”, the phrase “impressive sales” translates to “some sales”, and “players” translate to Travel MLM’s not Suppliers.

If Travel Agents need to view the issues surrounding Travel MLM’s from this perspective, it’s certainly within their right. In the meantime, YTB just keep chugging along, doing what we do, and while I recognize what’s being said, I have to question the validity of the translations by those opposed to our model.

Make no mistake about how 2008 is starting out for YTB. While there are plenty of issues remaining and more work to be done, some of the dust is starting to settle and we are only know beginning to see what is clearly a change for the better for everyone involved in this industry.

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