Jamie Biesiada
Ten years ago, World Travel Holdings introduced a new name for its travel agency franchise: Dream Vacations.
The legacy name CruiseOne remained for those wishing to use it, but franchise owners were clear, said Drew Daly, Dream Vacations and CruiseOne senior vice president and general manager: "They wanted a brand that spoke to more than just cruise."
World Travel Holdings also wanted a business name that would attract prospective franchise owners beyond CruiseOne.
To say a lot has happened since 2016 would be an understatement, but one thing has been consistent at Dream Vacations and CruiseOne in the past 10 years: growth.
"Most businesses have grown significantly," Daly said. "We've had a lot of headwinds and tailwinds throughout that journey, but the fact is both our cruise and non-cruise business has grown since we launched."
That's not to diminish the importance of the CruiseOne name. Daly described it as "part of our legacy of who we are," a name that's been in existence for nearly 35 years.
All new franchisees have chosen the Dream Vacations name for their business, Daly said, but there are still CruiseOne locations out there.
Over the past decade, Dream Vacations and CruiseOne have steadily increased sales of more than just cruises, making major inroads in land sales. Regardless of what they're selling, Daly said, the focus remains on supporting franchise owners.
What's in a name?
The name Dream Vacations has been a success story in the travel industry. For anyone going through a rebranding, Daly offered some advice that starts with taking out a blank piece of paper.
"Just start writing the words that come to the top of what they want to accomplish, what they want to deliver and how they want to deliver that to make a difference to their customers," he said.
Drew Daly
From there, Daly said, start brainstorming new names. He advised using tools like search engines and generative AI platforms to land on something that resonates.
"There is no wrong answer, that's the best part," Daly said. "We're a network of niches, and we have many people who have their own business names under Dream Vacations."
He recommended taking niche specialties into account. For instance, an advisor putting together curated groups for crafters would likely want something about crafting in their business name.
Whatever name an agency chooses, he said, it should make it fairly obvious what the agency does.
"If people get confused by what it's saying, then it can cause too much friction," Daly said.
When CruiseOne was looking at creating a new brand, Daly said, months and months were spent considering different options. But at the end of the day, the name was fairly obvious.
CruiseOne already had a tagline: "Dream vacations start here."
As soon as "Dream Vacations" dawned on them and the URL was available, Daly said, it was "a no-brainer."