Our industry has been a buzz over the events of this last week. The Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA) has successfully put the screws to Royal Caribbean International with a petition to make them choose between their collective group of an estimated 700 (and growing) Brick and Mortar Agencies or the handful of Multi-Level Marketing companies who sell travel via internet web sites. News came out on Wednesday in a Travel Daily News article with quotes from Chairman Barry Richcreek applauding Royal Caribbean’s decision to terminate it’s relationship with “a scheme which denigrates the stature and role of the legitimate travel retailer.

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From day one, YTB’s goal was to become the number one Travel Agency in the industry. That goal was created by three men, J. Lloyd Tomer, AKA: Coach, his son Scott Tomer, and J. Kim Sorensen back in 2001.

Fast forward a few years to the summer of 2007 and we see that YTB starts popping up on the radar in a publication called Travel Weekly in what’s known as a Power List, and the industry was given a glimpse of what a Travel MLM can not only accomplish, but how quickly it is rising. What was written off as a joke by many of the traditional travel professionals in the industry suddenly becomes a major threat.

Thursday (below) I posted on the news the Royal Caribbean has terminated it’s relationships with Travel MLM’s which by our “professionals” are deemed nothing more than “Card Mills”. Knowing what kind of numbers YTB is producing, and being able to verify more than $13 Million in sales with Royal Caribbean by YTB in the first 9 months of 2007, I boldly stated that there was no way Royal Caribbean would terminate the YTB relationship. They simply wouldn’t throw that kind of money out the window.

While it certainly looks like I have egg on my face due to news and events of the past 24-48 hours, and I certainly missed the mark on my theory that Royal Caribbean didn’t want to alienate over 100,000 RTA’s who were pointing people to their ships, I’m gathering information currently that certainly supports that our “Travel Professionals” not only know what YTB is doing, but these same professionals are taking dead aim at yet another major threat to their livelihood. Make no mistake, YTB has their attention and history has taught them from lesson’s they have learned from the Airline industry in the late 1990′s, and the growth of on-line travel agencies during the turn of this current century, that another major threat is on the rise.

And Royal Caribbean is caught in the middle of the cross fire.

As much as I am dieing to spend the day collecting information and linking to facts to support these statements today, oddly enough, I need to head to a YTB Certification Class to help train hundreds of new YTB RTA’s here in Atlanta on how YTB sold $226 Million in Travel in 2006, and more specifically $13 Million in Cruise sales with Royal Caribbean our first 9 months of 2007.

In the meantime, one word comes to my mind…”Irony”.

While our “professionals” over at the ARTA are giddy over the news that their collective efforts have scored what appears to be a major victory, this story is far from over. And because this story has peaked the interest of so many in the industry between the “Brick and Mortar” vs. “Click and Order” I have some really juicy content for the next few posts.

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On Tuesday I posted about some of the YTB upgrades from last weekends Funshine Trade Show in Orlando. In this post I commented that as a result of the tremendous group volume YTB is generating for Royal Caribbean Cruises, our own YTB Travel Network staff will begin processing group reservations for Royal Caribbean. The Home Office staff will be using the same systems as the Royal Caribbean group desk, but will be able to give RTAs more personalized service.

Imagine my surprise today when I found out through Rod Cook’s site MLM Watchdog that The Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA) have been pushing major travel vendors like Royal Caribbean and state legislatures to cut off travel agent cards for MLM Companies. Rod is Pro MLM and while I respect what he’s done for Network Marketing industry as a whole, he’s been slightly off mark when it comes to Travel MLM’s. Rod, as always was nice enough to post a link to the finding which I have to admit, I was VERY interested in.

According to the Travel Daily News Article The Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA) applauded the announcement by Royal Caribbean International (RCI) that it will terminate relationships with multi-level marketers (MLMs) which provide travel agency credentials and identity cards to consumers for the purpose of becoming would-be “travel agents.” Barry Richcreek, ARTA Chairman was also quoted as saying in the report “”This announcement by the RCI family of cruise lines is welcome news from a respected supplier to curtail the growth of the MLM/Card Mill business, a scheme which denigrates the stature and role of the legitimate travel retailer.”

Two words come to mind: “Good Grief”

I wonder if Barry would welcome the news that YTB International, Inc. who markets booking engines and Travel Agency opportunities through MLM just strengthened their relationship with Royal Caribbean the weekend before in Orlando Florida? (Hint: Probably not) What the ARTA, led by Mr. Richcreek has failed to let go of are the days when a “legitimate travel retailer” was actually needed to book a airline ticket, hotel room, car rental, or Royal Caribbean cruise. Based on Travel Weekly’s published numbers in their 2007 Power Listover $40 Billion dollars were spent via the internet with on-line travel agencies. Out of the Top 10 Travel Agencies on this list, 4 were not a brick and mortar travel agency, but instead, conducted business on-line. (You may have heard of them, Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline?)

