Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/29859
about locations, destinations and indi- vidual properties through surfing the Internet! Whether searchingWebsites, perusing online magazines, reading destination coverage, viewing hotel advertising, or receiving an e-blast, it’s the Internet! Period. With iPads, smart phones and Apps becoming readily available to promote nearly every product and service today, communi- cating with customers online has never been more available, more complex, or more important. ANOTHERTREND? Are Planners Making A Come- back? – Quite possibly. Whereas plan- ner positionswere streamlined or elim- inated over the past years,with a recov- ering economy and improved business conditions, we may be seeing a renewed focus on these professionals and their valuable contributions to meeting productivity. CRUISE COMPETE ADDS DESTINATIONS TO CRUISE TRENDS™REPORT Most Popular Countries and Ports to Most Popular Cruise Lines CruiseCompete has mined its wealth of cruise data to I report trends in consumer behavior and purchase decisions for cruise vacations. This valuable information and statistics are available in its monthly CruiseTrends™ Report. CruiseTrends™ reports are compiled based on actual but anonymous consumer quote requests by consumers on the highly acclaimed CruiseCompetewebsitewhere travel agents compete to offer the best deal for consumer cruise business. The following comprises a sampling of trends in three cat- egories for February 2011. Most Popular Cruise Regions (Ranked by the total num ber of quote requests for each region): 1. Premium: Caribbean 2. Luxury: Europe 3. River: Europe Most Popular Cruise Departure Ports (Ranked by the total number of quote requests for each departure port): 1. Premium: Fort Lauderdale 2. Luxury: Venice 3. River: Amsterdam Most Popular Cruise PortsVisited (Ranked by the total number of quote requests for each port visited during cruise itineraries, excluding departure ports): 1. Premium: Nassau 2. Luxury: Santorini 3. River: Vienna Most Popular CountriesVisited (Ranked by the total number of quote requests for each country visited dur ing cruise itineraries, excluding countries of departure): 1. Premium: Bahamas 2. Luxury: Greece 3. River: Germany Most Popular Cruise Lines (Ranked by the total number of quote requests for each particular line in the given month): 1. Premium: Carnival Cruise Line 2. Luxury: Oceania Cruises (overtaking Cunard Line in January) 3. River Cruises: AMA-WATERWAYS (surpassing Viking River nsight into Consumer Beh- avior for Cruise Vacations, from Cruises in January) In second place are Royal Caribbean International for premium, Cunard Line for luxury and Viking River for river cruises (down from first place in January). Most Popular Cruise Ships (Ranked by the total number of quote requests for each ship):1. Premium: Allure of the Seas 2. Luxury: Queen Mary 2 3. River: MS AMALYRA (surpass- ing January’s MS AMADOLCE) Next in popularity are Carnival Dream for premium, OceaniaMarina for luxury (replacing theQueen Victoria), and the MS AMALEGRO for river (replacing the River Beatrice). Most Popular CabinTypes (Ranked by the total number of quote requests for each cabin type): 1. Premium: Inside Cabin 2. Luxury: Balcony Cabin 3. River: Outside Cabin HottestMonths for Cruising (Ranked by the most requested months for consumer travel): 1. Premium: March 2. Luxury: July (changed from May in January) 3. River: July (changed from April in January) Other interesting data available at the February 2011 CruiseTrends™ Report. • Number of cabins requested • Most popular cruise itinerary lengths • Most popular sail- ing months requested • Travel insurance requested • Cruise line past passenger status requested • Booking win- dow of time This cruise trend information is available monthly from CruiseCompete and can be insightful, especially for travel writers. To see a full year of cruise trend data, please visit http://www.cruisecompete.com/cruise_- trends.php Black Meetings & Tourism March/April 2011: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 17