Attend a training event hosted by one supplier and you’ll expand your sales knowledge. Attend a training event hosted by three suppliers and you’ll expand your sales knowledge three-fold.
That was the opportunity for 200-plus travel professionals who attended Royal Caribbean International, Silversea and TravelBrands’ ‘2020 Vision’ agent training event in Coquitlam, BC.
TravelBrands BDMs for Western Canada: Jeff Carpenter and Afra Davis.
There was plenty of good news from RCI, such as a whole slew of new ships – starting with the Odyssey of the Seas in November -- and an expansion of its private island program.
“Cococay in the Bahamas is a big hit,” enthused Shane Buksh, BDM for Royal Caribbean International in Western Canada. “It’s the first in a series of islands that we’ll be having and it’s now completely done. The first and second phases opened in May and December, but we now finally have our over-water cabanas on the north section of the island.
“Your guests can rent a cabana for the day,” he added. “They range up to around $1,000, which sounds like a lot, but there are eight people per cabana and they also get access to the Coco Beach Club.
Chaz Dunwoody, Silversea area sales director for Pacific Northwest & Western Canada.
“You’d be surprised by how many people book this, because if you go to Vegas and you want to get a cabana by the pool, you’ll easily pay $500 to $1,000. So don’t balk at the price when it comes to selling cabanas, because for the client it’s all part of their perfect day -- and if they were in Tahiti they’d pay that much for one night anyway.”
Buksh’s co-presenter, Royal Caribbean’s strategic account manager, Colin Price, said that the private island program is all part of the way the cruise line stays ahead of the industry curve. The brand’s next island will be Lelepa, which will open exclusively for Royal Caribbean clients in 2022. The small island near Vanuatu will have more of a cultural focus and offer cruisers the perfect Polynesian beach day.
Shane Buksh, BDM for Royal Caribbean International in Western Canada,
and Colin Price, strategic account manager at Royal Caribbean International.
Chaz Dunwoody, Silversea’s area sales director for Pacific Northwest & Western Canada, had plenty of great news to share too, from the latest info about the brand’s new gastronomic S.A.L.T (Sea and Land Taste) program, to the launch of Silver Origin, Silversea’s first purpose-built ship in the Galapagos, which will join the fleet in July.
But the most exciting news has to be the brand’s expansion into Antarctica: “Silversea is all about destination focus and immersion,” explained Dunwoody, “So our Fly & Cruise program is going to debut in Antarctica in 2021. This means that your clients can fly over the Drake Passage, so they start their cruise in the heart of the destination.”
Jeff Carpenter and Afra Davis, TravelBrands BDMs for Western Canada also took to the stage to showcase the TravelBrands tools agents can utilize to upsell and streamline their cruise bookings.
Sherri Stanton, Teressa Bramley, Tarla Power and Jennifer Gloeckner of
Expedia CruiseShipCenters in Langley.
“We’re here to show you guys how to take that seven-day cruise request and use TravelBrands as a partner for your air, your hotel, your transfers, your attractions – you name it,” explained Carpenter, before taking agents through the many highlights of TravelBrandsAgents.com, Intair and TravelGenie.
Vickie Sam Paget Western Correspondent
Hailing from the UK, Vickie Sam Paget is a travel and tourism storyteller located in Vancouver, BC. When she’s not on the road, creating engaging travel content or gazing at the North Shore Mountains, you can usually find her curled up with a good book or sipping a pint of the good stuff in her local Irish bar.
