home based franchise

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Cruise Planners, the nation’s largest home-based travel franchise network, is proud to announce the launch of their new eBook, How to Leverage AI-Powered Technology. This comprehensive guide explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the travel industry and offers travel advisors actionable insights to enhance their business operations and client experiences.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Cruise Planners, the nation’s largest home-based travel agency franchise network announced their lineup of training programs for 2025 at their annual Convention, CP World, in Fort Lauderdale.

Among the training schedule are some new programs for advisors to leverage to enhance their sales and marketing skills. A new River Cruise Academy will focus on the art of selling river cruises. This event will be held on the Tauck ms Savor as a pre-event to the ASTA River Cruise Expo. Another new training program is called R & R – Refresh and Reboot. It is for franchisees who want to focus on marketing, business operations and systems to jump start their path to success. Overall, Cruise Planners offers over 25 in-person training opportunities throughout the year for advisors to engage, learn and strategize about their business.

“We are excited to offer an incredible array of in-person events for our valued advisors in 2025,” said Michelle Fee, Founder and CEO of Cruise Planners. “This year, we’re introducing new training initiatives that reinforce our commitment to ongoing education and professional growth. These events will give our agents the chance to connect, collaborate, and stay at the forefront of this ever-evolving industry.”

2025 In-Person Events Hosted by Cruise Planners (25+ Opportunities):

• 2 Bootcamps: To help advisors prepare for the 2025 travel season, Cruise Planners has organized two bootcamps. These three-day sessions offer an in-person learning experience with expert presenters at convenient locations. The bootcamps will cover a range of topics, including supplier training, sales techniques, social media strategies, business analytics, and technology workshops, providing practical action items to achieve real results.
• 6 Star University Trainings: Cruise Planners’ new franchisee training program, STAR (Sales Training to Accelerate Results) University, is an extensive six-day course designed to equip new Cruise Planner advisors with everything they need to launch their careers. Participants will learn from industry experts and supplier partners, attend an engaging trade show, and receive hands-on technical training on several of Cruise Planners’ top-tier, custom-built marketing, booking, and CRM tools, ensuring they are well-prepared for success.
• 3 Tech Days: Tech days at Cruise Planners Headquarters are focused on in-depth training on numerous proprietary and custom-built tools created to streamline the booking process and beyond for the Cruise Planner advisor network.
• 2 Elite Summits: Cruise Planners Elite Summit trips bring together top-performing advisors. Hosted by Cruise Planners executives and supplier partners, these events provide an opportunity for advisors to network, share insights, and celebrate their achievements and best practices. The Elite Summits will include one-on-one meetings with supplier partners, as well as exclusive receptions, dinner events, entertainment, and more.
• Luxury Forum: The Luxury Forum is a luxury travel focused event aimed at helping advisors either grow their luxury sales or begin selling more high-end luxury brands. The event offers expert speakers, product knowledge, supplier one on one time and more.
• 2 Sales Academies: The Cruise Planners Sales Academy is a training program designed by Cruise Planners to educate and empower their franchisees and focused primarily on sales and marketing skills. These trainings cover practices such as sales techniques, customer service, product knowledge and more and are hosted at either an all-inclusive resort or onboard a ship.
• River Cruise Academy: For the first time in 2025, Cruise Planners will offer a River Cruise Academy. This academy will focus on helping advisors perfect and grow their river cruise sales. The first River Cruise Academy will be held prior to the ASTA River Cruise Expo in Vienna onboard the Tauck ms Savor.
• 2 Refresh and Reboot Seminars: Refresh and Reboot seminars are for the advisor who is looking for a quick refresher. They will dive into the critical marketing and technology programs as well as business and time management skills that will help them grow their business quickly.
• 4 Signature Travel Network Events: Through Cruise Planners’ affiliation with Signature Travel Network, advisors have access to three regional travel exchanges as well as their annual convention.
• Annual Convention: Cruise Planners Annual Convention, CP World, is their biggest event held every year, hosting their advisors, suppliers from all major cruise lines, tour companies and resorts. The annual convention discusses company performance, as well as announcements of new technology, marketing and sales tools to set their advisors us for success in the coming year.

Cruise Planners has introduced exciting new online training programs and initiatives to complement their already industry-leading offerings, elevating their advisors to the next level.

Some of these new initiatives include:

• CP Genie Learning: An online learning academy offering on-demand, quick, virtual training for Cruise Planners advisors. It provides professional development in areas such as CP tools, marketing, sales, and social media. Advisors can also enhance their expertise through specialist programs tailored to specific areas of the travel industry, helping them grow their business and skills efficiently.
• SOAR Dashboard for Premium Associates: The SOAR dashboard, previously available only to franchise owners, will now be accessible to Premium Associates. This tool tracks over 120 key business metrics, helping users analyze their business evaluating their strengths, opportunities, achievements and results to optimize their performance.

