Camille Olivere on Travel Agents and the Cruise Industry
by Daniel McCarthy /Last week, World Travel Holdings (WTH), the world’s largest cruise agency and travel company, named Camille Olivere senior vice president of Partner Brands.
Olivere, who began her work with the company on Friday, is responsible for overseeing cruise programs for the company’s airline, hotel, retail, and online brands.
With a background dealing directly with travel agents during her time at Norwegian, Olivere is optimistic about the role of the travel agent moving forward. She spoke to Travel Market Report about what she learned and what she thinks the future holds for agents and the cruise industry.
TMR: What excites you most about your new role with World Travel Holdings?
Olivere: The concept of enlightening more consumers about cruising is very exciting to me. World Travel Holdings’ Partner Brands offer the opportunity to give cruise exposure to a significant number of consumers who may have never before considered a cruise vacation.
TMR: What lessons did you learn during your time at Norwegian?
Olivere: The cruise industry is very resilient. Cruise lines are very agile and adapt their product and itineraries to meet the evolving trends that vacationers are looking for. Whether it’s in the fitness, food and beverage, or entertainment categories, the cruise lines are always offering the latest and greatest onboard experience to complement their exciting itineraries.
TMR: What is your favorite part about working with agents?
Olivere: This is a relationship business. I have developed true friendships that I will cherish forever.
TMR: What do you wish agents better understood about working with sales execs at cruise lines?
Olivere: Cruise execs enjoy engaging with agents. Agents should not be shy. Introduce yourself and bounce ideas off the cruise sales execs.
TMR: Disney recently lowered commissions for agents. Do you think cruise lines are starting to trend toward cutting agents out of the equation? If so, what would your advice me to agents for battling this?
Olivere: I firmly believe cruise lines do understand the value of agency distribution. I also believe that it is very important for agents to join and support ASTA. This is our place to come together and speak with a single and very powerful voice.
TMR: What do you feel the role of agents will be in a cruise world that seems to be headed more and more toward online booking?
Olivere: Agents continue to add value by saving consumers hours and hours of research time by bringing context and relevant recommendations to a complicated and diverse set of choices that need to be made.
TMR: What excites you most about your new role?
Olivere: To be honest, it's the WTH team. I have always admired the culture and I am excited to be a part of this brilliant group of industry leaders.
TMR: What do you think the biggest trends in cruising are for next year?
Olivere: I believe we will continue to see more value add vs. pricing promotions, which is good for the consumer (more perks), the cruise line (from a pricing perspective), and the agent (more commissions). It’s a win/win/win.