TRAVEL
PLANNERS INTERNATIONAL, a host agency that supports
outside sales agents, independent contractors, and retail travel
agencies, said Passport Online will power its consumer Web site at
www.agenthub.net. The deal offers Travel Planners
agents a custom version of the VacationPort e-commerce marketing
program, which is powered by Passport Online and promotes preferred
supplier programs to customers through integrated e-mail and Web
site applications. Travel Planners also added Worldspan to its GDS
booking options. Retailers can learn more about Travel Planners on
line at www.travelagentfromhome.com
NEST,
the Network of Entrepreneurs Selling Travel, also rolled out an
agreement with VacationPort and Passport Online during its Flying
High conference in Las Vegas last week. The VacationPort system,
said NEST senior vice president Stuart Cohen, will serve as an
extension of the existing NESTDirect direct mail program. The
marketing group for home-based retailers also will offer Passport
Online's NexCite Web site-building tool to its members, said
Cohen.
DUES MAY
RISE: ASTA members in the Travel Professional category
will see their dues increase if a proposed overhaul of the
Society's structure is approved in a referendum this month. Under
the proposal, ASTA would offer just two membership categories for
agents in the U.S., a basic level at $250 in annual fees and a
premium level with a range of custom consulting services at $2,500
a year. Independent retailers in the Travel Professionals category
(ASTA says there are more than 800 in this category) now pay $189.
Brick-and-mortar agencies now pay $365.
HOME-BASED agent Sherry Leybovich, a Cruise
Planners franchisee, was named a CLIA Elite Cruise Counselor
Scholar. She is one of just five in North America to hold the
designation, which represents the highest level of official
recognition that a CLIA agent can earn. Leybovich has been a
Cruise Planner agent since 2000 and in the travel industry since
1992. She operates her agency in the Tampa area. Her Web site is at
www.cruisesforu.com.
FAM OF THE
WEEK
Bulgaria
Departures: Oct. 21, Nov.
11 or Dec. 9 from New York to Sofia via British
Airways.
Length: Seven nights.
Sponsor: Destination Bulgaria, Montgomery
Village, Md.
Cost: $1,399 per person, double. Includes
roundtrip air; four- and five-star
hotel accommodations; breakfast and dinner daily and most lunches;
taxes;
motorcoach transportation; four spa treatments; sightseeing; and
the
services of an English-speaking guide.
Trip: Visits Devin, Hissaria, Sofia, Plovdiv,
Veliko Tarnovo and Velingrad.
Noteworthy: The single supplement is $200; the companion rate is
$250
additional. Business-class air upgrades are $2,800 per person.
Contact: (301) 775-6531 or (301) 651-9605; fax:
(301) 216-2477; e-mail:
[email protected].