Great news for travel agents

Carnival Cruise Lines Chairman and CEO Micky Arison offered up some great news for travel agents this week during a second-quarter earnings call this week. He stated that Carnival Cruise Lines will continue to reduce its direct business practices and increase its reliance on travel agents for sales.

"I think it's very important to state that the travel agency distribution system has been an effective and efficient distribution system for this company for 35 years, and it got us to where we are," Arison said. "So we clearly believe that we need to continue to support them [travel agents] and they have shown this year they can give us the yield improvements we need to overcome at least partially the higher fuel costs."

In street terms this means that instead of trying to sell their products directly to travelers via their Internet site or Carnival call centers the cruise line will refer potential cruisers to travel agents.

A move by an industry leader like Carnival may prompt other cruise lines and other travel companies to shift their sales focus back to the travel agency industry.

Be kind to your travel agent and get out of town!

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