CCRA International February Newsletter

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is forecasting 12.62 million cruise passengers predicted to set sail in 2007, an increase of approximately one half-million guests over 2006. The forecasted 500,000-passenger increase represents a 4.1 percent year-over-year growth commensurate with the planned net increase in 2007 CLIA-member line capacity.

Of the 12.62 million passengers projected to cruise in 2007, more than 10.6 million are expected to originate from North America.

Bolstering the influx of travelers choosing to cruise in 2007 is the introduction of 12 new ships – totaling 22,039 beds – that offer vacationers innovative onboard facilities and amenities, new worldwide itineraries and ports, and enrichment programs that appeal to an ever-diverse portfolio of travelers. All tolled, the increase in ship capacity translated to a steady growth in available berths, from 227,837 in 2005 to 246,759 in 2006.

CLIA-member travel agents report a strong start to the 2007 Wave Season. “Booking early, during Wave Season, has become increasingly important as CLIA ships begin to fill up further in advance each year,” said Terry L. Dale, president and CEO of CLIA. “Not only are destinations like Europe and Alaska flourishing, but CLIA travel agents are reporting early booking sales to such regions as Asia, South America and the South Pacific, which are experiencing increased demand.”

So, be sure to book early, and book those profitable Net Rates for all your pre- and post-cruise travelers.

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Hotel Booking for Cruise Clients
By Liz Badras, Manager, Global Membership Services

With WAVE Season underway, be sure to take advantage of the Net Rates and multiple room booking ability for groups traveling to and from their port city. In a real-world scenario, a CCRA member agent just earned a 74% commission on a successful pe-cruise booking. The agent booked two couples on the Holland America MS Ryndam Alaskan 7-day cruise departing Vancouver in May. The couples wanted to spend time prior to the cruise in beautiful Vancouver. Arriving three days early, they chose to stay in the European style, moderately priced, Plaza 500 Hotel that the agent presented.

Net Rates were the lowest rates available, lower than the Internet Discount. By quickly clicking on the portal's Dynamic Net Rate calculator, the agent discovered that marking up the total sell rate while still saving her customers over $100 dollars allowed her to make a 74% commission. As a result, she earned $345.42 in commission. Had she booked the Internet Discount rate (hotels.com), she would have only earned $56.67.

In addition, because the Net Rate booking is a prepaid, non-refundable rate, the agent will receive her commission within two weeks of the booking date. No waiting, and higher potential commission are two reasons to search the portal for Net Rates during this busy WAVE season.

Combined with the portal's Net Rates, a multi-room reservation will yield your highest potential commission. We did the math on a multiple room pre-cruise bookings in Miami. A group reservation with a Net Rate yielded a $130 increase in commission compared to the same room booked on a GDS rate, and the sell price remained lower. Read more in this issue's Portal Booking Tips article below.

Romantic Dining at L.A.’s Le Parc Suites

Knoll at Le Parc is yet one more stylish, intimate setting for fine dining when traveling to Los Angeles. Tucked conveniently within Le Parc Suite Hotel, one of L.A.’s most popular all suite full-service hotels, Knoll recently introduced a series of special dinner events inspired by the appointment of Marcus McNeil as its Executive Chef. These “theme dinners” are in addition to their regular menu offerings.

Chef McNeil brings to Knoll over 25 years of professional cooking and kitchen management experience, both in L.A., and Maryland. McNeil came to Knoll directly from the esteemed Norman's Restaurant on Sunset Blvd., where he prepared many of acclaimed Chef Norman Van Aiken’s signature dishes, which draw on the rich cultural influences of Latin America, the Caribbean, the Southeastern and Western United States, and Asia. A remarkable chef with a flair for the nouveau and a keen sense of presentation, Marcus’ menus feature the freshest and finest seasonal ingredients. He offers diners a memorable experience, not only in the food, but also in the ambience of holiday inspired menus.

