EXPANDED E-MAIL MARKETING, BROCHURE TOOL UPGRADE ALSO UNVEILED
SeaMaster marketing plan: Cruise Talks, trade show assistance
SeaMaster Cruises, a Carlson Travel Group
franchise program for cruise-only, home-based agents, rolled out a 2007 marketing
plan for franchisees that includes a number of turnkey tools for giving franchisees a quick start on projects they want
to pursue.
The plan was unveiled at the group’s networking convention aboard Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas last week.
Elements of the marketing plan include:
• A series of customer presentations
called Cruise Talks. SeaMaster said the talks
can be used to educate groups about the
basics of cruising, highlight specific destinations and show the value of cruising and
the benefits of cruising as a group.
• A standard trade show booth that
franchisees can adopt when participating in events of that type. Mark Schiffner,
SeaMaster’s general manager, said the pre-
pared booth will make it more practical for
the home-based agents to put themselves in
front of large audiences and get new leads.
He said SeaMaster encourages the agents
to participate in two to four shows a year.
• Expanded target e-mail marketing. SeaMaster will send personalized
e-mails directly to clients on behalf of
franchise owners.
The plan was unveiled at
the group’s networking
convention aboard the
Explorer of the Seas.
• Continued development of the network’s monthly Nautical View, which is
mailed directly to customers on behalf of
their agents.
• An upgrade to the brochure tool currently available to owners.
The tool enables the agents to print
their own postcards, trade show flyers
and brochures.
Conn. family
sues Sandals
in child’s death
A Stratford, Conn., family filed a lawsuit
against Sandals Resorts International,
charging Sandals with “wrongful death and
negligence” in the death of their 10-year-
old daughter in a van accident en route to
Beaches Boscobel resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, in February 2005.
The lawsuit, filed in Circuit Court in the
17th Judicial Circuit in Broward County,
Fla., alleges that Sandals “recklessly failed
to provide safe transportation” for the family, which was en route from Montego Bay’s
Sangster Airport to the resort.
Sandals declined to comment on the lawsuit, “as this is a pending legal matter.”
However, the company said, “The entire
Sandals family joins in a heartfelt expression of sympathy to Donna and Jeff Babineau on the loss of their child. Sadly, their
daughter lost her life in a vehicle accident
in Jamaica.
“Following this terrible tragedy, we provided ongoing support, and we join in continued condolences at their loss.”
The lawsuit claims that Erin Marie Babineau “sustained fatal injuries in a car accident resulting from the reckless driving of
an unlicensed, unskilled and grossly negligent driver who had been provided by Sandals as part of an all-inclusive family vacation package.”
“Sandals broke an explicit promise to
provide safe and worry-free transportation
from the airport to the resort.”
The Babineau family plans to donate any
monies received from the Sandals suit to
build a community sports center in Stratford in their daughter’s memory.
