READY TO MAKE WAVES: New cruise host agency launches

Morris Chia, Zeina Gedeon, Caroline Hay

A new cruise-centric host agency launched by the parent company of Travel Professionals International is planning to “shake things up” as the first agency of its type in Canada and the only Virtuoso cruise-focussed host agency on the continent. But execs of Cruise CEO are quick to note, “We do not want to be known as the cruise arm of TPI.”

Launched Tuesday by Winnipeg-based I.A.S. – Independent Agency Services Corp., Cruise CEO is led by now former TPI national director of sales and marketing Caroline Hay as president and backed by TPI’s founder Morris Chia and chief executive Zeina Gedeon.

But Hay says the company will operate as a standalone brand, with its own staff and resources, designed to fill a gap in the marketplace for a host agency “built for travel entrepreneurs currently specialized in selling cruise vacations.”

Noting the unusual timing of the launch of the new venture – during a pandemic – Hay says, “We feel we are at (a) crossroads – the most perfect, as well as the most unexpected, time. Only the bold will make moves while others stand still.”

And with post-pandemic cruise bookings getting “better by the day” as Canadians increasingly become vaccinated and cruise industry operations begin to restart, I.A.S was ready to “have the guts to… seize the opportunity,” she says, to become “the authority for independent contractors specializing in cruise.”

Gedeon is quick to affirm that the company is really best suited to travel counsellors who primarily book cruises, while Hay notes that flexibility is the key to the business model where “one size does not fit all.”

Among the benefits for members, says Hay, are:

• Up to 100% commission splits on key partners
• Flexible contract terms (3, 6 or 12 months)
• Non-exclusive contracts
• Ability to build a team or fly solo
• Choice of using individual or company brand and CRM
• Training, workshops & technology
• An annual cruise-at-sea conference
• Market reach (through I.A.S)
• Full access to Virtuoso

Of course, the stand-out feature is commission splits of up to 100% for sales of top-tier partners, including Royal Caribbean group, Norwegian group, AmaWaterways, Uniworld and Hurtigruten (based on plus $45k/yr; top-tier commissions are 90% for sales of $10k-$45k), plus 80% on tier 2 partners and 70% on “other business”.

“When we created Cruise CEO, we did so in recognition that there are many cruise-selling agents today that are tied to one-sided, long-term contracts that don’t allow them to run their own brand or have any say in what they sell, and to top it all off, they are earning low commission splits on their bookings,” says Hay. “At Cruise CEO we believe that professional travel entrepreneurs selling cruise, should be paid equitably for their hard work and have the choice of how they run their business.”

In the end, members at Cruise CEO will be their own chief executive officer, say Hay. But she notes that name the has other enticing connotations: Chief Experience Officer; Choice, Empowerment, Opportunity; and, last but not least, Commission Earning Opportunity.