Le Parc
Marcus McNeil, Executive Chef at Knoll at Le Parc

Prior to Norman's, McNeil was Executive Chef at the Malibu Inn where he transformed their menu from standard fare to "Good Ole’ Fashioned Southern Country Cooking.” McNeil has also transformed Knoll’s menu. He’s added new exotic appetizers, soups, salads and entrees with a variety of specialties from worldwide regions.

Le Parc
McNeil (right) with Country Music Singer Ronnie Millsap and
Adrian Neria, Sous Chef,at Le Parc’s “Rooftop Oasis” party.

The successful addition of Knoll’s Executive Chef influenced the restaurant to start a new tradition of hosting custom menu events for holidays such as Mother’s and Fathers’ Day, Cinco De Mayo, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve and coming up this month, Valentine’s Day. The standout menu features a Vanilla Scented Lobster Parfait, followed by a Chilled Three-Melon Soup, and for entrees, a choice of Painted Hawaiian Bluenose Bass or Beef Wellington. For dessert, Chef McNeil has created a tempting Beggar’s Purse of Mango and Pineapple Chutney drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces. Knoll, Le Parc Suite Hotel’s gracefully appointed restaurant, features couches and a crackling fireplace. It’s reminiscent of a cozy living room and the L.A. spot for that Valentine’s rendezvous.

Take the Knoll Experience on Your Travels!
“Food For Your Flight – Your Take Aboard Meal” is Knoll at Le Parc’s answer to what to eat while traveling. The restaurant now offers gourmet salads, sandwiches, and wraps attractively packaged in a specially insulated carry-pack delivered to your room prior to departure and to be enjoyed in transit. Each meal includes bottled water, fresh fruit and cookies.

For updates on Knoll dining events, you can email knoll@leparcsuites.com and request the “On The Menu” newsletter. Knoll is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The bar, serving the finest California wines and premium brand spirits, is open until 1:00 a.m.

Visit CCRAtravel.com to book the best rate

Authentic Affiliate Home Business Opportunities
- Do They Still Exist?

Internet scams come in all shapes and sizes. It seems that every day a new one is invented. In order to survive as an affiliate running a home business one has to do due diligence before signing up for any affiliate program.

Have you signed up for a money making affiliate program only to wake up one morning to find that you cannot access your affiliate back office then you discover that the business has closed owing you money? If you have been online for over six months and you have escaped being scammed, count yourself very, very lucky... Do authentic Internet home business opportunities still exist? Internet scams come in all shapes and sizes. It seems that every day a new one is invented. But scams are not the only way to lose money on the internet, you can sign up for a legitimate affiliate program only to discover that the affiliate merchant's support is inadequate and it is difficult to get the information you need to successfully conduct business. In order to survive as a home business affiliate one has to do due diligence before signing up for any affiliate program.

Due Diligence is the process an affiliate uses to investigate the attractiveness of an affiliate program, it's legitimacy, the quality of management and support and the risks associated with the program before you invest your time and money. It is a complete investigation and review of the affiliate company you wish to join.

Prior to joining any affiliate program, you should conduct "due diligence" not just into the program but into the company offering the program. You have to ascertain whether the affiliate program has a history of scamming, inaction on abuse reports, or privacy violations. Due diligence should include the examination of archives of discussion lists, and forums.

You should carefully examine the Affiliate company’s website. Is there a street or city address! Can you contact the affiliate company via email or phone? Look for photos and names of the owners of the company. Not having photos, names and contact information on a company website is very suspicious and a good reason not to join that company. Enter the Company's name plus the word "scam" into a couple of the major search engines and read through the results. Be careful while doing this as there are sites and forums that are unfairly negative toward all Affiliate companies. Ignore these sites and only search for good, relevant information.

Visit the Better Business Bureau's web site. Check out the number of complaints the Better Business Bureau has 'not' resolved for the company you are investigating. More than three unresolved complaints is cause for alarm and will usually mean problems for you.