Cruise Planners announced 20 new and exciting technology and marketing initiatives during their annual convention. For a full list of those announcements, click here.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Cruise Planners, the nation’s largest home-based travel agency franchise network, introduced a series of innovative marketing initiatives at its annual convention, designed to spark fresh travel inspiration.

These initiatives highlight Cruise Planners’ commitment to delivering industry leading marketing programs that empower advisors to achieve new levels of success. Targeted, personalized and automated marketing allows advisors to focus on their primary strengths—selling travel and providing exceptional client experiences.

The Cruise Planners in-house design and marketing team publishes over 30 direct mail pieces each year with distribution to clients on behalf of their advisors. Paired with multi-channel, digital campaigns, these award-winning, turnkey marketing solutions are the best in the industry and help advisors stay top of mind with their clients.

New marketing tools and programs include:

Retargeting Marketing Campaigns:
Leveraging customer behavior and intelligence tools, Cruise Planners will deliver marketing campaigns tailored to clients’ specific travel interests, budget and life stage, ensuring personalized and timely engagement to boost the chances of making a sale.

River & Expedition Guide:
Launching in Q1 2025, the new River & Expedition Guide brochure will provide a comprehensive resource for clients interested in river or expedition cruising. It includes details on popular ports, must-see natural wonders, landmarks, cultural sites, and key differences between cruise lines. This guide will be available in print and digital, expanding the potential reach.

Where2Next Consumer Series:
The award-winning Where2Next consumer series enters its sixth year, spotlighting trending destinations like Alaska, Europe, Hawaii, Australia/New Zealand, Japan, and the South Pacific. Each campaign features an exclusive offer available only through Cruise Planners travel advisors and is marketed for their advisors through email, social media, and advisors’ websites.

CP Social Enhancements:
The CP Social program, an award-winning social media platform, now offers AI-powered tools that automatically create post suggestions, review responses, and aids advisors in optimizing their local search presence.

Other new tools unveiled at Cruise Planners Convention:

Cruisetours:
Advisors can now access Cruisetour information directly within CP Maxx for select sailings. Searches provide detailed tour data, including name, code, length, and dates. This will allow advisors to better offer enhanced experiences to their clients sailing to Alaska or Europe.

Trip Summary Enhancements:
Enhancements to the existing Trip Summary tool include new filters, easier bundling of multiple trip summaries, trip proposals and a better interface to improve the user experience enabling advisors to provide professional, robust trip summaries to their clients leading to higher sales close rate.

Hotel Sheets:
Advisors can select specific rooms and rates from over 2 million properties worldwide and share them with clients, with dynamic live pricing ensuring the most up-to-date information.

Navitrip Hotel Comparisons with Live Booking:
Hotel Comparison sheets allow clients to view multiple hotel options.  New for 2025, clients can now book their preferred hotel directly through the Hotel Comparison tool.

“At Cruise Planners, we’re constantly innovating to equip our advisors with cutting-edge, award-winning marketing tools that make client engagement and business growth effortless,” said Michelle Fee, founder and CEO of Cruise Planners. “By providing fresh, dynamic content with ease, we empower our advisors to focus on what they excel at—crafting unforgettable vacations!”

Cruise Planners announced 20 new and exciting initiatives during their annual convention.  For a full list of those announcements, click here.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Cruise Planners kicked off their annual convention with over 900 franchise owners and advisors in attendance. The 4-day event in Fort Lauderdale concludes with a 3-night inaugural sailing to the Bahamas onboard Princess Cruises’ new ship, Sun Princess.

This year’s convention is centered around the theme “CP World: You’re a Star,” emphasizing how every Cruise Planners travel advisor is a shining star with limitless potential. CP World embodies Cruise Planners’ five brand pillars of providing best in class Marketing, Technology, Training, Support, and Community. These elements are what set Cruise Planners apart from other host and franchise networks, driving success and innovation.

“At Cruise Planners, we take pride in being a leading, innovative host/franchise, and this year is no exception. Our most exciting announcement is the launch of our ASK MAXX AI tool. This cutting-edge technology has excited our advisors, as it dramatically reduces their research time to just mere seconds, making their work faster and more efficient than ever before,” said founder and CEO of Cruise Planners, Michelle Fee.

Cruise Planners announced over 20 new initiatives designed to help Cruise Planner Advisors be more efficient and provide exceptional industry leading service to their clients.

