SAN DIEGO, Aug. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest leisure travel company, was honored by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) with the 2017 ASTA Supplier Partner of the Year Award for its commitment and dedication to travel agents and lasting contributions to the global travel professional industry. ASTA's president and CEO, Zane Kerby, presented the company with the award at the ASTA Global Convention 2017 in San Diego following a keynote address by Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation, during which he highlighted the key role of travel agents in growing demand for cruise vacations.
The ASTA Supplier Partner of the Year Award was established to recognize the partner who has impressed the agency community most by offering the best service and by helping agencies with attractive agency compensation and creative pricing. ASTA selected Carnival Corporation as this year's recipient based on the company's outstanding support and commitment to ASTA and the agency community, supporting the trade organization's critical mission of industry advocacy and keeping the travel advisor channel vibrant.
"Travel agent professionals have been and continue to be extremely crucial to our success as an industry, and we are committed to ensuring our agent partners have the tools they need to be successful 'matchmakers' in pairing their clients with the best cruise line and ship for a vacation that exceeds all expectations," said Donald. "When our agent partners understand the psychographics of our brands and pair that with what they know about their clients, they can guide people to the right cruise experience and help create happy cruisers for life – and that is our common objective. We thank both ASTA and the entire agent community for teaming with our 10 leading global brands to help drive our collective growth."
Carnival Corporation and its brands have established several travel agent-focused programs – like Carnival Cruise Line's "Agentpalooza" – to help travel professional partners better understand and then convey each line's offerings, specialties and differentiators, and to equip them with the tools they need to be successful.
"We are thrilled to recognize Carnival Corporation and CEO Arnold Donald as the ASTA Supplier Partner of the Year," said Kerby. "Carnival Corporation and its brands understand that travel advisors are a critically important distribution channel who can help build lifelong advocates for the fast-growing cruise sector, and that a partnership approach with sharing of tools and resources is necessary to help agents be the most successful they can be. From sponsoring our consumer research each year, to launching bonus commission programs, the company's leadership continues to build on its track record of helping agents grow their business and better understand today's traveler."
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is the world's largest leisure travel company and among the most profitable and financially strong in the cruise and vacation industries, with a portfolio of 10 dynamic brands that include nine of the world's leading cruise lines. With operations in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK), as well as Fathom, the corporation's immersion and enrichment experience brand.
Together, these brands operate 103 ships with 231,000 lower berths visiting over 700 ports around the world, with 17 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2018 and 2022. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only dual listed company in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.
In 2017, Fast Company recognized Carnival Corporation as being among the "Top 10 Most Innovative Companies" in both the design and travel categories. Fast Company specifically recognized Carnival Corporation for its work in developing Ocean Medallion™, a high-tech wearable device that enables the world's first interactive guest experience platform capable of transforming vacation travel into a highly personalized and elevated level of customized service.
Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com, www.fathom.org, www.hollandamerica.com, www.princess.com, www.seabourn.com, www.aida.de, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com, www.pocruises.com.au, and www.pocruises.com.
About ASTA
ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents) members represent 80 percent of all travel sold in the United States through the travel agency distribution channel. Together with hundreds of internationally based members, it is the leading global advocate for travel agents, the travel industry and the traveling public. ASTA's history of travel industry advocacy traces back to its founding in 1931 when it launched with the mission to facilitate the business of selling travel through effective representation, shared knowledge and the enhancement of professionalism. For more information, visit ASTA.org.
ASTA's sister association, The National Association of Career Travel Agents, represents a professional community of independent travel agents ready to assist the traveling public.
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation: Roger Frizzell, Carnival Corporation, rfrizzell@carnival.com, (305) 406-7862; Mike Flanagan, LDWWgroup, mike@ldwwgroup.com, (727) 452-4538; ASTA Media Contact: Erica Richter, ASTA, erichter@asta.org, (586) 604-9226
