While the relationship between Carnival Cruise Line and travel advisors has had its contentious moments, the line’s outreach, most recently with its Why Use a Travel Advisor campaign, seems to be turning things around.
“There’s no question that we had a tough relationship with the trade a few years back, that we did some things that were agent-unfriendly,” said Adolfo Perez, Carnival’s senior vice president of sales and trade marketing. “We required certain fare codes to be booked online only. We also increased our commission tiers, so a lot of people saw their commissions reduced.”
Since taking the job in 2015, Perez told Skift that improving relationships with travel advisors has been a high priority, including taking steps to boost earnings for advisors and strengthening communication channels.