Wall Aims to Give Agents a Voice at CLIA
by Andrew Sheivachman /While travel agents have no shortage of opinions, sometimes it can feel as if their voices are not being heard by their most important partners.
Ensuring that cruise-selling agents are heard by the cruise industry is a top priority for Dwain Wall, CLIA’s new senior vice president in charge of agency and trade relations. Wall stepped in to the newly created position late last month.
The former senior vice president and general manager of World Travel Holdings’ CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. said he believes that CLIA can do more for agents and enhance its value proposition to the travel agency community.
Travel Market Report spoke with Wall about how CLIA is changing, what he plans to do for the agency community and short-term tweaks planned by the organization.
What sold you on joining CLIA in this newly created position?
Wall: What got me excited was the fact they are taking a close look at the agent engagement side of CLIA. They proved to me that they’re definitely engaged with agents. There are a number of areas we are working on to add value to the CLIA membership for agents. I felt the need for CLIA to be more engaged with agents and that my background, coming from the agency side of things, gives me a unique perspective about what agents are looking for.
What are your goals for improving the relationship between CLIA and cruise agents?
Wall: I’m hoping to make the voice of the agent heard, whether through conferences, certification classes or listening tours. I get a lot of communication from agents already. The team here is dedicated to making sure that travel agencies and travel agents are getting the services they deserve.
When agents reach out to you, what do they say? What do agents like about CLIA, and what do they think can be improved?
Wall: We hear all the time that our training and certification is second to none, and that Cruise3Sixty is the best of the best. Agents say we can tweak what we have, but don’t change too much.
But very early on [in my time at CLIA], it is my interpretation that there is a need for us to make a larger investment in the resources we provide to agents and make it simpler for them to do their jobs. We have our cruise guide online, but it’s really not in a format it should be in.
We’re working cooperatively with the large agency groups, franchise groups, consortia, and host agency groups to help augment what they do.
Do you have a timetable for accomplishing your goals?
Wall: The good news is that CLIA has been doing a lot of research already and has been speaking with a lot of agents, travel agent leaders and cruise line partners to find out what the value proposition is and where we can enhance it. We have some key dates coming up and some key meetings with partners to talk about what we really need to do.
We need to build the kind of foundation that will resonate with the agency community, from the small two- to three-person agency to someone working with 4,000 agents. We have a role to play for every type of agent.
Are there any concrete changes agents can expect in the near future?
Wall: We’re working on a couple things, especially some changes to the agent portal on our website, making it more user-friendly and relevant. The time frame has yet to be set, but the quicker the better.
We want to do it right; we want to make sure we’re doing what agents are telling us they need. We need agents to believe in CLIA as an organization that delivers high-quality training and services.
A common criticism from agents is that CLIA is really focused on the cruise lines and not agents. What do you think?
Wall: The reason I was brought on board was to have somebody at the helm who is 100% dedicated to the trade and to making sure CLIA is meeting their needs. I’m finding from the cruise line side that they are eager to have this conversation and are eager to provide support.
We need to continue to address the issues that agents may have in the right forums and ensure that the dialogue from across industry segments helps us develop stronger offerings to agents.
Does CLIA’s new global stature change how the organization deals with agents?
Wall: We do have counterparts around the world, and we’re trying to learn from each other. A lot of the learning is coming from here, because some other countries haven’t been doing it as long as we have. Obviously, the education aspect is not that different when it comes to understanding the basics of cruising and making sure agents are knowledgeable.