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Carnival's Donald opens CruiseOne/Cruises Inc. national meet

Christopher Racioppi
WTH's Brad Tolkin welcomes Arnold Donald to the podium
Arnold Donald talked about the importance of travel agents, fielded questions and even danced 'The Wobble' on stage at Sunday's opening session of CruiseOne and Cruises Inc.'s 2014 National Conference aboard Regal Princess.

The Carnival Corp. & plc president and ceo was returning to the ship he had disembarked Thursday morning in Fort Lauderdale after its Wednesday night naming to zip over to Italy for Costa Diadema's christening in Genoa Friday evening.

CruiseOne and Cruises Inc., part of World Travel Holdings, have their largest attendance at a national conference—more than 900 people, according to Drew Daly, general manager of network engagement & performance for CruiseOne and Cruises Inc.

Donald discussed the importance of travel agents and Carnival’s support of them, direct business strategies and the variety of promotions available in today’s competitive cruise industry. He also answered questions directly from agents in the audience, such as 'What incentives are you giving to customers who book early to compensate for times when there are fare reductions after a final booking?'

The week-long national conference focuses on the personal and professional development of agents with the theme of 'GROWTH—Gaining Relationships and Opportunities through WTH.' Agents will be attending interactive workshops, hearing motivational speakers, participating in team-building exercises and conversing with key executives from World Travel Holdings, cruise lines and land vendors.