If you see, hear or even feel a "Get Rich Quick!” scheme ...

RUN! If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is! You will not get rich quickly marketing affiliate products or promoting home business opportunities. Getting rich on the internet as an affiliate in the home business industry usually involves smart marketing tactics, education and hard work

, like any other kind of successful business. There are many authentic affiliate companies on the Internet that will allow you to make a handsome income working at home but you have to conduct due diligence and choose very carefully.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Profit-Marketer Janice Sharman, is a home business entrepreneur who enjoys helping people to successfully launch their work at home business. To learn more about Janice Sharman and find a work at home business that is right for you visit http://www.profits4sure.com or http://www.computer-work-at-home-job.ws

By Gareth Davies

There's no question, blogs are big news in online advertising with some top industry blogs attracting over 10,000 unique visitors a day! A blog is like a window into your mind-giving your customers access into your thoughts, opinions, and expertise. A blog is a great way to position yourself as unique in your market, generate consumer interest, and promote your product or business. But not every business blog succeeds. Here are a few tips for better business blogging.

Update regularly. Think of your blog as a sort of online newsletter. Just as readers would lose interest in your business newsletter if you didn't stick to your publishing schedule, so they will forget all about your blog if they keep returning, only to find last month's content still up. Set a schedule you can live with-be it daily, weekly, or monthly-and stick to it. You want your customers to get used to reading your blog, and if you don't update regularly, you won't stay at the top of their lists.

Know your market. Just as with any advertising medium, your blog needs to be tailored to your audience. It's more than just an online diary containing your random thoughts on your industry-it's a marketing tool. So pick topics that are of interest to your customers, offer tips and advice in your industry, or provide reviews of other products related to your business-in most cases it's best to stay away from direct competitors, however.

Keep it well-written. People tend to shrug off bad grammar and spelling as though they aren't important. But the truth is that mistakes in your writing can damage your credibility as an expert. Bad writing in general-even without overt mistakes-can make your blog difficult to read. If you know that writing isn't your strong point, delegate the blog to a talented employee or hire a freelance writer rather than publish it in a less-than-stellar form.

Incorporate keywords. There's nothing wrong with a little search engine traffic, right? Just as with a page in your website, work a relevant keyword or phrase into your copy and your title. Be sure to keep it natural-don't cram your copy so full of the keyword that it's difficult to read.

Think of your blog as a conversation-starter. It's great if you can get readers posting back to you about the topic. Be an active conversationalist-respond back to people who ask you a question or voice an opinion. Readers like the idea that you're active and accessible to them.

Keep the tone professional. A snappy, even slightly provocative tone can be a great way to keep reader interest up-depending on your audience, of course. But always keep your tone professional and never say anything that can come back to haunt you. Although blogs generally started out as online diaries, remember that these are very public venues and whatever you say reflects back on you, for good or ill. Flaming may have been funny when blogging was new, but they never make you look good in the business sphere-no matter what industry you're in.

Keep it short and sweet. Readers tend to like short, concise posts, bullet points and lists-easy to read and understand. Many professional bloggers will tell you that it's better to write short posts often than it is to write long posts at long intervals. Content matters, however-make sure you're offering high quality advice or opinions. If you link to other web sites and articles, offer insightful opinions on what you're linking to.

Blogging is a great way to increase your traffic, raise your search engine rankings, and generate consumer interest and loyalty. Follow these tips and above all, stick with it for more than a few months-and your business will see the benefits.

About the Author: G Davies is the managing director of GSINC a Uk based SEO and ECommerce Marketing company. To view this article on the GSINC site visit http://www.gsinc.co.uk/articles/blog-business.html For more articles on website promotion visit http://www.gsinc.co.uk/articles/

Romantic Dining at L.A.’s Le Parc Suites

Authentic Affiliate Home Business Opportunities - Do They Still Exist?

By Gareth Davies

Authentic Affiliate Home Business Opportunities
- Do They Still Exist?