WASHINGTON, DC — CLIA says its Meetings & Events at Sea Certificate Program, now available online, will help travel professionals become experts in booking events onboard cruise ships.

The certificate program, designed in partnership with Meetings Professional International (MPI), explores the advantages of hosting groups and events on cruise ships as opposed to traditional venues.

Agents can get insight into incentive trips and examine logistics and variables to consider when hosting an event at sea, from the comfort of their own computers, says CLIA. The program also explores the types of meetings or events that should be conducted onboard, in addition to offering valuable cost comparisons.

“At CLIA, we are always looking for ways to make our training more accessible for our travel agents across North America,” said Stephani McDow, Director, Membership & Professional Development. “We’ve already had great success delivering this certificate program at our live training events and we are excited to be able to offer agents the opportunity to take this course online, and at their own pace.”

This is the first certificate program to be offered as an online course for CLIA Travel Agent Members, and has been previously offered as live-training. CLIA members receive US$100 member savings on the online version, which is available at $199 for non-members and $99 for members.

CLIA Certificate programs supplement CLIA’s existing Certification Programs to help travel professionals expand their knowledge of travel and cruise specific topics to grow their clientele and sales.

For more information about CLIA Certificate and Certification Programs visit cruising.org/careerseascape.