With 23 innovations in 2026, Cruise Planners raises the bar for AI-powered travel technology, transforming how advisors research, market, sell and grow their businesses

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cruise Planners is once again setting the pace for artificial intelligence (AI) and technology innovation in the travel industry, unveiling a powerful new generation of AI-driven solutions at its annual CP World conference. With 23 innovations introduced in 2026, Cruise Planners continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, delivering sophisticated, proprietary technology designed to give its franchise owners a distinct competitive advantage.

While much of the travel industry continues to explore the possibilities of artificial intelligence, Cruise Planners is putting AI into action across nearly every aspect of an advisor’s business. From conversational vacation research and predictive sales intelligence to automated digital marketing and connected itinerary management, the company’s expanding technology ecosystem helps advisors work smarter, sell more and deliver exceptional personalized service.

The five featured innovations—Maxx Assist, Maxx Reach, Genius Agents, enhanced Trip Summary and Maxx SharePlace—represent the next evolution of Cruise Planners’ commitment to technology leadership. Unveiled before more than 1,300 travel advisors and suppliers at CP World 2026, these innovations build on an extensive suite of proprietary tools designed to keep Cruise Planners advisors ahead of the competition.

“At Cruise Planners, we don’t wait for the future of travel technology. We build it,” said Michelle Fee, CEO and Founder of Cruise Planners. “We’ve always believed that technology should be one of the greatest competitive advantages we give our franchise owners, and AI is taking that commitment to an entirely new level. While others are still talking about what AI can do, we’re delivering powerful, practical solutions that are transforming how our advisors run their businesses. From identifying the next sales opportunity to researching an entire vacation in minutes, we’re putting AI to work in ways that drive real results. Our mission is simple: to give Cruise Planners advisors the most innovative technology and the strongest competitive advantage possible.”

AI That Works. Innovation That Leads.

Maxx Assist: Revolutionizing Vacation Research with Conversational AI.
Built directly into Cruise Planners’ technology ecosystem, the AI-powered tool helps advisors research flights, transfers, pre- and post-cruise hotels, excursions, insurance quotes and more through a single conversational, natural language interface. For an existing cruise booking, Maxx Assist understands where clients are traveling and when, giving advisors a contextual starting point for building the complete trip faster, smarter and easier.

Maxx Reach: Transforming Predictive AI into Revenue Opportunities.
Each week, the AI-powered sales tool matches promotions, offers and sailings with clients based on a myriad of signals including past travel, marketing behaviors, supplier loyalty and predictive analysis. Recommendations include a Maxx Reach Score indicating the strength of the opportunity, a suggested brand, offer or sailing, and talking points to help start the conversation. Within CP Maxx, advisors can act on recommendations by sending an eCard, creating a flyer and tracking outreach.

Genius Agents: An AI-Powered Digital Marketing Workforce.
Three specialized AI-powered agents help advisors get found, build trust and stay visible. The Reputation Agent creates on-brand responses to online reviews and flags sensitive feedback for personal attention. The Search Agent optimizes local business listings to improve search visibility. The Social Agent creates and publishes on-brand content tailored to individual businesses, routing sensitive content for human review. The agents learn from advisor feedback and actions over time to refine their responses and recommendations.

Trip Summary: Redefining the Itinerary Experience.
The upgraded itinerary builder within CP Maxx introduces a refreshed interface, flexible free-form proposal sections, expanded supplier lookups, integrated hotel imagery and client-view tracking. Two-way synchronization between Trip Summary and advisor bookings reduces duplicate entry and helps keep trip information current. Advisors can also import details from any supplier confirmation for tours, hotels and flights, reducing manual entry while creating polished, comprehensive itineraries. With sophisticated new capabilities and seamless integration within CP Maxx, Trip Summary delivers a powerful itinerary-building experience that rivals standalone solutions while remaining included at no additional cost for Cruise Planners advisors.

Maxx SharePlace: Powering Collaboration Across the Cruise Planners Network.
The new resource-sharing space allows advisors to contribute and access templates, text snippets, Maxx Creator flyers, newsletter assets, information buckets and other materials created by their peers. Inspired by collaboration already taking place across the Cruise Planners network, Maxx SharePlace makes practical advisor expertise easier to share and reuse throughout the network.

Beyond AI Tools: Building the Future of the Travel Advisor Business
Cruise Planners’ technology leadership goes beyond the number of innovations it introduces. The company’s greatest differentiator is how its proprietary tools, AI-powered intelligence and marketing capabilities work together to create a smarter, more connected business environment for its franchise owners.

Through its proprietary CP Maxx platform, Cruise Planners continues to integrate artificial intelligence, predictive sales intelligence, marketing automation, booking capabilities, itinerary management and business analytics into a comprehensive technology ecosystem designed specifically for travel advisors.