A few of the big announcements included:

• “Ask Maxx” AI Personal Assistant: An industry first, AI-powered assistant, designed to help Cruise Planners advisors quickly access information about destinations, suppliers, itineraries, and all Cruise Planners programs and tools. Ask Maxx delivers fast and accurate responses, making it an essential, time-saving advantage that will serve as their personal assistant to find information quickly. What used to take multiple steps and several minutes to find can now be accessed in just seconds!
  
  
• Vax Integration: Advisors can now easily retrieve VAX VacationAccess bookings directly into CP Maxx, Cruise Planners proprietary booking and CRM system. This feature eliminates the need for manual data entry, saving time and effort. Once the booking is retrieved, advisors can easily manage and update it within CP Maxx.
  
  
• Hotel Tool Enhancements: Cruise Planners is introducing a new feature called Hotel Sheets for 2025, complementing its existing Hotel Comparisons tool. Hotel Sheets enables travel advisors to select specific rooms and rates from over 2 million properties worldwide, providing clients with tailored options. This tool utilizes live pricing, as well as markup capabilities, ensuring that clients see the most current rates for their chosen room categories.
  
  
• Additional CP Maxx Enhancements
  More new features include Maxx Snippets, the ability to save blocks of text that are frequently used for easy access. Additionally, Maxx Shortcuts allows advisors to bookmark favorite tools and reports within CP Maxx, personalizing the CP Maxx experience for greater efficiency.
  
  
• CP Maxx Mobile Enhancements: Maxx Intelligence, an AI tool powered by ChatGPT launched in 2023, is now available in the CP Maxx Mobile app. It allows advisors to access ChatGPT 4.0 from within their mobile device and from anywhere. Advisors can also easily upload videos from iOS or Android devices to the CP Maxx Video Library, streamlining the process and enabling quick sharing in emails or marketing materials.

During this year’s convention, Cruise Planners will host a variety of engaging panels and exciting events throughout the week. Highlights include the highly anticipated Cruise Line Executive Panel featuring senior sales executives from eight major cruise lines, Top Producer panels, a social media presentation with an industry expert, networking opportunities, educational breakout sessions, and much more.

“As we kick off this year’s Cruise Planners convention, it’s truly inspiring to see over 900 of our dedicated franchise owners and travel advisors gathered here. This year’s theme, ‘CP World: You’re a Star,’ is a celebration of the collective success of Cruise Planners and each advisor’s unique role in creating their own blockbuster success story,” said founder and CEO of Cruise Planners, Michelle Fee. “Our north star at Cruise Planners is to provide best-in-class marketing, technology, training, support, and a community that empowers our advisors to reach new heights. Introducing over 20 new and innovative initiatives highlights Cruise Planners as a leader in the travel industry, paving the way for increased efficiency, creativity, and success for our advisors in the years to come.”

More information to follow. Follow #CPCon24 for additional updates.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — September marks Blood Cancer Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness and supporting the fight against leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Cruise Planners, the nation’s leading travel advisor network, is proud to reaffirm its commitment to this cause through its philanthropic initiative, CP Cares, and longstanding support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).

CP Cares, the charitable arm of Cruise Planners, has been a driving force in the company’s efforts to give back to the community. Through CP Cares, the Cruise Planners family has helped raise over $3 million for LLS and blood cancer research, thanks to the support of its travel advisors, staff, and industry partners.

Cruise Planners’ founders, Michelle Fee and the late Vicky Garcia, were both honored as “Women of the Year“ by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for their remarkable fundraising efforts. Vicky Garcia raised $115,000 followed by Michelle Fee who raised a record $292,000, during her campaign. Their leadership and commitment have inspired the entire Cruise Planners network to rally around the cause, with fundraising efforts continuing to grow year after year.

Through a variety of activities, CP Cares has brought the Cruise Planners community and fellow travel partners together to raise funds and spread awareness about blood cancers:

• Light The Night Walks: Cruise Planners advisors, clients, and team members have participated in LLS’s Light the Night events across the country. These walks honor survivors, remember loved ones lost, and raise vital funds to support cancer research.
• Local Events & Auctions: From silent auctions to charity dinners, Cruise Planners has hosted countless events to raise funds for blood cancer research. These events not only support research but also build awareness in local communities.
• Corporate Matching: Cruise Planners Home Office has amplified the impact of its fundraising by matching donations made by advisors and employees, doubling the contributions to LLS and other blood cancer charities.

Blood cancers affect millions of people globally, and many within the Cruise Planners network have been personally touched by these diseases. “At Cruise Planners, we know that the fight against blood cancers is personal,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and Founder of Cruise Planners. “Our commitment to supporting research and patient services through CP Cares comes from a place of deep empathy for those impacted by these life-threatening illnesses.”

