 Together, the companies have assembled a 620-page 2008 Cruise Manual e-Book that will be distributed to travel agents on CD-ROM and made available online.
Created with the consent and cooperation of many major cruise lines, CLIA's Cruise Manual displays on-demand ship facts, links to deck plans, onboard room and amenity information, and the various facilities and services offered by each individual cruise ship. It also features cruising guides, embarkation ports, and links to cruise line websites. Designed with proprietary Touch and Turn Technology, ICE Portal's e-book offers many advantages over standard print materials. The e-book presents high-quality images and graphics with virtually no downloadable time, allowing any user the capability to easily navigate and view the hi-resolution manual quickly and easily on their computer.
Cruise lines like American Cruise Lines, Azamara Cruises, Carnival, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Line, Disney, Holland America Line, Majestic America Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Coastal Voyage Inc. Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Orient Lines, Pearl Seas Cruises, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn Cruise Line, SeaDream Yacht Club, Silversea Cruises, Uniworld Grand River Cruises, and Windstar Cruises are all showcased in the new E-Book.
In addition to the E-Book, ICE Portal, CLIA, and The Destination Group created custom web pages capable of hosting and streaming all the online videos for this year CLIA's World Largest Cruise Night (WLCN). After a successful two-year run, the WLCN decided to add a 'virtual' component to the event for its third year. By means of a 'virtual' cruise night, potential cruise guests and travel agents were introduced to a dramatically different way of cruise-shopping. Guests electing to participate had the option of browsing though agents' pages without having anyone looking over their shoulder, while the 'virtual' component enabled agents to participate online and thus reach even more potential cruise guests.
Agents were able to customize a Web page featuring their agency information and chose up to five short videos of the cruise products from participating CLIA member lines. A unique URL was created that was then distributed to their clients and new prospects, inviting them to participate remotely.
Although it was a big change from the previous years, adding the virtual component to the World's Largest Cruise Night paid off, with sales results hitting a record $22.3 million. "CLIA's third annual World's Largest Cruise Night was our biggest ever and we received positive feedback for our members on all our new initiatives," noted James Lida, CLIA's Director of Marketing. More than 3,000 agents participated in this monumental event and over 18,000 were streamed through ICE Portal's servers within the course of a twenty-four hour period.
'We are incredibly pleased with the results of the CLIA Cruise Manual and the Virtual Cruise Night,' said ICE Portal President Henry Woodman. 'Both were team efforts and we were fortunate enough to be working with some great companies that contributed to their success.'
One such company was The Destination Group, which is the technology platform provider for CLIA's 24-member cruise lines and their 16,500 travel agents. Tom Brady, President of The Destination Group, www.dgrp.com, remarked his team was 'very pleased to have the opportunity of powering and being a part of the World's Largest Cruise Night.' As an 8-year leader in travel technology and marketing for the cruise industry, The Destination Group was 'happy with the results produced by CLIA and industry partner ICE Portal.'
About CLIA
The nonprofit Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is North America's largest cruise industry organization. CLIA represents the interests of 24 member lines and participates in the regulatory and policy development process while supporting measures that foster a safe, secure and healthy cruise ship environment. CLIA is also engaged in travel agent training, research and marketing communications to promote the value and desirability of cruise vacations and counts as members 16,000 travel agencies. For more information on CLIA, the cruise industry, and CLIA-member cruise lines and travel agencies, visit www.cruising.org.
About ICE Portal
ICE Portal manages and delivers more rich media content for hotels, cruise ships and destinations that any other company. As the leading producer and distributor of rich media content for the travel industry, ICE Portal recently partnered with Leonardo to provide a single point of entry for hotels interested in management and deliver of all there visual media. ICE Portal's content can be seen globally on over 30,000 travel and search related websites and can be displayed in multiple-languages. ICE Portal also offers production of rich media content including videos, 360°, virtual tours and Flash WebShows. For more information, please visit www.iceportal.com.
About DGRP.com
For more than 11 years, The Destination Group has been providing online solutions, systems integration and customer databases to clients throughout the United States and Europe. Headquartered in Sierra Madre, California, the company is known for superior work that exemplifies attention to advanced database development, customer acquisition, marketing, web branding and design details. Providing total internet solutions to a wide array of commercial client, The Destination Group's specialized focus is in Travel & Tourism, REITs and commercial Real Estate Investments. The company's expertise in these vital markets provides the clients and government agencies serviced by the Destination Group with added comfort and security. For more information, please visit www.dgrp.com.
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