Cruise Holidays Unveils Enhanced Proprietary Software, CRUISEweb 6.0 at Annual Convention

Cruise Holidays announced the development and implementation of the new and enhanced CRUISEweb 6.0 during their Annual Convention aboard Voyager of the Seas, October 16-21, 2005. CRUISEweb is a proprietary business operations system handling all franchisees’ transactional accounting; it also includes a high-level customer relationship management function. Developed in the early 1990’s as a desktop application, the newest version has been built on a Web-based platform which will improve its function and allow for greater, highly secure access for Cruise Holidays franchisees.

CRUISEweb was created to automate the minutiae of cruise and group travel. It tracks sold and remaining inventory, captures all client information needed to complete transactions and prompts agents to perform all tasks related to each reservation, such as payments, receipt of documents and pre/post-cruise follow up calls. CRUISEweb also tracks all payments by any method and assesses all amounts owed to vendors, provides summaries or detailed reports on all aspects of payment, searches for any accounting discrepancies, creates invoices for each cruiser with summary or itemized pricing and prepares departure reports for tour conductors and escorts.

“CRUISEweb 6.0 will be an invaluable part of our operation. Along with all vendor and client side accounting, it generates all time-sensitive tasks associated with each booking,” said Peter Thomson, vice president and COO, Cruise Holidays. “This streamlined system drives the whole transactional process, which ultimately enables our franchisees the opportunity to give their clients the highest level of service and most positive buying experience.”

Features of the newly enhanced CRUISEweb 6.0 include:

• Universal and highly secure access for all Cruise Holidays franchisees
• Vastly improved user interface that presents booking information more intuitively with less navigation between different windows
• Enhanced and simplified accounting processes resulting in an easy to understand audit trail for both individual and group travel
• Web-based architecture allows for future integration with other Cruise Holidays proprietary software, keeping Cruise Holidays technologically ahead of the marketplace
• Elimination of daily data backup routines for the franchisees, and providing them with best-of-breed data stability and redundancies
• Enables franchisees and their agents to work from any location where there is Internet access

Beta testing of CRUISEweb 6.0 will begin immediately. Implementation and rollout of the new program to the entire network will take place in 2006.

Cruise Holidays is the oldest and largest cruise-specialty Retail franchise in North America, with stores in both the United States and Canada. Founded in 1984, Cruise Holidays was acquired in 2001 by Carlson Travel Group, Inc., one of the world’s largest and most respected travel franchisers. Carlson Travel Group, Inc. is a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Carlson Companies, Inc. Brands include: Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates, Cruise Holidays, Results Travel, SeaMaster Cruises, Carlson Leisure Travel Services, Carlson Vacation & Business Travel and Carlson Destination Marketing Services.