From identifying the next sales opportunity with Maxx Reach and simplifying vacation research through Maxx Assist to creating seamless itineraries with Trip Summary, automating digital marketing with Genius Agents and sharing resources through Maxx SharePlace, each innovation contributes to a more efficient and connected advisor experience.

Together, these advancements represent a fundamental shift from technology that simply helps advisors complete tasks to intelligent solutions that proactively uncover opportunities, automate processes and support business growth.

Cruise Planners isn’t simply adding AI to its technology platform. It’s building an AI-powered business ecosystem designed to give its advisors a competitive advantage at every stage of their business.

An Unmatched Commitment to Technology Innovation.
The CP World announcements extend a year of innovations across consumer discovery, advisor operations and client engagement. Redesigned corporate and franchise websites support visibility and connections with travelers, while the CP Mobile redesign makes it easier for clients to find inspiration, book vacations, manage trips and reach their advisor. Direct hotel consumer booking adds another way for travelers to book through advisor digital channels.

“Every year, I think Cruise Planners can’t possibly top what they’ve already created, and then they introduce innovations like these,” said Alena Einfeldt, Cruise Planners franchise owner based in Hollywood, Florida. “What’s most exciting is how much time these AI-powered tools are going to give back to us. Between simplifying vacation research, automating marketing, and identifying new sales opportunities, we’re eliminating hours of work that used to be done manually. That means more time to connect with clients, close sales and focus on growing our businesses. It’s another example of why Cruise Planners continues to lead the industry in technology and innovation.”

Additional innovations include Flight Tracker enhancements, Ask Maxx V2, the Maxx Intelligence redesign, AI Cruise Import, AI Cruise Search, Hotel Sheets, Additional Rates, Maxx Media, the My Settings redesign and the Maxx Adventures Game. These tools expand research and selling capabilities, simplify access to business insights and marketing assets, and make training more interactive.

Cruise Planners’ specialty marketing magazines—including the River & Expedition Guide, Romance Guide and Luxury Look Book—give advisors evergreen content to inspire travelers and showcase specialized experiences. Digital editions are available at no cost through advisor websites, extending their value beyond the initial launch.

CP World Brings the “Game On” Theme to Life
CP World 2026 brings together more than 1,300 Cruise Planners advisors and suppliers in Fort Lauderdale for education, training, networking and a first look at the company’s latest innovations. With a “Game On” theme, the conference reinforces Cruise Planners’ commitment to equipping franchise owners with the technology, marketing resources and business development opportunities they need to stay ahead of the competition.

Held at the Broward County Convention Center, CP World features travel industry partners, breakout sessions, a trade show, and presentations, panels and fireside chats with senior executives from leading cruise, tour and resort brands. The experience extends beyond the convention center with ship tours, professional headshots and networking, followed by a four-night conference sailing aboard Princess Cruises’ Star Princess to Grand Turk, featuring additional educational sessions at sea.

Beyond the announcements and experiences, CP World reflects Cruise Planners’ larger vision for the future of travel—one where cutting-edge technology, AI-powered innovation and the expertise of professional travel advisors come together to create an extraordinary competitive advantage.

“Technology innovation has always been part of our DNA, and we’re accelerating that investment like never before,” said Fee. “Our advisors deserve more than tools that help them keep up. They deserve technology that puts them ahead. That’s why we continue to push boundaries, challenge what’s possible and deliver solutions that give our franchise owners an extraordinary competitive advantage. AI is transforming our industry, and Cruise Planners is committed to leading that transformation.”

With 23 innovations introduced in 2026, Cruise Planners is demonstrating that its commitment to technology leadership goes far beyond announcements. By combining powerful AI capabilities, proprietary technology, industry-leading marketing programs and comprehensive advisor education, Cruise Planners is equipping its franchise owners to work smarter, grow their businesses and deliver exceptional client experiences.

For Cruise Planners, “Game On” is more than a conference theme. It’s a commitment to staying ahead of the competition, redefining what’s possible and leading the next era of travel technology and AI innovation.

For additional information about Cruise Planners, CP World 2026 or the company’s latest technology and marketing innovations, please contact LeAnne Weekes at PR@CruisePlanners.com. 

About Cruise Planners  

Cruise Planners was founded in 1994 and is the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network. As a leader in the travel franchise industry, Cruise Planners positions a nation-wide network of 3,000 franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing programs, proprietary and cutting-edge booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industry’s top executives. The company continues to be an industry leader and was named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 18 consecutive years and was awarded by Franchise Business Review as “Best-In-Category” for 3 years.  

Cruise Planners received a 99% franchise owner satisfaction report from Franchise Business Review for 2023, 2024 and 2025. Franchise Business Review also ranked Cruise Planners #3 OVERALL on their list of Top 200 Franchises. Cruise Planners was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology, has been consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by the South Florida Business Journal, is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel.  

