Michelle Fee Holds the Honor of Most Influential Travel Agency Executive in the Florida 500 for the Second Year in a Row

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., Sept. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- For the second year in a row, Michelle Fee, CEO and founder of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is recognized in Florida Trend's Florida 500 list. The power list highlights 500 of the most influential executives across major industries statewide. The year-long research initiative provides an engaging look at Florida executives who are movers and shakers within their community and beyond.

Fee is named within the hospitality and tourism category among other influential business leaders, including:

• Arnold Donald, CEO, Carnival Corporation
• Frank J. Del Rio, president and CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings
• Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO, Celebrity Cruises
• Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises
• Tom McAlpin, president and CEO, Virgin Voyages

Pioneering the Nation's Largest Travel Advisor Network

Cruise Planners has transformed since its emergence, 25 years ago. Fee's visionary leadership has taken an unconventional start-up concept from its inception to what is now the largest nationwide network of home-based travel advisors. With numerous advancements, award-winning innovations and industry-rumbling technology, Fee's essence has been at the forefront of it all.

"It was really important to me when I founded Cruise Planners that our team always evolved to stay on top and continue developing leading industry technology," says Fee. "Everything was created with a commitment to our travel agents and we concentrated on giving our franchise owners amazing tools they need for success and marketing combined with technology called MarTech."

What does Cruise Planners Represent?

Cruise Planners headquarters, affectionately named Home Office, based in South Florida is a powerhouse of marketing, technology and business development teams with a main goal in mind: Supporting its nationwide network of 2,500+ travel advisors from the ground up. The business model offers aspiring entrepreneurs with a love for travel, an opportunity to do what they love with the full support of a franchise system behind them. The record-breaking company continues to grow and recently relocated to a new, modern office to accommodate their rapid growth and create an optimal work environment for its team members.

New Spaces - Onward and Upward

The energetic theme of Cruisitude®, the company's coined term describing a positive state of mind combined with a passion for travel, radiates from every corner of the new Cruise Planners Home Office, located in Coral Springs, Florida. Fee with COO and co-owner Vicky Garcia, designed the unique space to incorporate vibrant hues creating a happy medium between work and play for team members to connect and freely collaborate. The award-winning Home Office now holds its 130 team members including plenty of open space with anticipated growth in mind.

"Michelle is a standout CEO and leads by example. Cruise Planners fun-loving and positive culture embodies Michelle's core values of putting family first and her continued commitment to our franchisees and the community," says Garcia. "I'm so proud of her – she's not only my business partner but also my best friend, mentor, partner in crime and travel buddy all in one – together we've accomplished so much and I'm excited for what the future holds."

Fee is a native Floridian and believes in corporate social responsibility and giving back within the community in order to create a positive change. CP Cares™ – Cruise Planners' philanthropic non-profit organization – started in 2008 as a humble effort to support causes that are near and dear to our hearts and has to date raised more than $2 million dollars through various fundraising efforts benefiting local, national and international charities.

Cruise Planners actively supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's goal of a world without blood cancer. Fee was named the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Woman of the Year in 2014 by the South Florida Chapter after raising a record-breaking $292,000 for cancer research.

The most recent CP Cares campaign donated supplies and money to the Bahamas devastated in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. Cruise Planners Home Office Team members, franchise owners and industry partners have overwhelmingly supported the initiative across many support channels.

About Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative

Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is the nation's largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the travel industry. Cruise Planners operates a network of more than 2,500 franchise owners who independently book vacation and travel experiences for their clients. Headquartered in Coral Springs, Fla. since 1994, Cruise Planners supports its network of franchise owners with innovative marketing, booking and technology tools, professional development and training with the industry's top executives. Cruise Planners and has been named the No. 1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 16 consecutive years and was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology. Consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by the South Florida Business Journal, Cruise Planners is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, has been ranked as the No. 1 travel franchise by Franchise Business Review for 6 years and is recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel.

Cruise Planners has achieved top producer status with every major cruise line including Royal Caribbean International, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Viking Cruises, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, as well as many land vendors such as Travel Impressions and Sandals and Beaches Resorts. As an American Express Travel Representative, Cruise Planners maintains a reputation for quality and offers exclusive American Express Travel benefits such as Pay with Points. Cruise Planners has earned the American Express Travel Representative Excellence Award since 2004, as well as numerous marketing, technology, franchise and philanthropy awards including an International Franchise Association FranTech award for innovation, Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly and Travvy Awards from travAlliance media. Cruise Planners celebrates diversity and supports our troops as one of the Top 50 franchises for Veterans according to GI magazine, the Top Franchise Brand for Veterans according to Franchise Business Review, one of the Top 25 franchises for African-Americans by Black Enterprise magazine and a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. Visit our website, http://www.cruiseplanners.com, for more information or to view the complete list of awards and honors.

Stay in Touch: Media can stay up-to-date with Cruise Planners by visiting our media room or Socially Yours page for social media updates and handles. 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 the Cruise Planners franchise website.

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Media Contact:
Caitlin Gardner, Director of Corporate Communications and Digital Strategy
Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative
[email protected]
954-344-8060

SOURCE Cruise Planners