In honor of Blood Cancer Awareness Month, Cruise Planners encourages the community to get involved. Whether through donations, participating in a local fundraising event, or simply spreading awareness, every action makes a difference. Together, we can bring hope to those battling blood cancers.

For more information on how to get involved or to donate, please visit Cruise Planners CP Cares.

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Cruise Planners, the nation’s largest home-based travel advisor franchise network was recently named to Franchise Business Review’s (FBR) fifth annual “Culture100” list. The list recognizes the top 100 franchise brands in its 2024 research on the Best Franchise Cultures.

Franchise Business Review, a franchise market research firm that performs independent surveys of franchisee satisfaction, is the only provider of franchises rankings based solely on actual franchisee satisfaction and performance. FBR publishes its rankings of top franchises semi-annually in its Guide to Today’s Top Franchises, as well as industry reports throughout the year that highlight research on the top franchises of specific sectors.

Cruise Planners was among more than 360 franchise brands, representing more than 36,000 franchise owners that participated in FBR’s research on the best franchise cultures. Franchisees were surveyed on 33 benchmark questions about their experience and satisfaction regarding critical areas of their franchise systems. The brands that were selected received the highest overall ratings based on 17 unique areas that contribute to a strong company culture, including leadership, core values, franchisee community, and engagement. Cruise Planners also received a 99% franchise owner satisfaction report from Franchise Business Review for 2024. Along with Cruise Planners boasting a 99% franchise owner satisfaction report, they were also named as a Top Franchise in 2024 by Franchise Business Review.

“Finding the right culture fit is an important part of any franchise investment decision, but it can be difficult to gauge,” said Michelle Rowan, president & COO of Franchise Business Review. “That’s why we gather data on how current franchisees rate a brand’s culture. It tells you whether franchisees believe the franchisor cares about their success and how well the community of support staff and franchisees work together to achieve their business objectives.”

“We are honored to be recognized by Franchise Business Review for our exceptional company culture,” said Michelle Fee, founder and CEO of Cruise Planners. “Our travel franchisee owners are the heart of our business, and we are committed to providing them with the best support, tools, and community to ensure their success. This recognition is a testament to the collaborative spirit that defines Cruise Planners.”

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Cruise Planners, the nation’s largest home-based travel agency franchise network, is proud to announce its recognition as a top franchise for 2024 by Franchise Business Review (FBR); this is the 14^th time Cruise Planners has been recognized as a top franchise by FBR. This esteemed accolade is a testament to Cruise Planners’ commitment to excellence, innovation, and franchisee satisfaction.

This prestigious ranking by Franchise Business Review is based on comprehensive surveys of franchisee satisfaction and performance. Franchisees were asked to rate their franchise on various factors including leadership, training, support, operations, and financial opportunity. Cruise Planners excelled across all these categories, highlighting their dedication to providing its franchisees with the tools and support they need to succeed.

“We are thrilled to be recognized again as a top franchise by Franchise Business Review,” said Michelle Fee, founder and CEO of Cruise Planner. “This award reflects our unwavering commitment to our franchise owners and their success. We pride ourselves on offering world-class support, best-in-industry technology and marketing, and a supportive community that empowers our franchisees to thrive in the travel industry.”

Cruise Planners’ ongoing investment in innovative technology and comprehensive marketing and training support programs plays a critical role in the success of its franchisees. The proprietary CP Maxx technology platform provides robust tools for booking and customer relationship management, enabling franchisees to deliver exceptional service to their clients. Additionally, the intensive STAR University training program and continuous support from the Home Office Team ensure franchisees are well-prepared to navigate the dynamic travel landscape.

Cruise Planners’ franchisee survey data highlighted the following:

• Overall Franchise Satisfaction Report Score: 99%
• Training & Support: 91%
• Technology: 92%
• Marketing & Promotions: 91%
• Owner Enjoyment: 93%
• Would Recommend Cruise Planners: 93%
• Trust in Leadership: 94%

“Franchisee satisfaction continues to be the leading indicator of franchise performance and system health, and we are pleased to report that our latest research shows satisfaction has remained at some of the highest levels in the past 19 years. In fact, our survey results show that three out of four franchise owners would recommend their brand to others. That’s extremely encouraging news for franchise owners and anyone considering investing in a franchise,” said Michelle Rowan, president and COO of Franchise Business Review. “As an independent research firm, Franchise Business Review is committed to helping prospective franchisees get an objective view of the best franchise opportunities available based on actual feedback from the people who own them. Each of the award winners on this year’s list of the 200 Top Franchises received stellar ratings from their franchisees in the areas crucial to success in operating a franchise, including training and support, leadership, innovation, culture, and financial opportunity.”