CLIA Turns To The
Retail Platform With
'Ride The Wave'

by Vanessa Lee

There’s terrific news coming from CLIA today about their new membership program for retailers with greater emphasis and input from travel agents. If you want to design a new structure that engages retail professionals of all kinds, then it only makes sense to involve this group in a re-launch and in the shaping of the platform.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has spent months working on this, involving some of the sharpest minds in the business for input, feedback and their perceptions of what it is that CLIA needs to do going forward. The imperative is to both support and work closely with travel agents to further embrace the exploding cruise industry with the huge array of new ships arriving on the scene every year. Almost 22 million people will cruise in 2014 and that number is set to increase dramatically in the next 5 years.

This robust new program was developed in concert with such agency groups as Ensemble, Virtuoso, Vacation.com, ExpediaCruiseShipCenters, Cruise One and Cruises Inc, Cruise Planners, Avoya and more, both in the U.S. and Canada as well as with CLIA member cruise lines. A true indicator of the value that the cruise companies place on the support and business coming from this distribution channel.

Here are the key elements of this strategy designed to both support and reward agents and agencies going forward. CLIA expects to reach as many as 100,000 agents who sell cruises and thousands of travel agencies – impressive to say the least.

The new program features hundreds of special cruise line benefits – valued at more than USD5000 - for agent members. These include bonus commissions, reduced rate cruises for personal travel, priority FAM invitations, onboard credits for agents and their clients as well as points towards CLIA accreditation.

Continuing education and raising the overall level of agent professionalism is also central to the new program. Every membership level includes access to training to assist in agent product knowledge, marketing and sales skills. Every agent will receive a personal membership card, along with special offers from CLIA member lines, discounts on CLIA products, registration at CLIA’s annual must-attend Cruise3sixty conference in FLL in April 2015 in April and, depending on the level of membership purchased, additional benefits.

The new membership registration opens today, October 1st – check it out here.

The Membership Plan involves 3 levels – Silver, Gold and Diamond for agents and their agencies. Silver is ideal for small and mid-sized agencies (1 – 24 staff) and new Premium Gold and Diamond memberships are suited to larger category agencies, hosts, franchises and consortia.

The other news from CLIA is the incredible and continuing growth with the number of ships being launched this year and in the years ahead.

In 2014, a total of 17 ships will be launched offering 34,000 new beds and an investment of USD7.2Billion from member cruise lines. Note these numbers do not include every cruise or river company as some have not yet drunk the CLIA Kool Aid….

In 2015 there will be 23 more ships launched to sail our oceans, seas and rivers. And if that isn’t enough, between 2016 and 2018 there will be yet another 27 ships and river vessels setting sail (some in other global markets) with huge dollar investments.

Every major cruise line has new ships coming and of course river ship arrivals are growing exponentially. And luxury ships are being built again. All great news for this industry and more reasons to get involved in the new CLIA membership platform. Congrats to Christine Duffy, head of CLIA and to my good friend Dwain Wall at CLIA who has been instrumental in getting this initiative put together and collaborating with agency partners. So sign up, join CLIA, be supportive and receive the rewards in return!

See below for my little tale and attempt to include the names of all the ships arriving from now through 2018. I had fun writing it and it will give you some insight into the names chosen for some of these 60 beauties (some of which remain unnamed).

The very Regal Queen, Maria Theresa, wearing a Diadema and a precious Gem or 2 on her crowned head, given to her by that Legend of a Dutch King she had married (who was reverently referred to as Koningsdam by their subjects) along with their son, Prince Jasper, the Explorer were attending a special event.

They were accompanied by Serena and her sister, Princess Dara as well as Jasper’s wife, Duchess Catherine. The Anthem was played as the Sun shone brightly and they stood in front of the beautiful Tapestry backdrop as the spectators gave them a standing Ovation.

The Mist from the breaking Dawn of the new day had just evaporated. The Bliss that the Queen felt as she stood in Tranquility among her subjects, in the gentle Breeze, looking up at the perfectly blue Sky and the beautiful Vista before her, was obvious to all. She felt like a S‎tar in the firmament as she gazed at her special Opal ring, another gift from her husband (by whom she was called the pet name of Reina.)

However she was fully aware that her son was planning his temporary Escape, indeed a Breakaway Plus from his royal duties and was troubled about future trips planned for the royal family.

She felt she needed to send one of her children to both the fabled land of Myanmar and to Siem Reap in Cambodia. But, perhaps she would instead make a Quantum leap and ask her notoriously difficult sister, the Princesse, Pura – to journey to these exotic lands on behalf of the family. Perhaps, she mused, she could have her sister sail on their special yacht Britannia.

This might just provide Illumination to her sister about the kind of Impression she needed to make instead of whiling away her days writing her Poetry or attempting to compose a Sonata – neither of which was likely to Inspire anyone.

She would Savor that thought as she headed to the Seaside on their motor craft named Lyrial (just one of the yachts they called Mein Schiff when alone at home.) They had at least 6 of them.

Well, she thought, as she was the Prima woman in the land and possessed of a great Esprit… she would make the decision accordingly.