July 2012 - Vacation Agent

H4
rising stars 2012
TRAVEL AGENTS continued from page 3
Kelley Moreno: Social media marketing
is vital, but there’s a gap between the vision
of using it and the reality. Moreno, 29, has
bridged that gap for Montrose (Calif.) Travel,
planning and coordinating the integration of
the agency’s website and email marketing
with social media. She has increased Montrose’s
Facebook fan base by 337 percent
since 2011. Montrose’s Twitter page has more than 2,300 followers,
and its Pinterest account generated 2 percent of its social media
referrals in its first week. Moreno’s search-engine marketing tactics
for Montrose’s corporate division generated more leads in the
first five months of 2012 than in all of 2011. Some leads have turned
into accounts that will generate an estimated $9.3 million.
Morgan Nicholson-Bishop: As a
child, Nicholson, now 30, worked in her
mother’s agency, Manassas Travel/Travel
Leaders in Salt Lake City. After college, she
worked full time at the agency, overseeing
the implementation of contracts. She then
created an after-hours call center; now
bigger agencies want to outsource their
call centers to her. Nicholson became owner/CEO in 2006, while
her mother remains director of contracting. She does a weekly
travel segment on the local ABC station, and is a regular source
for local news radio. In addition, she keeps bringing in business.
Manassas already had contracts with the EPA and U.S. Forest
Service, and has added the Department of Defense, doubling the
size of the $15 million agency.
Brian Shultz: Shultz, 34, is president
of information technology for Cruise Planners,
the top host agency and cruise-selling
powerhouse. He may not be strictly a travel
agent, but Shultz is pushing the envelope
when it comes to innovative technology in
the travel industry. Since joining Cruise Planners,
he has completely overhauled all of the
company’s technology, including a comprehensive redesign of its
web features. He created an application-programming interface
(API) that allows clients to effectively communicate and interact
with shore excursion providers. In his three years with the company,
Shultz also has rebuilt Cruise Planners’ direct booking engine
and developed backend software that helps travel agents effectively
run their businesses.
Leah Smith: Smith, 30, needed money
for a trip, so she took a bookkeeping job
at Coastline Travel, a luxury agency in
California. One day, when the phones were
ringing off the hook, Smith took a call—and
sold a $15,000 cruise. She soon became
the agency’s top cruise seller, with nearly
$2 million worth of cruises annually. She
sold cruises until she went to graduate school, getting a Masters
of Management in hospitality at Cornell. She then started Tafari
Travel, partnering with Coastline’s owner, Jay Johnson. A heavy
online component allows customers to do a lot of planning on the
agency’s website. Smith’s advice: “Sell what you love and create as
much of a niche as possible.”
CRUISE LINES
Anne Marie Ayunan: Ayunan, 32,
is online marketing manager at Uniworld
Boutique River Cruise Collection. Her responsibilities
include developing a road map
for existing and emerging digital, social and
mobile channels, and implementing online
initiatives. This has involved redesigning
and managing Uniworld’s website, online
advertising, search-engine marketing and web analytics, as well as
executing social media campaigns. Ayunan also is a volunteer for
KCRW, a National Public Radio station in Santa Monica, Calif., and
a marketing consultant with Helena Wirth Cakes, a noted bakery in
Sherman Oaks, Calif. Before entering the river-cruise industry, she
worked for Sony Music Entertainment and as an account executive
for Killer Tracks Production Music BMG.
Beth Bodensteiner: Bodensteiner, 35,
was promoted to vice president-revenue
management and product marketing for Holland
America Line as part of a corporate reorganization
following the relocation of Seabourn
to Seattle. She previously was Holland
America Line’s director of cruise marketing
for voyages, responsible for development,
pricing, marketing and communications for the company’s products
in Europe, South America, Australia/New Zealand and Asia, and
Grand Voyages around the globe. Prior to that, Bodensteiner served
as director of cruise marketing for Caribbean and North America.
Before joining Holland America Line in 2002 in the public relations
department, she worked as a program manager with Zebra Hill
Marketing in Bellevue, Wash.
Jordan Corredera: Corredera, 31, is
director and general manager of Carnival
Online, the e-commerce and digital marketing
arm for the world’s largest cruise line.
Corredera joined Carnival in 2003, holding
positions within the sales, operations and
marketing groups before establishing the
company’s first digital strategy team in January
2007. Carnival Online focuses on all aspects of the company’s
online presence, including B2B, B2C, e-commerce, mobile, social
media, digital production and analytics. Corredera also oversees
GoCCL.com, Carnival’s agent portal. In his spare time, he speaks
to small businesses and students in South Florida regarding online
marketing strategies. In addition, he is a member of the South
Florida Interactive Marketing Association.
Megan Crowley: Crowley, 33, vice
president of market research for Norwegian
Cruise Line, began working in the market
research department in 2006. Since then she
has built a strong data-driven research team,
with sophisticated research capabilities that
have helped shape the company’s marketing
and guest-experience improvement strategies.
She has been instrumental in establishing several programs
that gather and monitor feedback from guests, team members and
travel partners, feedback that has enabled better decision-making
capabilities across the organization. Prior to working in the travel
industry, Crowley held a number of positions at Procter & Gamble
and AT&T. She has a bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount
University and an MBA from the University of Southern California,
Marshall School of Business.
continued on page 6
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