Signing up with Expedia CruiseShipCenters has helped Matt Cervone and his Clinton Township travel ag

Signing up with Expedia CruiseShipCenters has helped Matt Cervone and his Clinton Township travel agency stay afloat. Becoming a franchise for the national brand and a member of a national travel agency consortium are two ways that local travel agencies are adapting to stay in business amid voluminous online travel specials during the recovering economy. After more than 20 years of operating independently, Cervone saw Just Cruises Vacations ' $10 million in revenue drop by a third between 2006 and 2009. While many of his baby boomer clients postponed trips as they waited to see what would happen with their jobs, vendors cut the prices of cruises and vacations to entice customers. Compounding the loss of business was the rising tour bus companies in wisconsin need to keep the company's website tour bus companies in wisconsin updated with travel specials, manage online marketing and social media efforts, and stay tuned to the best specials for customers. Those things, Cervone tour bus companies in wisconsin knew, would require more employees and constant investment in new technology and training. "A small business updating and managing a website ... is very challenging" because of the large amount of travel information and specials available, Cervone said. Additionally, an increasing tour bus companies in wisconsin number of customers were going online to research trips. "Twenty-five years ago, people looked at brochures," Cervone said. "Now we know 90 percent of people go online tour bus companies in wisconsin to look. "In any business, if you have your customers looking somewhere else, a percentage are eventually going to migrate." To help meet these demands while gaining access to exclusive travel tour bus companies in wisconsin deals for his clients, Cervone in 2010 became tour bus companies in wisconsin a franchise of Bellevue, Wash.-based Expedia CruiseShipCenters, focusing largely on cruises and all-inclusive vacations. That move has helped his business, now operating tour bus companies in wisconsin as Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Clinton Township , increase revenue from about $6.5 million to a projected $9 million to $10 million this year -- on par with revenue before the recession hit. Expedia CruiseShipCenters charges a service fee to customers booking only a flight, because airlines eliminated travel agent commissions tour bus companies in wisconsin years ago. But the bulk of Cervone's revenue is paid by vendors as a percentage of base fares for cruises, all-inclusive vacations, car rentals and hotel stays. Expedia's strong online brand brings "instant recognition and credibility to our brick-and-mortar business," Cervone said. Being a franchisee also gives him access to promotions and deals using Expedia's buying power. Those range from cost savings, free upgrades and onboard credits for cruises to prepaid tour bus companies in wisconsin gratuities and drink packages. Expedia CruiseShipCenter's Web-based back office system provides booking, tour bus companies in wisconsin customized marketing by matching customer preferences with deals, daily industry news and management of company finances. The local franchise employs eight full-time and 11 part-time employees. But it has the support of corporate employees who can help with training, booking, marketing and other areas, along with the Expedia processes and systems. "Because of all the things Expedia helps take care of for us as a small business, it allows us to stay focused on what's most important, which is our relationship with our customers," Cervone said. Franchisees for the cruise division of Expedia Inc. must pay initial fees of $14,500 to $29,000, depending on the size of their market. Additionally, they are charged an annual service fee of 9 percent of gross revenue and pay $150-$300 in monthly management information system fees and $300-$600 in monthly tour bus companies in wisconsin marketing and training fees. Cadillac Travel Group in Southfield is able to offer many similar benefits as a member of vacation.com , a Virginia-based consortium of nearly 5,000 U.S. and Canadian travel agencies. The consortium spreads many of the technological costs among its members, making it more affordable to stay current with technology, said David Fishman, owner of Cadillac Travel. Collective buying power gives Cadillac access to deals that others don't have and to customized marketing of deals that probably would interest customers, he said. Fishman projects the company will reach $20 million in sales this year, up from $18.5 million last year and $14.5 million in 2011. While vacation.com offers many of the same types of deals as Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Expedia has better name recognition, Fishman acknowledged. "That's where technology plays a difference," he said. "People are going to find Expedia CruiseshipCenters online and then go to a brick-and-mortar ... because the (online) information ... is overwhelming." According to a January survey of 447 members of the American Society of Travel Agents , 52 percent reported an increase in revenue last year, with 30 percent seeing increases of less than 10 percent and 21 percent reporting double-digit increases. Roughly a quarter said revenue was flat last year, and another quarter or so reported decreases. In the number of bookings tour bus companies in wisconsin last year, about 47 percent of respondents reported an increase, 28 percent said the number was flat and 26 percent saw fewer bookings in 2012. Closer to home, travel agency members tour bus companies in wisconsin of the Great Lakes Chapter of the ASTA have seen an increase in the number of people traveling for business and leisure over the past 18 months, said chapter President JoAnne Verboom, president of Travel by Gagnon in Grand Rapids. tour bus companies in wisconsin "I think the majority of travel agents are very optimistic," tour bus companies in wisconsin she said. A significant number of travelers in Michigan and Wisconsin, which make up ASTA's Great Lakes Chapter, already have booked trips for next year. And tour operators and cruise tour bus companies in wisconsin lines are sending brochures for 2015, Verboom said. "I think there's a tremendous amount of pent-up desire to travel," she said. Sherri Welch: (313) 446-1694, swelch@crain.com . Twitter: @sherriwelch
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If you enjoy the content on the Crain's Detroit Business Web site and want to see more, try 8 issues of our print edition risk-free . If you wish to continue, you will receive 44 more issues (for a total of 52 in all), including the annual tour bus companies in wisconsin Book of Lists for just $59. That's over 55% off the cover price. If you decide Crain's is not for you, just write "Cancel" on the invoice, tour bus companies in wisconsin return it and owe nothing. The 8 issues are yours to keep with no further obligation to us. Sign up below.