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Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel representative, is making room in its trophy case for a few more awards.

As the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the travel industry, Cruise Planners has received the following awards from cruise lines and travel partners in the first quarter of 2014:

• Outstanding Top Producer, 2013, Insight Vacations
• Outstanding Partnership, 2013, Disney 
• 2014 Platinum Member of the 500 Club for Sales Excellence, Funjet Vacations, Southwest Vacations, United Vacations and Blue Sky Tours Hawaii
• Four awards from Sandals:
  1. Top 10 Travel Agencies
  2. Top Club Sandals Travel Agencies
  3. Top Travel Agency Branch
  4. Best of the Best Awards, Southeast         

Pictured L to R: Brian Shultz, VP of Information Technology; Laura Blanco, Director of Sales; Michelle Fee, CEO and Co-founder; Tom Kruszewski, CFO and Co-owner

“Winning awards is something we always strive for and allows us to demonstrate our strength in the industry,” said Vicky Garcia, COO and co-owner of Cruise Planners-American Express Travel. “It’s important that our more than 900 travel franchise owners know they are part of the best travel franchise companies out there and awards such as these highlight our leadership position.”

Also, the company continues to lead the way as one of the best home-based franchises to own.

• In 2014, Cruise Planners was named the No. 2 Home-based franchise to own by Entrepreneur magazine, which is the highest ranked travel company listed. 

“The only company that ranked higher was a commercial cleaning company – and travel is much more fun,” Garcia said. “Our business is truly about creating memories for people and we are able to share our positive outlook on life through our signature ‘Cruisitude.’”

Throughout the year, Cruise Planners franchisees work diligently to grow their own small businesses every day. All of these industry honors are a reflection of the dedication that the Cruise Planners’ franchise network devotes in order to create memorable vacations for their clients.

“Cruise Planners has a unique work-from-home business model, which allows our franchisees to enjoy the work/life balance that is best for their personal satisfaction,” Garcia said. “We value each of our franchisees and ensure they have access to the best-in-class technology, award-winning marketing and our strong industry partnerships so they can outperform year after year.”

Stay in Touch: Media can stay up-to-date with Cruise Planners by visiting our media room, following us on Twitter @Cruisitude or on Facebook. For additional information or to make reservations, vacationers should locate a travel advisor near them. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit our franchise site.