Four Gold and one Silver for its innovative technology, custom marketing assets and top-notch resources for its franchisees
Wakefield, Mass. (October 17, 2023) – Travel Weekly, a top travel industry trade publication, recognized World Travel Holdings with five Magellan Awards. Many of the winning entries are incredible initiatives and programs from the Dream Vacations travel agency franchise.
“We are immensely proud of our achievements in the 2023 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards,” said Drew Daly, senior vice president and general manager for Dream Vacations. “These awards are a testament to our ongoing commitment to innovation and excellence within the travel industry. We are dedicated to providing our network of travel advisors with the tools and support they need to succeed, and these wins reflect our unwavering commitment to their success.”
Gold Winners
The Associate Onboarding Toolkit provides Dream Vacations franchise owners a beautifully branded kit that assists them in providing a seamless onboarding process for their associates. By providing customizable resources and activities, this toolkit ensures that associates receive comprehensive training and support from day one.
The groundbreaking Agent Directory is a transformative lead generation tool for Dream Vacations travel advisors. Designed to showcase their expertise, increase online visibility, and enhance credibility with prospective customers, the Agent Directory allows the Dream Vacations network to reap all the SEO benefits.
Dream Vacations has harnessed the magic of Personalized Videos, collaborating closely with a professional videographer to deliver captivating content that forges deep connections with clients and prospects. The most unique aspect of these videos is that Dream Vacations franchise owners and associates can customize the videos with their own travel advisor call-to-action information.
Cruises.com, another prominent brand within World Travel Holdings, added to the trophy case with a Gold win for their remarkable Countrywide Innovative Marketing Campaign. The initiative included the use of creative placements in key highway networks to drive ports and serving as a proud sponsor of collegiate athletics through partnerships with the University of Florida and the University of Houston.
“We’re so proud of the work the team has done to build brand awareness for the Cruises.com brand,” said Rosemarie Reed senior vice president for World Travel Holdings who oversees the marketing for Cruises.com.” I know their immense creativity is what earned them this award and we are so honored to have won Gold in the 2023 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards.”
Silver Winner
In February 2023, Dream Vacations launched its highly anticipated Groups Application, which has contributed to the highest group sales the B2B division has seen since 2017. The award-winning online interface allows agents to manage the entire life cycle of a group easily and effectively. Three standout features include:
- Group Registration: Allows agents to auto generate and customize a website page to promote each group. The best feature is the ability it provides for customers to easily register into a group, creating a frictionless customer experience while minimizing an agent’s effort.
- Group Share: A unique set of features weaved in every part of the suite of applications that allows agents to share their group inventory with all agents in the Dream Vacations network, so everyone benefits from the price and amenities of group travel.
- Block Groups: Allows Dream Vacations headquarters the ability to manage corporate held group space and gives the network the ability to book into these group types effortlessly, while comparing prices to FIT to ensure their clients get the best deal.
The Magellan Awards honor outstanding design, marketing and services in a broad range of industry segments including Hospitality, Travel Destinations, Cruise Lines, Online Travel Services, Airlines and Airports, Travel Agents and Agencies, Tour Operators and Ground Transportation.
“Now that travel has come roaring back, it’s clear that those who provide travelers with vacation opportunities were inspired as never before,” said Arnie Weissmann, editor in chief of Travel Weekly. “We had a record-breaking number of entries this year, and the creativity and innovative approaches really wowed the judges. The entrants’ collective desire to exceed consumers’ expectations was never more evident.”
The Magellan Awards are judged and overseen by a one-of-a-kind panel of top travel professionals representing the best names and most accomplished leaders from the industry. In determining winners, entries do not compete with one another, instead they are judged against a standard of excellence based on the long experience of Travel Weekly. To uphold this high standard of excellence, a category may have multiple winners, or may have no winners at all.
For a complete list of silver and gold winners, please visit www.travelweeklyawards.com.
About Dream Vacations
Travel agents with the top-ranked home-based travel agency franchise Dream Vacations have the resources to plan and create seamless vacation experiences for their customers while offering the best value. A member of the International Franchise Association, Dream Vacations is part of World Travel Holdings and has received franchise partner of the year, a top-ranking status, by all the major cruise lines as well as national recognition for its support of military veterans. For more information about Dream Vacations, visit www.DreamVacationsFranchise.com. Like Dream Vacations on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DreamVacationsFranchise, follow on Twitter at @Dream_Franchise and watch its videos at http://www.youtube.com/DreamVacationsBusiness.
About Cruises.com
Cruises.com is the smart way to book. With a team of Travel Experts, customers can easily find their dream cruise through a stress-free booking experience and enjoy all the cruise line offers on top of an exclusive bonus. For more information, visit Cruises.com, like them on Facebook at Cruises.com, or follow them on Instagram @cruisescom.
About World Travel Holdings
World Travel Holdings is the nation’s largest cruise agency and award-winning leisure travel company with a portfolio of nearly 40 diverse brands. In addition to owning some of the largest brands distributing cruises, villas, resort vacations, car rentals, resort day passes and luxury travel services, World Travel Holdings has a vast portfolio of private-label partnerships comprised of top leisure travel providers, including almost every U.S. airline, leading hotel brands and prominent corporations. The company also operates a top-rated travel agency franchise and is consistently recognized as an industry leader in employee engagement and work-at-home employment. Its global presence includes operating multiple cruise brands in the United Kingdom. World Travel Holdings has offices in Wakefield, Mass.; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and Chorley, England. For more information, visit WorldTravelHoldings.com.
About Travel Weekly
Travel Weekly is the most influential provider of news, research, opinion, and analysis to the North American travel trade marketplace. It reaches a broad industry audience in print, online and with face-to-face events throughout the year. Travel Weekly is a division of Secaucus, New Jersey-based Northstar Travel Media, the largest travel business-to-business travel publisher in the world.
About Northstar Travel Group
Northstar Travel Group is the leading B-to-B information and marketing solutions company serving all segments of the travel industry including leisure/retail, corporate/business travel, corporate and sports meetings, incentives, hospitality, and travel technology. Northstar is the owner of leading brands serving these travel segments. The company produces more than 100 face-to-face events in 13 countries in retail travel, hospitality, corporate travel, travel technology, sports travel, and the meetings & incentive industry. In addition, Northstar owns Phocuswright, the leading research and event producer serving the travel technology industry. Northstar
Travel Group owns the BHN Group, the leading producer of hotel investment conferences.
Northstar is also the majority shareholder in Inntopia, the leading SaaS e-commerce software business serving the mountain destination, golf, activities, and hospitality markets. Based in Rutherford, NJ, the company has seven offices in the U.S., UK, and Singapore. Northstar Travel Group is owned by funds managed by EagleTree Capital.
