Travel Weekly's San Francisco bureau chief, Laura Del Rosso,
recently spent a day at the new Carnival Vacation Store in
Arlington, Texas. Her report follows:
ARLINGTON, Texas -- If every day were like this one, travel
agents who fear that Carnival Cruise Lines is getting a lot of
direct business at its first retail outlet would have nothing to
worry about.
But then it is 106 degrees outside and Dallas-area residents
have been warned to stay near their air conditioners and not exert
themselves. It is also a Tuesday, typically one of the slower days
at the Parks mall.
Jaime Safianow, one of the full-time Carnival staffers at the
store, starts the day as she does other weekdays: making follow-up
phone calls to shoppers who visited over the weekend.
The new facility has two full-time and one part-time staffer
and, in accordance with Carnival's contract with the mall operator,
must be open the same hours as the mall.
The previous Saturday was one of store's biggest days since it
opened June 30: Safianow alone made five bookings, of which one was
for a group of 14 and referred to a travel agent.
Three were direct bookings, Lin Humphrey, Carnival Vacation
Stores project manager, who is on site today, is quick to add; the
other one was processed by Carnival but credited to the clients'
travel agent, who received full commission for the sale.
What a visitor to Carnival's new venture notices first is that
it's actually not a store. It's a kiosk that stands in the middle
of the mall walkway, a relatively new concept in mall retailing,
said Humphrey.
"It's part of the trend of in-your-face marketing," he said.
But Carnival's kiosk, although attractive with its cherrywood
trim and its bright red-white-and-blue smokestack, is dwarfed by
the neighboring kiosks at the mall, including an adjacent Coffee
Beanery.
And, a large skylight allows in so much sunlight from above that
the Kathie Lee Gifford shipboard videos that play continuously are
difficult to view.
Nearby are two companies that also have traditionally relied on
an outside distribution system, but now are selling direct to
consumers: Avon and Tupperware, both of which have branched into
mall kiosks.
By 11 a.m., shoppers start arriving at the mall in larger
numbers, but it's still pretty slow, and nobody has stopped by the
Carnival kiosk. The first two people to show any interest are
travel agents.
Mark Slack, president, and Dick Jensen, vice president, of
Morris/Murdock Travel, Utah's largest agency, explain they are in
the Dallas area on business and decided to stop by and visit the
Carnival store.
Slack said his agency is considering opening kiosks in malls in
Salt Lake City and wanted to size up Carnival's efforts.
"We're interested in the concept," said Slack. "Our feeling is
that it's good retailing."
The agents ask about staffing and wiring for the technology
required to run an operation in the middle of a mall.
"This is a laboratory for us to see what works," said Humphrey,
who recently signed a contract for a second Carnival Vacation Store
at Stonebriar Mall in nearby Frisco, Texas. A third is scheduled to
open in Woodlands Mall in Houston in October.
Humphrey said he welcomes visits by travel agents and is aware
of "mystery shoppers" sent by agencies.
"You can always tell by the questions they ask, like 'Do I get a
better price here than if I use my travel agency?,' " he said.
"It's going to take a while for agencies to feel comfortable
with us. We need to prove ourselves -- that we will ask whether
people have an agency every time."
Carnival also is designing a training program to be conducted at
the kiosks for agencies, and, through a Carnival "internship"
program, agents are invited to work at the store -- and receive
commission for sales.
Carnival's compensation for the kiosk staff is the same whether
the sale is direct with Carnival or credited to an agency. They are
paid a salary plus bonus, depending on the revenue they bring
in.
Typically, Humphrey said, the staff asks whether the client has
a travel agent at the time of payment. However, the staff often
knows before that because they qualify shoppers by having them fill
out a short questionnaire with some personal information as well as
one about having a travel agent.
After 2 p.m. more shoppers trickle by, but few stop. Some
teenagers play with the kiosk's screens that give shipboard tours
and other line information. Small children are attracted by the
colorful smoke stack and large clear globe attached to the
kiosk.
Safianow has made two bookings thus far today. Both are a result
of follow-up phone calls. One is a direct booking and one is
credited to a travel agency.
As the afternoon progresses, the traffic around the kiosk gets
busier. Some are people who already have booked a Carnival cruise
and glance at the sample menus, photos of cabins and other
material.
Humphrey said the kiosk has been useful to help with "buyer's
regret" after someone pays for a cruise.
"They can stop by between the time they book and sail and get
additional information. We reinforce that they've made a great
decision," he said. "It helps build a relationship with
Carnival."
But most visitors are clearly just curious. One is a 20-year-old
woman who is thinking about her honeymoon in 2001.
Safianow spends 20 minutes with her and gives her material to
take home. Before she walks away, I ask the woman whether she has a
travel agent. No, she said because she has never traveled.
I asked whether she might come back and book a cruise at the
kiosk. She looks around to make sure the Carnival staff is out of
earshot, and said, "I don't think so because my fiance... would
probably prefer going to Cancun on our honeymoon."