New Tech for Travel Industry’s Biggest Agency Franchises

The travel industry’s largest agency franchises – Cruise Planners and Dream Vacations – introduced new technology at their respective conferences this fall. In both cases, the technological tools are designed to help agencies maximize their business opportunities and increase internal efficiencies.

Here’s what each company announced.

Cruise Planners

During Cruise Planners’ (CP) annual convention, held earlier this fall, the company introduced new AI-powered technology aimed at streamlining workflows and improving efficiency, including a new AI Personal Assistant.

The Ask Maxx AI-Powered Personal Assistant helps advisors to quickly access information on destinations, suppliers, and itineraries, as well as all of Cruise Planners’ programs and tools.

Unlike other AI tools, Ask Maxx is has been trained to analyze data within Cruise Planners’ proprietary systems, not only publicly available online information.

Ask Maxx is accessible on advisors’ laptops and desktops, as well as via the CP Mobile app.

Other new technologies introduced at the conference include a VAX VacationAccess integration directly into CP Maxx (CP’s booking and CRM system), a snippet library called Maxx Snippets that allows advisor to store frequently used blocks of text, and a new Shortcuts tool that enables advisors to easily bookmark and access their favorite tools, areas, and reports within CP Maxx.

An all-new video uploader in CP Maxx Mobile lets advisors easily upload videos they’ve taken with an iOS or Android device into the CP Maxx Video Library for use later on in email communications and other marketing tools.

Also new for 2025, advisors will be able to create shareable “hotel sheets” with dynamic live pricing, for specific rooms (and rates) for more than 2 million properties worldwide.

Dream Vacations/Cruise One

At its annual conference, held earlier this month onboard Celebrity Ascent, Dream Vacations introduced its newly re-vamped website homepage and content management tool.

The homepage will be customizable so that advisors can create landing pages that are based on their travel niche(s), thus increasing their visibility in search results. Customizable options include images, links, banners, supplier partners, and types of vacations offered.

The new site is optimized for SEO with numerous aspects tailored to enhance search visibility including URL structure, the “Mega Menu,” and the ability to create custom landing pages. Google Analytics is integrated into the site’s digital assistant tool, giving franchise owners easy access to track website performance and make data-driven decisions.

The company also introduced a number of AI-powered tools including a tailored itinerary builder and a marketing tool that allows advisors to build out a full marketing campaign including emails, social media posts, and more.

In 2025,Dream Vacations’ Learning Center will receive an AI-powered Learning Assistant that will enable travel advisors to quickly get help finding relevant training or receive concise course summaries with step-by-step instructions. For example, an advisor can ask, “How do I enter bonus commission?” and receive step-by-step instructions.