How did Cruise Planners make its Signature move: Travel Weekly

The shuttering of American Express' travel representative network prompted Cruise Planners to join the Signature Travel Network. The move adds a large seller to Signature and gives the franchisor a home where it will find support and technology.

The major consortia began reaching out once the news of the representative network's demise made its way through the industry. The franchisor asked for the full menu of each consortium's offerings.

Cruise Planners wondered if it needed to join a consortium because it already offered what they needed to sell travel.

"But the more digging we did, and the more discussions we had with some of the top suppliers in the industry, it really kind of boiled down to, why not?" The person said that.

She said that Cruise Planners was impressed with all of the consortia. Marketing, training and technology were emphasized by the two organizations. The ability to integrate their systems made the transition easy.

The ability to help guide the network by having a seat at the table was attractive.

When talking to a new agency, the first thing Signature looks at is the cultural fit. "Do we like them?" is included. Do they affect us in a positive way? Is they ethical?

There is a great halo effect. It's great that you forget about their production. Do you mean just people? They are loved by everyone. They love them. They're great business people because they're nice people.

Small- to medium-sized agencies that do between $2 million and $20 million in sales make up the majority of Signature's members. He said that Cruise Planners is the largest representative network agency.

Signature is talking to other people. National Travel Service, Boca Express Travel and Cruise Planners are all committed to Signature. The agencies will join Signature at the meeting. There are two other commitments that are not yet public.

He estimated that Signature will carry at least 8 network agencies.

He said they tried to home in on the ones they thought would be the best. We cannot take all of them. It's possible that we aren't the right fit for them.