A 2024 Wave Season Guide for Travel Advisors [+ Free Marketing Calendar Template]
The tide of wave season is upon us, and besides ample opportunity for cruising puns, wave season is essentially a de facto travel industry holiday where cruise suppliers offer the best cruise deals of the year for advisors to pass along to their avid cruisers.
While wave season is a boon for travel advisor bookings. But for travel advisors who are already busy keeping up with demand, keeping afloat in this seasonal cruise craze can be challenging.
In addition to giving you a “what and when” primer of wave season for surfing noobs, this blog will also provide the tools you need to help calm the waters. Here’s the table of contents for what we'll cover!
⭐️HAR Highlights⭐️
- What is Wave Season?
- When is Wave Season?
- 2024 Wave Season Timeline for Travel Advisors
- Wave Season is a Big Deal for Travel Advisors. Here’s Why.
- [FREE DOWNLOAD!] Wave Season Marketing Calendar Template
- Closing
What is Wave Season?
Wave Season is the busiest booking period for the travel industry (especially cruises). This is when cruise suppliers launch their best deals and promotions for the upcoming year.
While Wave Season focuses on cruise bookings (no-brainer!), this is also a busy booking time for other types of travel. So, even if you’re not a cruise specialist, don’t sleep during wave season.
In the consumer-facing traveler world, Wave Season typically starts in the New Year and lasts for a few weeks (or even months). But for you, the fearless travel advisor, Wave Season starts well before that time frame and ends well after.
Don't believe me? Just take a look at our Travel Agent Wave Season Marketing Calendar to prove it. (Psst, download it here!)
Read on to learn more!
When is Wave Season, for Travel Advisors?
When is wave season? The short answer to this is, January through Marchish, peaking early Jan. to midFebruary.
Doable right? It totally is! But for travel advisors, Wave Season is much longer. So. Much. Longer. Here’s why.
1. Advisors need to be prepared for extended promotions that might start as early Dec. and go as late as April/May, (yeah, it’s more like two seasons!)
2. Advisors need to start preparing their marketing and communications well before Wave Season starts so they’re not blindsided by the wave craze.
Let’s break it down.
2024 Wave Season Timeline (for Travel Advisors)
So let’s break it down (because it’s not too helpful for me to essentially tell you that wave season adheres to a public school calendar with a few months off in summer).
July-Nov., 2024: Getting Game Ready
Late summer and fall is a good time to get game ready for wave season. What do I mean by this? It’s a good time to take stock of any holes you might want to fill in terms of cruise education, and supplier networking.
This a great time to plug into events, podcasts, webinars, and supplier training so you’re on the pulse of what’s new in cruising. Also, you want to make new connections or rekindle old connections with your BDMs now, so you already have a rapport established before wave season gets really busy for them (and you!).
This is also a good time to evaluate and update your Wave Season marketing materials so you can be more nimble in your client communications when the time comes.
Here’s what to focus on July - November:
- Networking, reconnecting, or establishing new connections with cruise suppliers/BDMs
- Researching via cruise focused events & FAMs for supplier/ product updates to hone your expertise
- Attend events, webinars, trainings, or FAMs to hone your knowledge on destinations, suppliers, and product updates.
- Audit, update, or create your email communications: Check your CRM to segment your client list by cruise interest to make sure your communications are targeted
- Draft/schedule wave week social media posts and emails
- Plan any special wave week events or webinars for your clients, this is the time to get your gears turning (and space reserved!)
Nov. to late dec., 2024: Wave Season Hype
Now that you’ve honed your cruise knowledge, it’s time to hype your clients. Let them know what’s coming down the pipeline. Reach out on social and email to get their minds dreaming and scheming.
Send out a brief survey to see what they’re most excited about in cruising to get their wheels turning and to help you segment your client list so your upcoming communications are more targeted and meaningful!
You got your learn on, so share with them what you’re most excited about. Chances are, that will light them up too!
Here’s what to focus on during this time:
- Check the stats on your wave season hype campaign. Make adjustments or do resends to optimize engagement.
- Review your client CRM and segment for targeted marketing based on your engagement
- Ramp up social media posts that spark travel inspiration and highlight your newly gained knowledge as a cruise expert to highlight your USP (unique selling point). Time to put that learning and research to work!