Now that technology has made it possible to give you, me, or anyone the opportunity to sell these same services, the ARTA is up in arm’s with claims that the only reason any of us would want to join such a company would be “to procure questionable travel agency credentials and attempt to portray themselves as legitimate travel sellers” simply to get the discount they have been enjoying for decades.

In the years I have been involved with YTB, I can appreciate to a certain extent what the ARTA is trying to accomplish in regards to what are known in this industry as “Card Mills”. Knowing some of the Travel MLM companies that have come and gone over the years, and even a few that are currently starting to take shape in our industry, there are certain Travel MLM’s in our industry who promote the “Agent Discounts” and “FAM” trips without producing the retail sales back to vendors like Royal Caribbean. A “FAM” in our industry is short for “Familiarization” in which vendors invite Travel Agents to their property at a reduced rate in order to “familiarize” ourselves with their property. (You can’t sell what you don’t know.) In return for this discounted rate, we as travel agents are better equipped both in knowledge and excitement to promote their property to full paying customers.

What’s been happening to vendors like Royal Caribbean is they offer these discounted rates to certain MLM companies, but are not seeing any return on this investment by these same companies in regards to full paying customers. Furthermore, many of these MLM’s promote their Agency Cards as a “right of passage” to receive these discounts simply by flashing their card. It’s not a right, it’s a privilege and perk given to those of us who are professional and courteous. Even then, there is no guarantee.

Last year when Freedom of the Seas was launched, I had to get on this ship. The problem was, the ship was booked solid through the rest of this year. Royal Caribbean was not about to throw a family overboard just to put our family in at half price. As a professional, I also needed to get on this new ship so I could speak intelligently to my clients about what to expect and what they could do. (And there was a lot to do on this mega ship believe me!) So I booked this trip (a total of 8 full paying customers including myself) just like any other customer and had a blast! (See for yourself!)

With all this being said, you might be wondering why Royal Caribbean would not only give YTB a pass, but actually strengthen their relationship with YTB while at the same time supporting the ARTA?

Good question, and I’m glad you asked!

Not all Travel MLM’s are created equal. There are very viable, profitable, and respectable Travel Agencies who simply use the Network Marketing model to promote and build their business. How can YTB claim that they are a Travel Agency first and foremost? Anyone looking at any Travel Agency should first verify both IATAN/ARC numbers and also check to see what the gross yearly travel sales are. (Unfortunately, no other Travel MLM can produce gross sales numbers.)

What’s even more revealing concerning Royal Caribbean specifically as why they would not terminate a partnership with YTB is the actual business we do with them. Fully 30% of YTB’s leisure business are cruises and large part of that business are done in groups. I just checked our groups cruise page and out of the several hundred groups with 30 or more cabins being booked at this time I went down half the list and found the first 50 with Royal Caribbean.

Please note:  These are clickable links, but some may expire due to groups being closed and taken beyond November of 2007.

1. HBCU Alumni & Friends Fantastic Voyage
2. Superbowl Party Cruise
3. Friends and Family
4. Re-Union of Friends
5. 25th Garrison Anniversary Cruise
6. 2nd Annual Contours Express Getaway
7. 40 – Anniversary Cruise
8. A Family and Friends Getaway
9. A Siesta Cruise with Tara
10. ACTC Cruise
11. Adams/Karlavage
12. Adorando en Alta Mar con, Hnas Meléndez
13. Amie Jo & Esperanza’s Fiesta
14. B and B’s First Cruise
15. Bermuda Family Travel
16. BJ’s 2008 Fun Fest Cruise
17. Briscoe, Manly, Atcherson, Gross Family Reunion
18. Candy’s Fun Group
19. Chambers Family and Friends Cruise
20. Chanel & Drew Wedding Cruise
21. Cindy’s Group
22. Circle of Friends
23. Claude and Yvonne Anniversary Cruise
24. Clayton Valley 78
25. Cool and Fun
26. Crawford Wedding Cruise
27. Cupid’s Cruise
28. Dayton’s Finest Travel Club Hawaii Cruise
29. Derby 50th Anniversary Celebration (Celebrity)
30. Desert Hills Presbyterian Church (Celebrity)
31. Dockery Family & Friends
32. Donald & Sheryl Stanley’s Super Bowl Cruise
33. Doris Carter 08 Bahamas Cruise
34. Dumas Family Reunion
35. Family and Friends
36. Family Unity
37. Family Unity II
38. Fauntleroy Travel & Friends
39. Friends & Family of Mercedes
40. Fun In The Sun
41. George & Roslyn Group
42. Go Mexican With the Sanders
43. Harrison/Greenhill to Suns Sail
44. Haworth Birthday Group (Celebrity)
45. Hemet Alaska Cruise
46. Hope On The Move!
47. House of Prayer 2nd Annual Men & Womens Conference
48. Hubbard Anniversary
49. ICC New Year’s Kickoff Party
50. It’s My Party

