Royal Caribbean Execs Honored by ASTA

Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group

Richard Fain Honored

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), which advocates on behalf of the travel agency community at all levels of government, honored its most active members for their participation in this mission at the 2021 ASTA Global Convention in Chicago, IL last week. 

The ASTA Advocacy Dinner, which takes place each year during the Global Convention, was held at the historic Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago on Tuesday, August 24th.  Top industry leaders and travel professionals were on hand  for an inspiring evening to celebrate ASTA's influence in shaping the policies affecting the retail travel business today. 

During the Advocacy Dinner, ASTA bestowed a rare honor and celebrated Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, with ASTA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This marks only the fourth time that ASTA has given this award in fifteen years. 

 “The board of directors voted unanimously to bestow the 2021 Lifetime Achievement award on Richard Fain because of his obvious belief in and affection for the travel advisor community,” said Zane Kerby, President & CEO of ASTA. “Royal Caribbean’s protection of commissions, $40 million zero-interest loans for travel advisors and quietly hosting first responders in the wake of the Surfside Condominium tragedy, are just a few of the reasons that we’re honored to present Richard with this award.”

Royal Caribbean Supports ASTA

Vicki Freed, Senior Vice President of Sales, Trade Support & Services at Royal Caribbean International, honored ASTA’s Advocacy efforts by donating $100,000 to ASTA’s advocacy mission on behalf of Royal Caribbean Group. Richard Fain added an additional $100,000 personal donation to support ASTA’s mission to protect and defend travel advisors. 

Vicki Freed Also Honored

Royal Caribbean Group, Vicki Freed, and Richard Fain have been strong supporters of travel advisors for years, and especially throughout the pandemic. Vicki Freed and the entire Royal Caribbean organizations have been instrumental in the industry return to service.  Besides the efforts recognized by ASTA, in bestowing the award to Richard Fain, Vicki Freed and her team have kept travel advisors updated and  in fact Vicki Freed just held her 70th Coffee Talk with travel advisors today. 

It is fitting that the next morning, Vicki Freed, received, for the fourth consecutive time, ASTA's Partner Representative of the Year, during a general session of the ASTA Global Convention.

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Cozy Up to the 2020 Vision Fireplace

When's the last time you saw a fireplace chat on a cruise ship?   Never - exactly !  In their "fireside chat"  Debbie and Drew, our executive leaders, discussed the pros and cons of this virtual conference as well as highlighting the week's events.   In upcoming sessions speakers will provide more information about the future of cruising, and how we, as Travel Advisors, will be key to helping people travel again safely.

We will have to wait to meet in person next year on Celebrity Apex.  Perhaps the hardest thing this year has been the inability to be with people and get hugs.  Virtual hugs just aren't the same. Missing also is the laughter, the comradery, and the energy from our typical National Conference.   

On a positive note, we have 715 agents registered with additional suppliers in attendance bringing the total to 820.   That would be about 1500 with guests exceeding our normal attendance.  

We were able to meet (virtually) many of the HQ staff that would be working behind the scenes while we were onboard the ship.  Suppliers, that might not have been able to travel to the conference, are here with us all week in our sessions, workshops, and office hours opening up the possibility for more interaction between the agent community and our suppliers.

As we emerge from 2020 we'll appreciate those in person meetings more.  We will embrace those moments and celebrate them.

There are lots of people to thank in making this Virtual National Conference a reality.  There are too many to name here for fear of leaving any of them out.    Of course, Andrea and Charity were part of the core team as usual.   This will be the "Best Virtual  National Conference Ever".   (Note:  this is our first one, so it has to be the best!)

State of the Industry 

click images to enlarge

Next up on the agenda were an inside look at the state of the industry from three of the cruise line leaders, Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, and Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group. 

We covered their sessions in depth in our previous post, Cruise Industry Leaders Share Their Vision.

This word cloud provides visual representation of their remarks.  

The cruise industry is resilient, everyone has worked together to tackle the problems and to formulate a go forward plan, and they are all optimistic that we will be able to safely resume sailing soon.   Health and Safety remain Top Priority. 

Together with CLIA and CDC, they have formulated plans that will be adopted across the industry. There's no competing on safety.  CDC only has one plan to review because they've all agreed to adopt the six pillars.  (see previous post: Reassuring Safe to Cruise for details of the plans).

Here's a final take-a-way from this morning's sessions.

 

 

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We Are Here For You

A lot can happen in a week.

Six days ago the State Department issued a warning advising Americans against traveling on cruise ships. We mobilized all of our efforts to support our guests as they were were concerned, uncertain and even fearful.

On Wednesday evening, President Trump announced sweeping travel restrictions impacting travel from Europe to the US. This was shortly followed on Thursday by announcements to suspend operations by several suppliers, most notably Viking and Princess.

And now the week has culminated with announcements from the major cruise lines to suspend operations until April 11^th. While this is unquestionably a setback to the cruising industry, it is no longer just about us. The NBA announced an indefinite suspension to their season. Events across the country are being cancelled or postponed. Restaurants, museums and other places people gather are closing temporarily. 

We call these things out not to further distress you, but to highlight to you what we see…it is no longer just about us. And with that, comes a chance for the great industry we are in to hit the “reset” button. Cruising is not going away.

We are still open for business. We offer our deepest gratitude to our travel partners for powering through these events with resolve to do one thing – deliver a remarkable experience to our customers. 

Even though ships won’t be sailing over the next few weeks, our work does not stop. As your trusted travel advisors, we know what you are going through right now and we are here for you. Please watch this short video.




Related Posts:
The following posts have links to various resources which will be updated on a daily basis in most cases.  They include both Health and Industry resources.

• Coronavirus Testing Impacting Cruises
• Cruise Line Waivers for COVID-19
• COVID-19 Doctor's Perspective
• Coronavirus Travel Advice

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