ARLINGTON, Texas -- In the first month since the first Carnival
Vacation Store opened at the Parks mall here, local travel agencies
have been using a tried-and-true Carnival tactic to check that the
line lives up to its promises.
A few "mystery shoppers" have visited the kiosk to make sure
Carnival is not undercutting rates available to agents and that the
staff ask consumers if they have a travel agent.
"We found that they did ask," said Ruth Gardner-Daniel, sales
manager for Admiral of the Fleet Cruise Center, Dallas, one of the
area's largest cruise-only retailers.
"But the problem is that it's not a level playing field because
the store is giving a $50 per cabin shipboard credit and the staff
is using that to close the sale."
As a grand-opening promotion, the store is offering the
shipboard credit through July 31. The coupons available at the
kiosk also can be redeemed at any travel agency.
However, Gardner-Daniel said the staff at the kiosk did not
mention that fact.
"We had some clients booked on a cruise, and a friend of theirs,
who wanted to join them on the cruise, went to the kiosk and got
the shipboard credit. Our clients were not happy about that."
Gardner-Daniel, like other agents interviewed for this story,
said it was too early to say if the store will have a negative or
positive impact on her agency's business.
Her agency will continue to send "mystery shoppers" to the kiosk
to make sure that the staff inquires about whether shoppers have
agents to whom the booking can be credited.
Rita Paul, owner of Paul's Cruises in Arlington, another large
cruise-only agency, said her mystery shopper said the staff did ask
about a travel agent.
But Paul said clients have asked if they would get a better deal
by buying direct from Carnival at the kiosk, a misperception she
worries may be common among shoppers at the mall, or those who see
Carnival's ads in the Dallas Morning Herald promoting the mall
location.
Thus far, Paul's Cruises has not gotten any bookings referred by
the kiosk, but she does not believe the agency has lost any
sales.
"I don't think it will create more business for us and I'm
hoping it won't hurt us too much. It's a lot like having another
travel agency open up. We'll just have to wait and see what
happens," she said.
Jim Orr, owner of Cooper Travel, Arlington, operates an agency
location across the street from the mall.
"I've taken the approach that Bob Dickinson and Carnival have a
lot of credibility and I do not believe that they will undercut us
and not ask people whether they have an agent," he said.
Nonetheless, Orr is making sure by sending mystery shoppers to
the kiosk. Thus far, he's satisfied that Carnival is keeping its
promise.
Although Cooper Travel has gotten a booking referred from the
kiosk, Orr does not believe the presence of the store will generate
much business for his agency.
"No one has come in to say they just stopped at the Carnival
store and now they want to find out about other cruise lines," he
said. "It would be nice if that happened."
Orr last fall closed an agency location he operated inside a
Wal-Mart store because of poor business and traffic, and he doubts
if the staffing and overhead costs of keeping the Carnival stores
going will be offset by the amount of business generated.
"Based on the traffic I've seen at the mall, I wouldn't be
surprised if a year from now Carnival wishes it would never have
opened those stores," he said.
Carnival would not disclose its sales figures for the store thus
far, but said about one-third of bookings generated at the store
are being credited to travel agents.
"The other folks who are coming in don't have agents and the
odds that their vacation would have gone to an agent is minimum or
zilch. They either would have taken a land vacation and booked on
their own or spent their discretionary money on jewelry, home
improvement or something else," said a Carnival spokeswoman.
"There is also a positive residual effect [for agents] once that
person cruises and tells others about it," she said. "There are
also many people who stop by the store pick up the material and
book with an agent on their own. And, that's difficult to track,
but obviously the agency community benefits."