FDD Talk 2018: Cruise Planners Franchise Review (Financial Performance Analysis, Costs, Fees, and More)

In this FDD Talk post, you’ll learn the following:

• Section I – Background information on the Cruise Planners franchise opportunity, including relevant news updates

• Section II – Estimated initial investment for a Cruise Planners franchise, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2018 FDD

• Section III – Initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees for a Cruise Planners franchise, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2018 FDD

• Section IV – Number of franchised and company-owned Cruise Planners outlets at the start of the year and the end of the year for 2015, 2016, and 2017, based on Item 20 of the company’s 2018 FDD

• Section V – Presentation and analysis of Cruise Planners’ financial performance representations, based on Item 19 of the company’s 2018 FDD, including information on the:

• 2017 average and median total sales for the 1,662 Cruise Planners franchise outlets that were (1) active as of 12/31/2017; (2) in operation for at least 12 months; and (3) whose total sales were greater than $10,000 as of 12/31/2017 (the “Represented Outlets”), divided into 5 groups based on sales level

Section I – Background Information

15 Things You Need to Know About the Cruise Planners Franchise

Creates New Role in Senior Leadership Team

1.  At the end of February 2018, Cruise Planners welcomed Scott Koepf to the newly-created role of vice president of strategic development. In his new role, Koepf will support the growth of the Cruise Planners network by leading the training and events teams and exploring new opportunities for strategic development. Using his natural motivational training style and tapping into his keen marketing and sales experience, Koepf will help Cruise Planners’ travel agents continue to develop their franchises.

2.  Koepf joins Cruise Planners with more than 30 years of experience in the travel industry and has held a variety of roles, including travel franchise owner, onboard entertainer, and various leadership roles with brands such as Cruise Holidays, Nexion, and most recently, Avoya Travel, where he served as senior vice president of sales.

3.  Michelle Fee, CEO of Cruise Planners, said, “I’ve known Scott for more than 20 years and we are excited for him to join our powerhouse executive team. His impressive background in the travel industry allows us to tap into his diverse experience, skills and knowledge. Having Scott on our team will help us continue our mission to innovate, grow and evolve.”

Rolls Out New Proprietary Technology Solution

4.  Around the beginning of February 2018, Cruise Planners released its newest proprietary technology solution, CP Maxx™, a next-generation booking and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system exclusively for its travel agent network.

5.  According to Michelle Fee, CEO of Cruise Planners, “I started in this industry 35 years ago as a travel agent so I’m proud to say that I tapped into my understanding of an agent’s needs and frustrations and I know time is precious for a home-based agent. We build tools not just for the sizzle, but to help our agents tackle their business quickly, easily and more efficiently. We do the heavy lifting for the agents, leaving them more time to make the personal connections and close sales.”

6.  The new platform was designed and developed strategically with feedback directly from internal teams and most importantly, the Cruise Planners Agent Technology Advisory Board. It was created by travel agents, for travel agents to help “Maxximize” their efficiencies and profits. According to the brand, CP Maxx performs up to eight times faster than Cruise Planners’ prior platform.

7.  The CP Maxx system works across a variety of digital platforms, including tablets and mobile devices, allowing agents to run their business by accessing the user-friendly site from any device, anywhere and anytime. The system also features comprehensive reporting by travel suppliers, and supports even more additions to a reservation, including events, attraction tickets, and visa or passport services.

8.  Brian Schultz, CIO of Cruise Planners, said, “CP Maxx is the embodiment of how our franchise owners run their businesses, so great care was taken when creating and rolling out this system. We give our agents the necessary training to utilize the right tool for each part of their business; helping them be more efficient and freeing up time to close sales.”

9.  Two of the biggest new functions on the platform include:

• Global Search: This function searches the entire platform for all topics, including clients, sales opportunities, travel reservations, research buckets, and even eSource, an extranet which serves as a knowledge center for Cruise Planners’ agents. This allows travel agents to search by keywords, suppliers, programs, confirmation numbers, dates, and more, helping agents move through their workflow more quickly.

• Buckets: The new feature allows agents to save research for a customer, destination, itinerary, etc. and can be easily searched and referred back to at a later date. This is similar to a Pinterest board or a wish list and allows for increased accuracy when quoting a trip and can even be shared with a client during the planning process.

