World Travel Holdings, the biggest cruise agency in the world, has just announced an investment of millions of dollars into technology for its home-based franchise business division. This investment is earmarked as a force for driving an increase in profitability for agents across vacation franchise brands CruiseOne and Dream Vacations.
CruiseOne/Dream Vacations Senior Vice President Debbie Fiorino noted that as a tech leader in the sector, the company wants to continue to feed the success it has enjoyed from earlier tech investments. One way to do this, she says, is to invest more into the company's travel agents, whose success is vital to the future of the brand.
During 2017, the IT team's size will increase, giving both vacation brands the biggest tech team in the industry and the best support-to-agent ratio in the sector. The additional IT members will allow the company to push current initiatives, create cutting-edge solutions and provide top-tier technology at the same time, which will give its agents a strong lead over the competition.
Dream Vacations/Cruise One Vice President of Information Technology Sandi Szalay said her team is excited to welcome the new experts into the fold and take their tech efforts to the next level. As people are using travel agents now more than ever, Szalay feels it is important that the company offers its home-based franchise businesses the latest in tech solutions.
Since 2014, World Travel Holdings has been making significant investments into its technology, which has earned industry-wide praise and proven results. For example, franchisees who have used the company's group registration tool to build customized websites have enjoyed a sales growth rate that is 50 percent higher on average than that of those who did not use the tool.
Georgia franchisee and IT Committee chair Mike Ziegenbalg said he is always looking for ways to use technology to add sales and grow his business. The franchisee is confident that the new IT team investment will give the brand's agents the best technology in the industry right now and for years to come.
Franchise opportunities are available
Cruise One and Dream Vacations, its sister brand for land vacations, currently have franchise opportunities available in several markets. The franchise fee for both brands is $9,800, but those who qualify for financing may pay as little as $3,500 down. The total investment ranges from $3,245 to $21,850.