Visit our website, www.cruiseplanners.com, for more information or to view the complete list of awards and honors. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit https://www.cruiseplannersfranchise.com/. 

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SOURCE Cruise Planners Franchising, LLC

Five-year agreement will underpin campus, online and lifelong learning across the Van Lang ecosystem

TORONTO, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — D2L, a global leader in learning innovation, today announced that Van Lang Investment and Education Management Group Corporation (Van Lang Education Group, or VLG) has selected D2L Brightspace as a foundation for the next phase of learning innovation across its education ecosystem. VLG has become D2L’s first strategic customer in Vietnam to adopt D2L Brightspace.

VLG operates a group of education institutions in Vietnam, united by a belief that learning should evolve with people throughout their lives. For VLG, digital transformation is not simply about technology. It is about creating better ways for people to learn, connect and grow. With D2L Brightspace, VLG is taking another step toward more personalized, connected and flexible learning–across campuses, online and throughout the lifelong learning journey.

“Our partnership with D2L is not simply an investment in technology; it is an investment in how people learn,” said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thi My Dieu, President of Van Lang University. “With D2L Brightspace, we aim to create a more personalized, engaging and flexible learning environment–one that empowers our students today and supports lifelong learning for the future.”
 
Following its pilot, VLG plans to launch D2L Brightspace across its campus-based and online learning environments in September 2027, using several D2L solutions, including:

D2L Brightspace: The award-winning learning platform that makes it easier to create interactive and engaging courses, deliver more personalized learning and lift learner outcomes.D2L Lumi: VLG plans to use Lumi Chat and Lumi Tutor to enhance learning experiences for learners and educators. D2L Lumi is built in line with D2L’s responsible AI principles, designed to support ethical standards and privacy.D2L Performance+: An analytics dashboard that provides insights into learner engagement, success and retention, helping instructors make more informed decisions.H5P: A content creation tool that integrates more than 50 interactive content types to help educators deliver more engaging and accessible learning experiences directly within their courses.

“Van Lang Education Group is our first strategic client in Vietnam and that matters for improving educational experiences across the country,” said John Baker, President and CEO, D2L. “They are building an innovative learning ecosystem that spans campuses and lifelong learning. We are going to work closely together to expand opportunities for its students in Vietnam and across Southeast Asia.”

About Van Lang Education Group

Van Lang Education Group (VLG) is an education ecosystem in Vietnam, bringing together education, research, innovation and business.

Through its institutions and partnerships, VLG creates opportunities for people to learn, develop their potential and contribute meaningfully to their communities. VLG is committed to nurturing talent, expanding access to knowledge and strengthening connections between Vietnam and the global community.

The VLG ecosystem includes Van Lang University, Van Lang Global School, Phuong Dong University, Binh Duong Economics and Technology University, Van Lang Saigon College, and US Vietnam Talent International School (UTS).

Van Lang University (VLU) – www.vlu.edu.vn
 Van Lang Global School (VGS) – vgs.edu.vn
 Phuong Dong University (UPD) – www.phuongdong.edu.vn
 Binh Duong Economics and Technology University (BETU) – www.ktkt.edu.vn
 Van Lang Saigon College (VLSC) – vanlangsaigon.edu.vn
 US Vietnam Talent International School (UTS) – utschool.edu.vn

About D2L   
D2L is transforming the way the world learns, helping learners achieve more than they dreamed possible. Working closely with customers all over the world, D2L is on a mission to make learning more inspiring, engaging and human. Find out how D2L helps transform lives and delivers outstanding learning outcomes in K-12, higher education and businesses.

X: @D2L
© 2026 D2L Corporation.

The D2L family of companies includes D2L Inc., D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, D2L India Pvt Ltd, D2L Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia para Educação Ltda and D2L Sistemas de Aprendizaje Innovadores, S. D2 R.L de C.V., and H5P Group AS.

All D2L and H5P marks are owned by the D2L group of companies. Please visit D2L.com/trademarks for a list of D2L marks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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SOURCE D2L Corporation

Firmable now detects 75,317 technologies across 19 million businesses, including the back-office infrastructure that website-based technographics miss. Every detection provides critical business context and comes with verified decision-maker contacts.

SAN FRANCISCO and MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Firmable, the AI-native B2B sales platform, today launched Tech Intelligence. It shows revenue teams the software, infrastructure, cloud and AI a company runs, and links it to the company and contact data Firmable already verifies. Name a technology and get back the companies running it and the people who own it, in one step. Tech Intelligence is now available as a paid add-on, in-product, and through the Firmable MCP in Claude, ChatGPT, and Copilot.