With a list like this, do you really think Royal Caribbean would want to terminate our relationship? I can promise you that Royal Caribbean is looking at the bottom line and they know very well what all these groups of 30 or more cabins will do for their business.

In closing, based on what we have just learned about Royal Caribbean’s relationship with YTB and the group bookings department and all the groups we currently have, I would have to agree with the ARTA Chairman, although he doesn’t realize he’s talking about YTB when he was quoted “RCI has taken a major step today to add teeth to its support for the legitimate travel retailer”

They most certainly have.

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The updates and upgrades keep coming from the YTB Home Office. Fresh off of Funshine East ’07, YTB’s Travel Trade Show held Friday and Saturday, October 5-6, in Orlando, FL, another major update has been made to the back office on the travel side of the business, YTB Travel Network. This new look and feel matches the updates and upgrades made back at the National Convention in August in St. Louis.

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I don’t get to watch many movies these days, other than ones that my son Brian (4) and daughter Brittany (6) want to watch. We must have the entire Pixar collection here at the house for Brian which include “Toy Story“, “Finding Nemo“, “Monsters Inc.“, “The Incredibles“, and the latest release this past summer, “Cars“. Of course Brittany enjoys all things Disney Princess including movies like “Cinderella“, “The Princess Diaries“, and “Beauty and The Beast“.

On Friday when I picked up Brian from Pre-K he had been asking if we could go to the movie store all week, and since he had good week at school I offered to take him to the movie store to pick out a movie for the weekend. Based on his resounding “YEEEEAAH!”, I concluded that this was not only something he would enjoy, but was extremely excited about. So we headed to the movie store.

When we got there, I figured he wanted to head straight for the “kids section”, which we intended on doing, but on the way Brian stopped dead in his tracks and yelled “Daddy, a spaceman in a horse!” He immediately picked up the DVD and handed it to me, the decision was made right then and there that he wanted to take home “The Astronaut Farmer“. I barley remember seeing some trailers for this movie, so I didn’t really know if this was something that would be something Brian should even watch let alone enjoy. Typically, I’m very cautious obviously when it comes to movies that I allow my kids to watch, so I flipped the cover over and read what this story was all about.

The first thing I noticed about the back cover was the name of the rocket, “The Dreamer”. There was a picture of the main character played by Billy Bob Thornton, saying goodbye to his family before he launched into space in a rocket he has build in his barn on a farm in Texas. I then went on to read description of the movie which stated:

“All systems are “Go” for Charles Farmer. He’s faced bank foreclosure, neighborhood naysayer’s and a government alarmed by his huge purchase of high-grade fuel, but now he’s ready to blast into space inside the homemade rocket he built in his barn. Just be home in time for dinner, Charlie. Billy Bob Thornton portrays Charlie in this charmer about chasing dreams…and about what it means to be a family. 10,000 pounds of rocket fuel alone can’t lift Charlie into the heavens. He needs a launch/recovery crew, and he has one of the best: his wife (Virginia Madsen) and children, dreamers all. They have liftoff. Our spirits have uplift. Gravity cannot hold down our dreams. “The Astronaut Farmer” is that kind of movie.”

Honestly, I still didn’t have any idea based on this description of what this movie truly meant to me as a “dreamer”, but it looked innocent enough to bring home for may son so we did.

Of course, just as soon as we got home, we had to put the movie in, and I got to tell you, after watching this film, I think it meant more to me than it did to Brian. The little man with a Big Dream who is determined to make that dream come true at any and all costs and despite the seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against him. As someone who has dreams of his own, I could also relate to the skeptics and cynics in the film from NASA, the FBI, and the town folks – who, making fun of and belittle Farmer for even thinking he could possibly pull something like this off. What’s even more telling of the film is that the children in the film, (who haven’t been totally brain washed yet), are not only interested but believe in what Farmer is doing.

The entire film can be summed up in one scene where Farmer must go before a committee to plead his case and ask for permission to launch his rocket from his Texas ranch. After being poked and prodded for hours by the folks at NASA, the FAA and various other Government officials, Farmer gets the last word about his dream.

