MSC honours top Canadian travel partners

Five Canadian travel partners were recently honoured by MSC Cruises in the fifth Annual MSC True Partnerships’ Awards.

The 2017 MSC True Partnerships Awards are presented to MSC Cruises’ top performing North American travel partners for the year based on overall business growth in revenue and guests and continuous partnership support and innovative marketing efforts that drive increased consumer awareness.

MSC True Partnerships’ list of Canadian award winners includes:

• Canadian Retail Partner of the Year: Expedia CruiseShipCenters
• Canadian Tour Operator Partner of the Year: TravelBrands – Encore Cruises
• Travel Agent Partner Western and Central Canada: Capital World Tours
• Travel Agent Partner Ontario: UCruising of Unionville
• Travel Agent Partner Quebec and Atlantic Canada: Expedia CruiseShipCenters, Laval

“2017 proved to be an outstanding year for MSC Cruises as we introduced two brand new mega ships,” said Joe Jiffo, senior vice-president of sales, MSC Cruises USA. “Our dedicated partners in Canada have been integral to our expansion and continued success, and we’re thrilled to applaud their hard work and continued support as we enter 2018.”

“This past year in Canada was especially strong for sales, even with a weakened Loonie,” said Ian Patterson, director of business development in Canada. “We are eager to continue growth and are glad to see such positive response from partners, with a record number of agents adopting tools like MSC book to drive sales.”

“We truly value our partnership with MSC Cruises, and being recognized as the Canadian Retail Partner of the Year is a terrific accomplishment for Expedia CruiseShipCenters,” said Matthew Eichhorst, president of Expedia CruiseShipCenters. “We are incredibly excited about MSC’s planned growth, and we look forward to strengthening our relationship and achieving more success together in the future.”

In other MSC news, The Medi Telegraph is reporting that the cruise line is rumoured to have entered talks with shipbuilding firm Fincantieri for an order of four additional ships, with plans to enter the luxury cruise market.