Reviewing the issue of cruise line NCF's
The past year has seen ACTA meet Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Arnold Donald to discuss the trend of increasingly rising NCF commission policies. The objective was to explore ways to address the term "NCF" in a more positive light including better terminology and opportunities to commission the cruise with both amounts combined. The bottom line is that the Travel Agent is the traveller's most trusted resource and because of this, left to carry the burden of explaining to clients what all the extra fees mean.
ASTA recently released a white paper stating that agents, in return, are compensating for the loss of NCF revenue from traditional cruise sales by increasing their sale of alternative products like river cruises and all-inclusives. As previously stated by ACTA, ASTA agrees that the cruise lines are walking a fine line with the potential of dis-incentivizing agents to sell their products. FULL STORY