SEATTLE — Expedia Cruises has launched a new suite of tools designed to support Canadian cruise lines, franchise partners and vacation consultants and ensure a seamless process when searching for, choosing and distributing cruises.

With the help of these tools, partners can also identify new and evolving demand trends, a factor especially important during this period of recovery. Although data shows substantial pent-up demand, cleanliness, regulations, testing and vaccine rollout remain key factors of the industry’s re-start.

Among Expedia Cruises’ new tools is the Cruise Search Results (CRS) agent view, or grid view, which offers and agent-focused experience to provide efficiency when shopping and comparing cruises for customers. The Port of Call Filter allows partners to specify a particular port for itineraries returned in the search results and a new Promotion Filter allows vacation consultants to sort inventory for promotions such as member-only pricing deals.

Enhancements have also been made to the Date-Picker, allowing navigation across years and the updated Itinerary Filter combines the functionality of the previous destination and itinerary filters, allowing partners to search for multiple cruise itineraries.

“Boosted by encouraging search data at the end of last year and January this year, we want to equip our cruise partners with the best possible technology to allow them to harness demand and ensure repeat customers when travellers are sailing again,” says Matthew Eichhorst, president of Expedia Cruises.

Expedia Cruises has also included ‘Local Vacation Consultants,’ to help travellers make informed decisions based on local knowledge and expertise. As Expedia Group’s data indicates, when agents handle bookings, the transaction size is typically larger as travellers will consider purchasing premium options and destinations farther away.

The introduction of these new tools coincides with Expedia Cruises’ wider focus on an omni-channel strategy that brings cruise supply onto one platform. Launched at the end of last year and continuing its rollout into 2021, it consolidates every point of purchase across Expedia Group’s offline and online cruise inventory. The move also allows cruise line partners to better understand and target different demographics, enabling enhanced personalization.

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