Most B2B sales teams know who they want to sell to. Far fewer know what tech those companies already run. So reps open calls blind. They pitch accounts locked into a rival product and miss the migration and refresh moments that create pipeline. In a recent survey by Firmable of US sales teams, 71% ranked a lack of timing and context on a prospect as their biggest headache, ahead of bad contact data. Only 12% said they have a tool that solves it.

Today’s technographics tools weren’t built to close that gap. Most read only a company’s marketing website, and some look at job ads. That picks up analytics tags and the tools a company is hiring for. It misses the back-office systems that matter most to anyone selling into, alongside or against a tech stack: mail, hosting, identity, cloud and self-hosted services. And even when a team finds the right account, it still has to enrich the list in another tool to reach the right person.

“Being AI-native means we can build products that legacy data vendors can’t bolt on,” said Leigh Jasper, co-founder and co-CEO of Firmable. “Tech Intelligence is a good example. Our AI monitors 10 billion internet endpoints every week, reads four kinds of public signals, matches what it finds to 20 million businesses and joins it to verified people. It does that around the clock. You can’t get there by patching an old database. We built our data layer for AI from day one, and that’s why we can ship this depth fast. We launched our MCP in July. Now Tech Intelligence in October. Customers should expect that pace from Firmable.”

Four ways of seeing a tech stack, in one platform

Tech Intelligence combines four detection methods, whereas most providers use one or two. Firmable reviewed 42 technographic and go-to-market data providers. None documented the same combination. Two of the methods, network and infrastructure observations, almost never show up in sales tools.

So sales teams see the back-office tech other tools miss: who hosts a company’s email, which identity provider it uses, and whether it still runs aging on-premises infrastructure. Each detection is matched to Firmable’s company records and verified contacts. The list a rep gets back already names the people to call and what to open with.

Built for teams that sell into the tech stack

Tech Intelligence is built for any B2B team whose next deal depends on what a prospect already runs. That includes software and technology vendors, managed service providers (MSPs), IT services firms and integrators, cybersecurity providers and MSSPs, and resellers and partner teams. It answers four questions those teams ask every day:

Inside the Firmable platform, the package adds ready-made segments built around common buying moments. Teams can also pair a technology detection with Firmable’s buying signals, such as a new Head of IT or a funding round. That surfaces accounts that are both a fit and in motion.

A rep can ask their AI assistant to “find companies in the US running a competitor’s product, with more than 200 employees, and show me the IT decision-makers at each”. They get a verified, ready-to-action list back in one step and can push it straight to a Firmable list or to their CRM.

Transparent confidence, from public-facing data only

Every Tech Intelligence detection carries a high, medium or low confidence score and a last-observed date. Detections are cross-checked across all four methods. Sales teams see how strong the evidence is and when it was last seen, so they don’t have to trust a black-box tag that could be years old.

All of Tech Intelligence is built from public-facing information. Firmable never logs in, never uses credentials and never goes inside a company’s network.

“Sales teams in the US and Canada have no shortage of data. What they’re missing is the context that turns a list into a conversation,” said Chester Thompson, VP, Americas at Firmable. “Tech Intelligence closes that gap. A rep in Chicago or Toronto can see which accounts still run VMware, which ones have switched email providers, and who owns the decision, all before they pick up the phone. For MSPs, IT services firms and channel teams across North America, that means getting to migration and refresh work before the RFP lands. We’re growing fast, and this is exactly the kind of product that wins new logos.”

The launch follows Firmable’s MCP release in July 2026 and keeps up Firmable’s fast product cadence as the company expands across the US and Canada, building on its base in Australia and APAC.

Firmable Tech Intelligence at a glance

What it is: a technology detection product that shows the software, infrastructure, cloud and AI a company runs, joined to verified company and contact data.Coverage: 75,317 technologies across more than 19 million businesses.Methods: deep scans, at vast, AI-enabled scale, of public-facing IT infrastructure as well as traditional website crawling and job-ad extraction.Accuracy: a high, medium or low confidence score and a last-observed date on every detection.Who it’s for: tech vendors, MSPs, IT services firms and integrators, cybersecurity providers and MSSPs, resellers and partner teams.Where to use it: in Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, and other AI tools via the Firmable MCP, and in the Firmable platform.Markets: the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

Get started

Learn more about Firmable Tech Intelligence at firmable.ai/tech-intelligence, or start a free trial of the core platform at app.firmable.com/sign-up.

About Firmable

Firmable is an AI-native B2B sales platform, your AI sales teammate, that helps revenue teams find, understand and connect with the right buyers at the right time. Combining verified company and contact data with technology intelligence, CRM context, buyer intent and agentic AI, Firmable powers go-to-market teams across the US, Canada and Asia-Pacific. firmable.ai

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SOURCE Firmable