- Draft and schedule a “sneak peek” social/email campaign on upcoming or early release wave season offers.
Dec. 26, 2024: Potential Early Start for Some Suppliers
Cruise suppliers want to get in on those sweet sweet Black Friday specials or postChristmas holiday deals. So while many offers may officially start in the New Year, some may get a jump on it.
Here’s a few things to focus on (remember that you don’t have to do it all!)
- Share early offers to your targeted list
- Send end of year greetings with a hint about upcoming deals
- Get your client vacation
TIP: Make sure you’re following/subscribing to the suppliers you want to focus on so you can flex your value as a travel advisor to your clients by informing them of the latest offers most relevant to them.
January 1, 2024: Traditional start of Wave Season
This is when bookings will really rev up and your phone will “blow up” (as the kids say) with customer inquiries.
This is when the gates are open and the horses are off. You’ll be sending your wave seasons specials to your targeted client list via email and posting your awesome social media campaign.
Here’s what you can focus on during this time:
- Send Wave Season kickoff email to all clients.
- Post Wave Season announcements and specials on social.
- Send daily (or whatever frequency you prefer!) deal highlights on social media and email.
- Host a Wave Season webinar or Facebook Live event (if applicable).
TIP: Make sure client qualify forms are tight so you can optimize your booking process and put a lid on needless back-and-forth client communication
Mid-February 2024: Peak period starts winding down
Rest easier, my friend. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and you’ll look back at a bonkers Q1 with all your bookings!
Here’s what you can focus on during this time:
- Send midWave Season email highlighting bestselling deals
- Conduct follow-ups with interested clients
- Send "Last Chance" emails for expiring deals
- Reach out to clients who engaged but haven't booked
March 1, 2024: Traditional end of Wave Season
While this marks a "conventional" end of wave season, there may still be straggling promotions (kind like a black Friday for wave season). Regardlss, you’ll be reveling in the glory of your Wave Season bookings and turning your attention to the client touchpoints you want to provide between booking and travel.
Phew, you made it! Marketing and booking for wave season have now been downgraded to tidepool status. You’ll still be supporting clients and booking a few last-minute deals, but by June, you should be about ready to go on a cruise of your own before you repeat the entire process again.
But not so fast. Here’s the post wave season tasks to focus on:
- Send thank you emails to clients who booked (if it’s not a part of your workflow already!)
- Post Wave Season wrapup/last chance on social media
- Plan follow-up campaigns for clients who didn't book
- Analyze booking data and campaign performance
- Make a list of what you want to do differently for your campaigns next year so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Wave Season is a Big Deal for Travel Advisors. Here’s Why.
You don’t need me to tell you that Wave Season is a big deal. You know it is! That’s why you’re reading this blog!
But here’s a few reasons why using the Wave Seasons timeline can help optimize your workflow and maximize your bookings.
- Increased Booking Volume: Many clients are ready to plan their yearly travels after the holiday season.
- Competitive Deals: Suppliers offer their most attractive promotions, making it easier to close sales.
- Commission Opportunities: Higher booking volumes can lead to increased commissions and potential override bonuses.
- Client Engagement: It's a perfect time to reengage with existing clients and attract new ones.
Even if you’re not a cruise specialist, wave season is a big deal. Why? Because wave season also follows a general timeline for traveler decisionmaking for vacations in the upcoming year.
I was about to say that unless you book strictly corporate travel, don’t sleep on Wave Season. But even corporate travel can include incentive trips and seminars at sea, so, no. No travel advisor can sleepwalk through wave season. Don’t miss the boat on wave season! (That’s for you, punlover.)
Wave Season Marketing Calendar Template [Free Download]
To help you maximize Wave Season opportunities, here's a customizable marketing event calendar. Adjust the dates and activities to fit your agency's needs and clientele!
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Closing: Time to Disembark!
Wave Season is your time to shine as a travel advisor. By preparing thoroughly and developing a clear marketing plan, you'll be filling those berths in no time! Heck! Maybe you'll even have more time to go on a cruise of your own with all the time you'll save from laying down your Wave Season infrastructure!
This is just the beginning! I'd love to hear from you for all your Wave Season tips and tricks. Drop a note in the comments or reach out Hello@HostAgencyReviews to drop us a line! Happy booking!