I thought to myself, “Why didn’t this film get more notoriety? This is a really good film!” There are a couple of reasons for this. Director Michael Polish is noted more for his independent films with lower budgets. Second, fantasy certainly meets reality as reviews and critics berate this film in many of the same ways portrayed in the film itself. Using words and phrases like bounding leap of faith required, glosses over so many of its logistical details, or I’ve heard of “suspension of disbelief” before, but this is ridiculous! After watching this film, knowing the message it was trying to impress, I found many of these reviews quite ironic, and wonder if some of the critics even “got it”.

I certainly did, and I found this film not only utterly refreshing in it’s portrayal of how we should never let go of our dreams, but how we need to instill in our family that dreams are not only good, but very important.

For any adult who still has dreams left inside them and seem to be facing incredible odds and ridicule from those outside, “The Astronaut Farmer” is a must see film.

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This is Easy! YTB has partnered with several national businesses for the benefit of our RTA’s. As an RTA, you can access discounts to a number of products and services as long as you maintain the activation of your individual travel site.

Save on office essentials, print services, furniture, and more! Stapleslink.com is Staples’ business-to-business Internet ordering solution. As individual business owners, YTB RTAs can order supplies electronically from your computer anytime at special contract prices or by shopping inside your favorite Staples Store. The site provides access to over 30,000 products, with new additions daily, at YTB’s negotiated low prices!

YTB and Sprint is pleased to announce a partnership designed to offer RTAs extra savings on mobile services. As an active RTA you can take advantage of a minimum 10% discount* on your monthly wireless services and a 25% discount on all phone accessories. You must be a current RTA in order to qualify for the YTB/Sprint discounts. There are three ways to qualify for this discount program:

• Transfer your existing Sprint service to the YTB/Sprint program.

• Transfer your existing service and telephone number from another carrier to the YTB/Sprint program.

• Activate a new line of service with the YTB/Sprint program.

Receive 25% off all phone accessories Receive a FREE Bluetooth headset with a NEW activation in the YTB/Sprint program (offer valid until 12/28/07).

*Minimum 10% discount is adjusted upward based on the number of lines subscribed by RTAs participating in the program. When subscribed lines reach a total of 2,500 the discount is 15%; 20,000 subscribed lines, 18% discount; 30,000 subscribed lines 20% discount, and 60,000 subscribed lines; 29% discount. With over 100,000 RTA’s this is a no brainer!

Dell and YTB are pleased to announce exceptional pricing on new Dell Systems! YTB Associates are able to purchase from corporate configurations, or from our full catalog of products. You can purchase a new Inspiron desktop or notebook PC configured specifically to your needs while utilizing the purchasing power of YTB. You can also purchase a Dell LCD TV, Dell Printer, as well as choose from over thousands of electronics and accessories. As a Dell Member Purchase Program participant, you will continue to receive all current, advertised promotions and discounted shipping, corporate-level telephone technical support and award winning customer service.

Receive special promotional prices on select models of TomTom Navigation Systems. Through a special promotional site you will be able to purchase your favorite model and have it shipped straight to your door.

Guys, we’ll never have to ask for directions again!

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A new instructional series designed to be one of the most ambitious and comprehensive-training programs ever offered by a host agency has been launched by YTB for its growing number of Referring Travel Agents. (RTA’s) The courses designed by TheAcademy.com will initially consist of 10 unique courses and will be rolled out by introducing a new course every six to eight weeks, until the 10 courses have been implemented.

What’s even more impressive is that the YTB E-Campus program is designed by Dr. Marc Mancini, one of the travel industry’s most highly respected speakers, educators and consultants and authors of such books as Conducting Tours: A Practical Guide, Cruising: A Guide to the Cruise Line Industry, and Selling Destinations: Geography for the Travel Professional. Dr Mancini and his firm are the creative force behind some of the best-known and most successful training programs in the business including training programs for CLIA, AAA, and NTA.

YTB’s first course “Overview of the Travel Industry”, is currently active, and will be followed by courses on lodging, tours/groups, cruising, air, rail/car rentals, sales/service/marketing, and three courses on destination geography.

J. Kim Sorensen, President and CEO of YTB Travel Network, said, “We are excited about the launch of the YTB E-Campus program, and our partnership with Dr. Mancini. YTB E-Campus was developed to enhance our existing RTA training program by offering comprehensive courses via the Internet. The launch of this program is not only an investment in our RTAs, but also a long-term investment in growing our business and increasing shareholder equity.”

Way to go YTB, and thank you for building the best travel business opportunity available!

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