Carnival : Cruise Line Honors Top Travel Agencies With ‘Excellence Awards’

Carnival Cruise Line is honoring 12 top travel agencies in the U.S. and Canada with its fourth annual Excellence Awards. The 12 award categories recognize the diversity of agencies the line works with by honoring specialties including retail, online, charter, incentive, host, franchise, and regional performance excellence.

'It's always difficult to choose just 12 award recipients given the breadth of talent, dedication, and innovation we see from the travel agent community,' said Carnival's Vice President of Sales & Trade Marketing Adolfo Perez. 'It's a true honor to bring these award winners together and to celebrate their success as market leaders.'

Cruise Planners was selected for this year's 'Ted Arison Founder's Award,' which is named for the late Ted Arison, Carnival Cruise Line's founder. This award honors a travel partner who consistently demonstrates tremendous partnership, loyalty and support for the Carnival brand and upholds Ted Arison's vision that everyone deserves a great cruise vacation. 'The dedication, creativity, and unique business model of Cruise Planners make the organization stand out among its peers and its continuous growth and commitment to Carnival made it a natural choice to win this prestigious award,' said Perez. 'We would also like to acknowledge last year's inaugural winner, World Travel Holdings, for continuing to be an outstanding brand champion and visionary leader.'

Additionally, Expedia Inc. has been named as the recipient of the inaugural 'Chairman's Award,' which honors a travel partner who has demonstrated unique strategic vision and business results to create a leadership position with Carnival and in the industry overall. 'We are proud to honor Expedia Inc. as the first winner of this award,' said Perez. 'The group exceeds in technological innovation and multiple successful business models that include online as well as retail franchise excellence.'

All Excellence Award winning agencies were selected by Carnival's sales team based on a variety of strengths including sales effectiveness, innovative marketing techniques, brand advocacy, and demonstrated leadership in their category.

A Carnival sales leadership panel, led by Perez, evaluated numerous submissions from the sales team to select 12 Excellence Awards recipients based on the nominees' strengths.

Carnival's 2017 Excellence Award recipients include:

• Ted Arison Founder's Award: Cruise Planners, An American Express Representative
• Chairman's Award: Expedia Inc.
• Excellence Award - Rising Travel Partner: TRAVELSAVERS
• Excellence Award - Charters: Rose Tours
• Excellence Award - Corporate Incentive: Landry & Kling Global Cruise Events
• Excellence Award - Franchise Agency Network: Dream Vacations, CruiseOne & Cruises Inc.
• Excellence Award- Host Agency Network: KHM Travel Group
• Excellence Award- Online Travel Partner: Vacations To Go
• Excellence Award- Retail: AAA Travel
• Excellence Award- Eastern Region: Tourico Holidays
• Excellence Award- Western Region: Savon Resorts
• Excellence Award- Northern U.S. & Canada: Cruises Etc.

This year's honorees and their guests will attend an 'Excellence Awards' celebration in Vail, Colorado August 16-17, 2017, with complimentary airfare and hotel accommodations. Various events will be hosted by Carnival's leadership team including a welcome party and a gala awards reception with dinner and dancing.

Additional information regarding the awards is available on the line's travel agent Internet portal, GoCCL.com.