10.  In addition to the new features of CP Maxx, Cruise Planners is the first brand in the travel franchise industry to offer Amazon Alexa skills. Cruise Planners designed two skills, one for the brand’s agents and the other for its customers. Developed in-house by Cruise Planners’ award-winning technology team, the Alexa skills are designed to be yet another great benefit of working with a Cruise Planners travel agent.

11.  The consumer Alexa skill is called “Cruise Planners” and allows travelers to ask Alexa about their upcoming trips, cruise line information, ships, and more. The agent skill is called “CP Maxx” and enables Cruise Planners’ travel agents to exclusively run their business with a voice-activated virtual assistant.

12.  Michelle Fee, CEO of Cruise Planners, said, “Just as our franchise owners rely on technology to run their business, we know that technology is essential to how their clients book travel and if we can think of it, our IT team can build it. We are proud to say Cruise Planners has kept up with the fast-paced world of technology and we are not slowing down. We want to be the high-tech solution, so our Cruise Planners agents can be the high-touch ingredient to better serve their customers.”

Company History

13.  Cruise Planners was founded in 1994 by Michelle Fee along with Lynn Corn and Michael Davis in Coral Springs, Florida. At the time, Fee was a young mother and travel agent, while Corn and Davis were travel industry veterans. The three founders wanted to share their passion for travel, as well as their knowledge, with others who wanted to become successful travel agents. Franchising started in 1999.

14.  Just before Corn and Davis retired from Cruise Planners in 2007, their shares of the company were purchased by Palm Beach Capital. In 2013, Fee, who was then (and still is) the CEO of Cruise Planners, CFO Tom Kruszewski, and COO Vicky Garcia joined together to purchase the company back from Palm Beach Capital. Cruise Planners remains a privately-held company today and has grown to become the largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the United States. The brand is also an official American Express Travel Representative.

Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500

15.  Cruise Planners ranked No. 60 on Entrepreneur’s 2018 Franchise 500 list.

Section II – Estimated Costs

• Please click here for detailed estimates of Cruise Planners franchise costs, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2018 FDD.

Section III – Initial Franchise Fee, Royalty Fee, Marketing Fee, and Other Fees

• Please click here for detailed information on Cruise Planners’ initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2018 FDD.

Section IV – Number of Franchised and Company-Owned Outlets

Franchised

2015

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  1,795
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  2,105
• Net Change:  +310

2016

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  2,105
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  2,350
• Net Change:  +245

2017

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  2,350
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  2,569
• Net Change:  +219

Company-Owned

2015

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  1
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  1
• Net Change:  0

2016

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  1
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  1
• Net Change:  0

2017

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  1
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  1
• Net Change:  0

Section V – Financial Performance Representations (Item 19, 2018 FDD) and Analysis

• This Item 19 provides a snapshot of some of the historical sales information for the period 1/1/2017 through 12/31/2017 for those franchise outlets that were (1) active as of 12/31/2017; (2) in operation for at least 12 months; and (3) whose Total Sales were greater than $10,000 as of 12/31/2017 (the “Represented Outlets”).

• These factors indicate that franchise outlets were actively operating, and the franchisees were actively promoting their businesses.

• The Represented Outlets do not include outlets that began or discontinued operations in 2017. The Represented Outlets do not include Cruise Planners’ company-owned outlet.

• The total number of Represented Outlets as of December 31, 2017 was 1,662. The total number of franchised outlets as of December 31, 2017 was 2,569.

• Of the excluded franchise outlets, the number of new franchise outlets that began operating in 2017 was 430; and the number of franchise outlets whose Total Sales were less than $10,000 in 2017 was 477.

Average Total Sales of Represented Outlets

• The table below provides the average 2017 Total Sales information for 5 different levels of the Represented Outlets. Based on their Total Sales for 2017, Group 1 represents the highest performing franchisees and Group 5 represents the lowest performing franchisees.

• Total Sales means the aggregate gross revenues for departed travel bookings and related products and services, in the applicable year, as reported to Cruise Planners by its franchisees through its CRM system.

Group 1