Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Please join us in Ft. Lauderdale!
Travel Weekly's Home Based Travel Agent Show and Conference
Travel Weekly's CruiseWorld 2010
Ft. Lauderdale Convention Center, Florida
By Joanie Ogg CTC, MCC

I am honored and really excited to be a part of the team putting the following events together for the agent community. As many of you know, I used to be very involved in the shows put on by our beloved Joel and Lenore Abels of Travel Trade. When they passed some years ago, there was not only such an empty place in my heart, but our industry lost what I always felt was one of the finest travel industry shows. Joel and Lenore always made sure the events offered great educational content and lively, thought provoking panels with key industry executives. I am pleased to say that I believe this year’s Home Based Travel Agent Show and Conference and Travel Weekly’s CruiseWorld 2010 will more than fill in the gap and will lead the way to a must-attend event in the years to come. 

I am excited to be moderating some of the executive and agent panels, as well as presenting workshops. It will be a terrific educational opportunity and Tom and I will also be exhibiting as HomeBasedTravelAgent.com at the trade show. We hope to see many of you there! Here is some great motivation for you…

Travel Weekly has agreed to offer a promotional discount, as a part of our marketing partnership. The first 200 registrations from you our faithful readers of the Home Based Travel Agent News to register and use the code 7141 will receive a $35 discount on their conference registration. This is a terrific opportunity and the discount is great motivation to sign up today. Just follow this link to register and be sure to use the code 7141 in the group code / promotional code box.

Register now by clicking here!

Following is some more information about the events.

Marking its first major foray into trade shows in more than a decade, Travel Weekly this spring will produce two simultaneous events for travel retailers, one for home-based agents and another for cruise sellers.

The two events, the Original Home Based Travel Agent Show and Conference and Travel Weekly's CruiseWorld 2010, will be held at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center April 14 through 17, with ship inspections and a post-event cruise opportunity extending to April 18.

Both events will offer a wide range of industry luminaries, expert panels and workshops as well as the opportunity for attendees to inspect some of the cruise industry's most exciting vessels.

Confirmed ship inspections to date include:

Ship Inspections limited to full conference travel agent attendees of the Home-Based Travel Agent Show and Conference and/or CruiseWorld 2010 only.

Holland America Line:
Noordam (Wednesday)
Westerdam (Wednesday)

Royal Caribbean International:
Oasis of the Seas (Saturday)

Celebrity Cruises:
Century (Saturday)
Solstice (Sunday) 

Princess Cruises:
Star Princess (Saturday)

Tom Kemp, CEO of Northstar Travel Media, the parent of Travel Weekly, said that the two trade shows represented the first step in an ambitious plan to expand the presence of the travel industry's leading trade publication into live events and conferences.

"As the worldwide leader in business-to-business travel publishing, we have a lot to offer our audiences to help them succeed," Kemp said. "And we have not really taken full advantage of the opportunities that exist for both our audiences and our advertisers in producing high-quality conferences and trade shows.

"People in the travel and meetings spaces in particular understand the value of face-to-face events. It is our goal to exceed their already high expectations."

Speakers will include a number of chief executives, including Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International; Steve Gorga, president and CEO of Travel Impressions; Scott Nisbet, president and CEO of the Globus Family of Brands; Richard Sasso, president and CEO of MSC Cruises USA; Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line; Brad Tolkin, co-CEO of World Travel Holdings; Maurice Zarmati, president and CEO of Costa Cruises North America; Michelle Fee, CEO of Cruise Planners; Priscilla Alexander, president of Protravel International.

Other industry executives scheduled to speak include Edie Bornstein, Azamara Club Cruises vice president of sales and marketing; Larry Dessler, executive director of the Niche Cruise Marketing Alliance; Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean International senior vice president of sales; Jackie Friedman, president of Nexion; Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity Cruises senior vice president of sales; Andy Stuart, Norwegian Cruise Line executive vice president of global sales and passenger services; Joanie Ogg, principal of Joanie Ogg Marketing Group and HomeBasedTravelAgent.com; Bernie Blomquist, CLIA's manager of training development; and Tom Cogan, CLIA's director of training.

Continuing education credits will be offered through CLIA seminars.

A complete list of confirmed speakers can be found at: http://www.cruiseworld2010.com/speakers.aspx

In an editorial twist to traditional industry leader panel discussions, the panels will be moderated by a tag team of Travel Weekly leaders together with travel agents who will bring the perspective of the audience directly into the discussions.

On Friday, closing out the three days of education, two panels will highlight some of the most successful travel agents in the cruise and home-based arena. These sessions are designed to motivate attendees to go back to their homes and offices and put their new knowledge to work to better their business in 2010.  

A panel of home-based agents making more than $100,000 a year, who will share their trade secrets with attendees, will be featured at the Original Home Based Travel Agent Show and Conference, to be held at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center April 14 though 17 alongside Travel Weekly’s CruiseWorld 2010.

For CruiseWorld attendees, a panel of cruise agents who have found a way to own a ship and make money on group ship charters will share their secrets.

Real Trade Shows, previously owned by Charles "Chip" Caruso and Tanya Caruso, had produced annual spring and fall shows for home-based agents for the last several years.

"We're very proud to add these shows to the Travel Weekly portfolio," said publisher Bob Sullivan. "Travel Weekly's focus has always been about topical, relevant content, whether in print, online or face to face."

The Home Based Travel Agent Show attracted 1,294 agents to Atlantic City last October.

"We want to bring it to the next level for agents," Sullivan said. "By co-locating the two shows, we expect that home agents will have full access to Travel Weekly's CruiseWorld programming in addition to tracks designed specifically for home agents."

Despite the recent downturn in conference and business travel, Sullivan said the response had been phenomenal since Travel Weekly announced the twin shows early last week.

"There has been tremendous enthusiasm from the marketplace in terms of participation and attendance," Sullivan said. "It's been fantastic."

Travel Weekly Editor in Chief Arnie Weissmann said there had never been a better time to bring the travel community together.

"The industry is at a crossroads that calls for ear-to-the-ground intelligence, creative thinking, business-focused dialogue and ideas that can help agency owners manage their businesses toward greater profitability," he wrote in his weekly From the Window Seat column.

The headquarters hotel for both shows will be the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel, near the convention center. For information on attending or exhibiting, contact Emmy Morales at 201-902-1951 or just click here.