Montrose Travel named Carnival’s 2008 Agency of the Year (3/23/09, Travel Weekly)
By: Donna Tunney
March 23, 2009
Montrose Travel co-owner Andi McClure-Mysza knows that 2009 is “going to be a tough year.” But the industry’s economic challenges are not dampening her enthusiasm for her agency and its employees, particularly since Montrose was recently named Carnival Cruise Lines’ Agency of the Year for 2008.
“We were chosen from more than 30,000 agencies, and a lot of the decision was based on growth goals: Our Carnival sales were up 73% last year,” said McClure-Mysza.
Montrose, No. 54 on Travel Weekly’s 2008 Power List, has retail and host divisions and is a family-owned business run by McClure-Mysza, who serves as president of MTravel.com, the host agency; her brother, Joe McClure; and sister-in-law, Julie McClure.
The $110 million agency employs 150 people at its headquarters in Montrose, Calif. Another 350 agents work for the company as independents, and McClure-Mysza attributes a hefty chunk of the agency’s success to that group.
“The hosting side last year grew by 30%,” she said. “That [segment] of the industry is growing, and we’ll be placing greater emphasis on it this year.” Key to the agency’s success is its strong focus on preferred suppliers.
“We do a lot of preferred-supplier marketing to our [independent] agents, who in turn are bringing in new business,” she added.
McClure-Mysza said her agency has been able to weather the economic storm because it is diversified.
“I think, with this award, Carnival was looking for a model that other agencies should strive for,” she said. “We focus on hosting, on group and leisure business and on honeymoons, plus corporate travel, although there’s a lot of softness there right now. We also have had a lot of success by doing the fulfillment for several credit union and credit card loyalty programs.”
While McClure-Mysza is upbeat about the future of her agency and the industry in general, she said that due to heavy cruise discounting, her agents are working harder trying to keep pace with last year.
“I can’t blame the cruise lines for discounting,” she said. “Without it, there’d be a lot of empty ships. But it does hit the bottom line, and we have to work harder. The cruise lines are working with pricing to generate demand, and we’re trying to take advantage of that.”
Carnival said the award is given annually to an agency that demonstrates “exceptional professionalism, enthusiasm and innovation in sales and marketing techniques.”
“Carnival works with a wide range of travel agent partners — from traditional retail outlets to online travel sellers to home-based agencies — all of which possess their own exceptional skills and represent a variety of business models,” said Lynn Torrent, Carnival’s senior vice president of sales and guest services. “Montrose Travel is certainly a deserving candidate for the Agency of the Year honor as they offer a high level of service as well as tremendous knowledge and enthusiasm for cruising,” she added.
In addition to Agency of the Year, the line issued regional awards. All winning agencies were nominated by Carnival’s business development managers, who work in partnership with travel agents.
Carnival recognized the following travel agencies as Regional Agencies of the Year: Legendary Journeys (Sarasota, Fla.), Southeast Region; Nexion (Southlake, Texas), Central Region; Cruise Planners/Bogart (Williamsburg, Pa.), Northeast Region; and Expedia CruiseShipCenters (Vancouver), Canadian Agency of the Year.
