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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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 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.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

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If you would have told me two years that I would be were I am today with YTB, I would have never believed you. Honestly, all I really expected out of this thing was a chance to play “Travel Agent” and take a couple of nice vacations a year. It’s turned out to be so much more! Oh sure, we took some nice vacations this year…Sandestin, Walt Disney World, Williamsburg, a 7 day Western Caribbean Cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay, and Labadee on the World’s Largest Cruise Ship ever to set sail, Freedom of The Seas, and a month later, a short 5 day to Grand Turk, Coco Cay, and Nassau with the company and Carnival for a Seminar @ Sea just before the Funshine Trade Show back down around Disney.

What we’re most proud of is how this has turned into a full fledged business for us. Our first year with YTB was pretty much “spare time”. When we looked at the company two years ago, I had a full time job, two part time jobs, and a family with two small children at home. You would think I was NUTS for taking on something else with everything I already had on my plate. While I couldn’t afford to spend a vast amount of time with YTB our first year, what I found was I was happiest when I was working this little “side business”. The support from my sponsor, among other leaders in the company was astounding. They seemed to truly care about helping and teaching us, and were genuinely happy to see us at company events and functions. Everyone at the Home Office seemed so nice too and to actually meet Coach, Scott and Kim helped us understand why this company has the track record and success that it has.

The longer I was with the company, the more I wanted to be around it. All the upgrades with the Booking Engine, Marketing Site, and Back Office made me realize this company was very serious about its goal of becoming the Number One Travel Company in the world. They not only set goals, they blew right past them and exceeded everyone’s expectations, including our own. Then came Success from Home back in September. All I can say about this little gem is…WOW! Talk about having a perfect marketing piece in which all you had to do is hand someone this magazine and let them decide for themselves. This publication literally changed the direction of my entire business. That’s when things REALLY started to move for us. More importantly, it was something I could teach others to do, and I soon had several hundred magazines being put into the hands of people every single month.

Not having much Network Marketing experience, and of that little experience, having failed like we did, our expectations really were not that high. It would make a nice “Part Time Business” someday if we were “lucky”. But the longer I remained, the longer I saw what the company was doing, the longer I get the type of support I did from the company and up-line the more we realized, we just might be on to something.

I was miserable with my “Day Job” and the other part time jobs I had kept me away from my family. I was constantly working just to make ends meet. Last January, we made the decision that enabled me to quit one of my part time jobs, and I would start devoting more time to YTB, making that my new “Part Time Job”. Our hope was that I could possibly make this business work so I could quit my “Day Job” by the end of the year. Again, the more I worked with the company, the more I fell in love with what I was doing. I already had a small team that I had stumbled upon, and it didn’t take long for that team to grow, just by telling more people that I was a “Travel Agent”.

I was able to reach my goal of quitting my “day job” on June 30th of last year, a full 6 months ahead of what we had originally scheduled. I thought it was fitting that I was able to celebrate my own “Independence Day” so close to the 4th or July! We’ve been working YTB full time every since, and we’ve never been happier!

Sure, I’ve run into my share of obstacles along the way. As successful as we are, I still have people try to tell me that YTB is a scam, or that YTB is nothing more than one of those pyramid schemes. I still run into folks who don’t think Network Marketing is a viable business model. I still run into people who think I only made it because I got lucky.

How would I comment on all these beliefs about what people heard about, or read about, or simply think about Network Marketing and YTB being some sort of scam? I’ll try to put this as delicately and eloquently as I possibly can…

“What – A – CROCK!”

While it’s certainly within your right to believe what ever you want to believe, my experience with this company and industry over the last two years has given me more knowledge, more insight, more self confidence, more self respect, more success than anything else I’ve ever experienced before. I can’t tell you how much I’ve grown as a father, as a husband, a business man, as a friend, and as a leader because of the choice I made two years ago. It’s been the most incredible ride of my life.

If you’ve been introduced to YTB or Network Marketing in general, and you’re doing your “due diligence” and your own research on the company I applaud you. If I can offer any words of advice to you, i
t would be this. “Follow your gut”. The mind can play some powerful tricks on you, and society has formed a lot of what you currently believe. I’m living proof that all the garbage and junk you’ve heard about, read about, or may have even experienced in the Network Marketing industry is simply an illusion, based on fear and ignorance. Some of you may not feel “worthy” of making it big or achieving your dreams, or that your dreams are false based on having fallen short before.

Are you really happy were you are, right here, right now? What are you going to do to change that? If you continue to do what you’ve always done, you’re going to continue to get what you’ve always got.

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. – Dr. Wayne Dryer

I changed my direction two years ago. As I look back, it was the best move I ever made, hands down. Was it always easy? No. Was it “rags to riches”? No. Was it always “comfortable”? No. But it was the best two years I’ve ever had. I spend more time with my family, less time stuck in traffic, I get out of bed when I wake up, I’ve got some of the best friendships I’ve ever had, with people all over the country. We’re in business for ourselves, just not by ourselves. One last thing…we’re finally getting paid what we feel we are worth, and the income keeps going up every month!

2007 can be a great year for you too based on what you decide to do, right here, right now. I certainly can’t promise you’ll have the success we’ve had. I can promise you this, you’ll never know until you get yourself in the game.

Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812

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