SEATTLE, July 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/
-- Fathom™, the pioneer in social impact travel, today
announced its complete catalog of offerings for travel
professionals and group travel planners for 2016. To celebrate the
inaugural year of Fathom, which begins sailing on April 10, 2016, travel professionals are invited
to become Fathom Founder agencies to immediately receive a generous
15 percent commission on all bookings made between now and
October 15, 2015. In addition, the
company unveiled a number of group rates and offers for
Dominican Republic itineraries
that are booked now until October 15,
2015.
Pioneered by Fathom, impact travel offers mindful,
purpose-driven activities and programs that enable travelers to
make a real impact on the people in the communities they visit –
starting with the Dominican
Republic in April 2016 and
with Cuban cultural exchange itineraries intended to begin
May 2016. Carnival Corporation is in
active discussions and plans to work with the appropriate
authorities in Cuba so that Cuban
approval is granted. This is an exciting moment in travel history
as Fathom for the first time combines the convenience of at-sea
travel with authentic, long-term systematic impact activities at a
scale not seen before. During the 2016 season, travelers will take
part in the first wave of an ongoing Fathom impact experience to
help facilitate and sustain educational, environmental and economic
development programs to meet the needs of communities along the
northern coast in the Dominican
Republic. In Cuba, Fathom
intends to operate travel itineraries for the purpose of providing
cultural, artistic, faith-based and humanitarian exchanges between
American and Cuban citizens.
"The audience for this type of travel is big, growing and
passionate, but opportunities to book impact travel experiences are
limited, as well as hard to identify, piece together and schedule,"
said David Drier, vice president,
sales for Fathom. "Fathom makes the experience easy, safe,
convenient – and most importantly, rewarding and meaningful for
both the travelers and the communities they visit. "Research
indicates that nearly 40 percent of the individuals who will book a
social impact trip on Fathom might otherwise never have chosen to
cruise. We believe Fathom may open up an entirely new potential
revenue stream for travel professionals."
Attractive Offers & Incentives Available for a Limited
Time
To help travel professionals and group travel planners
capitalize on this new and growing market of social impact
travelers, Fathom has opened for booking its lineup of 2016 social
impact travel itineraries. Highlights of Fathom offerings for
travel professionals and group travel planners include:
- Between now and October 15, 2015,
take advantage of a simple 15 percent commission of base fare on
all bookings during this time period.
- To qualify for the 15 percent commission, join the growing
number of Fathom Founder's Circle honorary member agencies by
visiting www.Fathom.org and clicking FOUNDER.
- Additional details regarding the benefits of membership in the
Fathom Founder's Circle will be available in fall 2015; to qualify,
at least one booking must be under deposit by October 15, 2015.
- Book travelers on a 14-night Dominican Republic and Cuba combination back-to-back departures and
receive a 10 percent discount off the cruise fare for each
departure.
Act soon to secure group allocations with Fathom and to take
advantage of special group booking incentives, including a number
of opportunities to enhance the value of the bookings as well as
personalize the group offer. Group pricing and policies are
available for both the Dominican
Republic and Cuba
departures and include:
- A $25 bonus commission per
traveler for the first and second traveler in the cabin for groups
blocked by October 15.
- A "1 for 15" tour escort offer, crediting groups with an
average cruise fare (excluding NCF and TF&PE) for every 15
double or single occupancy paid travelers booked within a group
(credit applied against the 16th traveler). Maximum of
eight tour escort credits per group.
- A $50 USD per-traveler shipboard
credit for first and second traveler in an interior or ocean view
stateroom; or a $100 USD per-traveler
shipboard credit for first and second travelers in a balcony
stateroom or a suite.
For the Dominican Republic
only, an enhanced tour escort credit promotion is available for
Dominican Republic itineraries,
providing a "1 for 9" tour escort ratio for groups blocked by
Oct. 15 (credit applied toward the
tenth traveler).
Simplified Pricing Structure Streamlines Fathom Booking
Process
Similar to its goal of making impact travel experiences easy for
travelers, Fathom ensured a simplified fare structure to make it
easier for travel professionals to market and sell the Fathom
experience. The simplified pricing structure is based on travel
professional, group travel planner and consumer feedback,
indicating traditional cruise line fare structures are too
complicated and make it difficult to book travel.
Fathom has consolidated the number of core fare options into
four straightforward categories based on the type of stateroom,
including: interior; exterior ocean-view; balcony; and suite. The
company also has streamlined pricing for single, double and triple
occupancy, offering competitive pricing formulas to entice
travelers to experience Fathom during its inaugural 2016 season.
Pricing details include:
- Triple and Quad Pricing: 50 percent discount off per-person
double occupancy price (all categories).
- Single Supplement: 150 percent of per-traveler double occupancy
price for interior, exterior ocean-view and balcony staterooms; 200
percent per traveler double occupancy price for suites.
In addition, Fathom is bringing back an industry favorite to
provide additional options for travelers interested in
participating in social impact travel experiences. Fathom's Single
Traveler Share Program makes the Fathom experience available to an
entire group of individual travelers who may be traveling alone and
looking to share the cost of a double-occupancy stateroom. As part
of its Single Traveler Share program, Fathom guarantees single
travelers it will match individuals with other single travelers of
the same gender who are interested in the same type of staterooms
(interior and ocean view only). If Fathom cannot find a suitable
roommate, it will not charge the traveler the single supplement
fare even if the passenger travels alone in the stateroom (the
single traveler is guaranteed the per-traveler double occupancy
fare of 100 percent of fare vs. 150 percent).
