Cruise Agents Embrace All-Inclusives
by Andrew SheivachmanCruise-selling agents looking to diversify are turning to all-inclusive resorts to provide clients with affordable alternatives to cruising – and grow their commissions in the process.
Specializing in certain destinations and types of all-inclusive product helps cruise agents retain clients who may not want another cruise and would have booked their next trip elsewhere, agents told Travel Market Report.
Agents also said profits on vacations built around an all-inclusive resort can be much higher than on cruises, especially when an all-inclusive is packaged together with commissionable air and excursions.
More options for customers
“Some of our clients move over to an all-inclusive vacation, but they’ll go back to cruising later,” said Andrea Joyce, MCC, a home-based Cruises Inc. agent in Westchester County, N.Y. “It’s important that we offer the option so our loyal clients know we do more than just cruises.”
Kelley Austin, a Cruise Planners agent in Navasota, Texas, said her product mix has shifted since she began offering more diverse vacation options to cruise clients who usually sail out of Galveston. She now sells more land vacations than cruises.
“If I wanted to expand my business, I needed to be of more service to my community and clients,” said Austin. “I fell in love with all-inclusive resorts after taking a lot of time to do the training.”
Repeat customers
For cruise-focused agency groups, widening the range of products offered by member agents has been a vital tactic to attract more repeat customers.
“Agents are realizing that customers may cruise with them one year, but not return another year,” said Drew Daly, vice president of sales performance for CruiseOne and Cruises Inc.. “It was important for us to aggressively pursue land and all-inclusive sales as part of our business model.”
Cruise Planners also has made a push in recent years to encourage agents to educate themselves on all-inclusive vacations.
Land is 35% of mix
“We are selling about 35% land in our total mix, which is a sizable number,” said Vicky Garcia, COO of Cruise Planners. “Some agents specialize in land, and some do it just to service what a customer needs.”
The similarities between cruises and all-inclusive resort products mean that for agents there are similar talking points when pitching a potential customer.
“The good thing about all-inclusives is that they are theoretically similar to a cruise,” said Garcia. “It’s like a cruise in that you know the value of a cruise going in and you can upgrade to a better room if you want it.”
Good money for agents
At Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Kim Bryceland, senior manager of land product, said member agents have been making solid money selling all-inclusives packaged by the group’s supplier partners.
“Agents can make good commission on an all-inclusive trip because you’re selling a whole package of product at the same time,” said Bryceland. “It’s an easy, nicely packaged deal, and agents usually get commissioned off a pretty good base.”
The variety of all-inclusive product in popular Caribbean and Mexico destinations means there are lots of options for agents to offer clients as well.
“When I started in the industry 30 years ago, all-inclusive was limited in its offerings. Now you see a variety of product geared to diverse segments of customers,” said Bryceland.
More profitable than cruise?
Agents said selling all-inclusives can be more profitable than cruises from a commission standpoint, depending on the class of product and what types of packages are available.
If commissionable air is sold as part of the package an all-inclusive booking can prove quite lucrative for agents, especially if travel insurance and excursions are added on.
Some vendors pay commission on air and some don’t, noted Austin. “If I can get commission on land and air, I make way more than booking just a cruise; if I’m not getting paid on air it’s comparable to cruise,” Austin said.
Joyce, whose customers are often conscious of the high cost of airfare, said it’s hard to generalize about whether all-inclusives are more profitable than other sales. For instance, she said, “a Jamaica all-inclusive probably won’t get you as big a commission as an Aruba all-inclusive.
Upgrades help
Daly urges agents to upsell when booking all-inclusives, since small upgrades can make a big difference in customer experience and provide good value.
“Your customers will pay more when they understand why certain destinations are so robust,” said Daly. “This is why it’s important to specialize in certain resorts so you can safely and confidently recommend them.”
One mistake you don’t want to make is booking clients into a resort that’s not right for them, said Austin.
“You don’t want to send party-going bachelor guys to a family all-inclusive. You have to know the properties and brands.”
Next time: It’s not a slam-dunk. Agents weigh in on the challenges of selling all-inclusives.
Related stories
