Key Takeaways as Viking Rolls Out Seven Ships with Seven Travel Advisor Godparents

If there’s one thing that distinguishes the big winners in the travel industry, it’s focus.

That’s the message from a unique celebration on the Amsterdam waterfront late last week, where Viking showed off both the amazing breadth of its cruise offerings and the power of the travel advisor community in selling them. 

The ceremony welcomed seven new ships to the Viking fleet, five in Europe and two in Egypt—and named as their godparents its two top U.S. travel advisor partners, Cruise Planners franchise owner Michael Consoli and Carol Shaddix, owner of Imagine Going There Travel.

Also honored were five more members of the travel advisor community: Shelby Steudle of Pavlus Travel, Michael Londregan of Virtuoso, Ealeen Wong of Expedia Group, Carol Porter of The Roaming Brothers, and Danielle Galloway of Flight Centre Travel Group.

It’s All About Focus

Across the three-day celebration, the Viking executives and the winning travel advisors with whom TMR spoke all shared the same message: the key to success in the travel industry, for both Viking and its travel trade partners, is to have a clear goal and a clearer focus.

“Typically, when companies have many brands and many products, that’s not a good sign for long-term health,” Viking executive chairman Tor Hagen said at the onboard press conference. “We have one brand, and that’s been very, very important to us.”

“We are laser-focused on consumers who are 55+ and English-speaking, and who understand that the ship is not the destination. The destination is the destination,” said president and CEO Leah Talactac.

Winning advisors focus their discussions with customers on what the guests are going to see, rather than on which ship they are going to sail on.

It’s a message that resonates with Viking’s top sellers, vice president of sales and national accounts Michele Saegesser told TMR. What they all have in common, she said, is “determination and focus. They don’t want to be everything to everyone; they all are focused on what is going to make them their best living. They don’t let shiny objects get in their way. They know what they want.”

In the training classes she leads, Saegesser said, she tells travel advisors to write down how much they want to earn in a year and look at that goal every day.

Godfather Michael Consoli, for example, was a new Cruise Planners franchisee when he won a Viking cruise—and came home determined to sell them. He focused on just five cruise brands, and today his agency sells about $50 million worth of travel.

Number-two top seller, godmother Carol Shaddix, concentrates on active community centers, sponsoring cruise nights or speaking engagements three weeks a month.

“You can’t be everything to everyone,” Saegesser said. “The only way to scale this business is to have a focus and a goal. Look at the brochure and not the itinerary; look at the shore excursions and ask yourself who you know who would like to do those things. We can make you a millionaire if you do.”

‘Depending Heavily on the Trade’

At Viking, meanwhile, the focus clearly includes growing the travel advisor channel.

“Our marketing has two components: direct marketing to customers and depending heavily on the travel trade,” Talactac said. “We don’t nickel and dime our customers or our travel trade partners,” but instead offer a “very generous policy” that allows advisors to take over direct bookings up to 30 days before departure, high commissions, and no NCFs.

In 20 years, Viking has spent about $3 billion in marketing—and in return has built a fleet of 98 ships today, and more on the way. Already 53% of its 2027 inventory has been sold, for a total of $4.7 billion.

On the ocean and the river, whether they are looking for a serene river sailing or an expedition to Antarctica, “wherever guests want to go, there’s a Viking product to take them there,” Talactac said.

And a travel advisor godparent standing by to wish them clear sailing and “a hand’s width of water beneath them.”