"Working with travel professionals for most of my career, I have
seen firsthand the tremendous impact agents and planners have on
the overall success of any travel business," said Drier. "It is
exciting to be part of a new company on the ground floor of an
entirely new category of travel because it gives us incredible
flexibility to create from scratch the very best pricing and fare
structure – combined with a rich commission and incentive program –
to help our travel professional partners market and sell our unique
travel experience. I look forward to growing our businesses
together."
Pioneering Social Impact Travel with Caribbean
Itineraries
Launched earlier this year by Carnival Corporation (NYSE/LSE:
CCL; NYSE: CUK) as its 10th global brand, Fathom is a
purpose-driven company enabling travelers to immerse, learn, serve
and flourish while making enduring, sustainable contributions.
Fathom is developing lasting collaboration with local organizations
to enable systematic, long-term educational, environmental and
economic development benefits in its partner countries. Beginning
in April 2016, Fathom will make its
maiden voyages to the Dominican
Republic and intends to begin sailing to Cuba in May
2016.
After the inaugural April month of voyages to the Dominican Republic, Fathom intends to offer
both Dominican and Cuban itineraries on a systematic and regular
basis. Travelers will have the opportunity to choose from two
destinations and a range of activities – from social impact in the
Dominican Republic and educational
and cultural exchanges in both countries designed to have a
positive, transformative effect on the lives of the travelers.
Fathom expects to attract 37,000 annual travelers who collectively
could spend a total of more than 100,000 days a year either
volunteering or immersing in educational and cultural exchanges in
local communities.
Fathom will depart on weekly seven-day voyages from PortMiami
aboard the MV Adonia, a 710-passenger vessel redeployed from
Carnival Corporation's P&O Cruises (UK) brand and ideal for
delivering an intimate onboard experience. Departure dates for
seven-day voyages departing on Sundays roundtrip from Miami during 2016 include:
- Dominican Republic:
Apr. 10, Apr.
17, Apr. 24, May 8, May 22,
June 5, June
19, July 3, July 17, July 31,
Aug. 14, Aug.
28, Sept. 11, Sept. 25
- Cuba:
May 1, May
15, May 29, June 12, June 26,
July 10, July
24, Aug. 7, Aug. 21, Sept. 4,
Sept. 18, Oct.
2
"Fathom looks forward to serving our travel professional
partners and welcoming their clients as they embark on a
transformative journey of love in action, self-discovery and
community building alongside fellow travelers and local citizens in
the Dominican Republic and
Cuba," said Tara Russell, president of Fathom and global
impact lead for Carnival Corporation. "Working with our
on-the-ground Dominican and Cuban partners, we intend to create
experiences where travelers will flourish in the communities they
visit and locals will meet new friends and make lasting
connections. Our goal is that travelers' lives be meaningfully
enriched through the opportunities to immerse, learn, serve and
flourish while at the same time developing life-long friendships
and relationships with fellow travelers and with new local
friendships in the destinations visited."
Prices for the seven-day trips to the Dominican Republic start at $974 per person, excluding taxes, fees and port
expenses and including all meals on the ship, onboard social impact
immersion experiences, three on-shore social impact activities and
related supplies. Prices will vary by season.
Prices for seven-day itineraries to Cuba start at $1,800 per person, excluding taxes, fees and port
expenses and including all meals on the ship, onboard social impact
immersion experiences and certain on-the-ground cultural immersion
activities. Prices will vary by season.
All terms and conditions are valid as of July 14, 2015 and subject to change. To learn
more and to join the growing number of Fathom Founder's Circle
members, and for a complete list of updated terms and conditions,
travel professionals are invited to visit www.Fathom.org or call
Fathom toll free at 1-855-9Fathom (1-855-932-8466). They also may
contact salessupport@Fathom.org for sales opportunities or
groups@Fathom.org for group opportunities.
About Fathom
Fathom™, a new brand in the
Carnival Corporation family, is the pioneer of impact travel, a new
category of travel that will offer consumers authentic, meaningful
travel experiences to work alongside locals as they tackle
community needs. Fathom is unique in that it leverages Carnival
Corporation's expertise and scale as well as its own one-of-a-kind
business model to create long-term collaboration with its partner
countries, allowing for sustained impact and lasting development.
Fathom will serve the sizable and growing market of potential
social impact travel consumers – approximately one million North
Americans – in addition to global travelers already
pursuing service-oriented travel experiences worldwide.
Sailing aboard the MV Adonia, a 710-passenger vessel redeployed
from Carnival Corporation's P&O Cruises (UK), Fathom will
mobilize, educate and equip up to 700 travelers on every trip
allowing for thousands of impact activity days per week – and tens
of thousands of travelers a year to communities of promise,
providing unprecedented scale for impact.
For more information about Fathom or to book a voyage, contact
your Travel Professional, call Fathom toll-free at 1-855-932-8466
or visit www.Fathom.org.
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SOURCE Fathom