The Cruising For a Good Cause Story & Inspiration
From a young age, Elisa Chan has always had a passion
for the travel industry. She followed her dreams of
working in tourism with various jobs at travel agencies
and cruise specialists, and due to her experience, at
the young age of 17, she was offered a full-time
position with Australia's leading cruise line P&O
Cruises Australia. From there Elisa worked in various
roles within the tourism industry; competently achieving
all sales targets. She progressively entered into an
e-marketing role, forming the foundation for
EseaCruising.com, an online travel company for cruises.
However, life gives us obstacles and shortly after Elisa
was found to suffer from depression. Through the support
of her counselor from a charity organisation, Elisa,
with a new zest for life decided to move forward and
embraced a variety of different projects. Previous
experience with cruise wholesalers had left Elisa
disillusioned with the cruising industry as she saw the
things the various companies could improve. With these
improvements in mind, Elisa realized a niche in the
market for online cruises and in March 2008 launched her
own online travel company specializing in cruise sales,
EasyCruises.com.au.
The company now employs a team of sixteen with offices
in Darwin, Sydney and the USA. On the 1st March 2009 the
company celebrated its first anniversary making two
major announcements; The re-branding of the companyname
from EasyCruises.com.au to EseaCruising.com and also the
launch of a wholly owned subsidiary company
EseaShores.com a pre and post cruise specialist offering
a range of land based activities and packages servicing
clients from ship to shore.
EseaCruising.com has had some outstanding achievements.
In July 2008, only after 4 months of operations,
EseaCruising.com was acknowledged as a top provider by
P&O sales in Australia. In September 2008, at that time
partner, was awarded Outstanding Regional Sales Award by
P&O Cruises Australia.
The website, EseaCruising.com is one of the most visited
cruise reservation websites in Australia. The company
has had successful campaigns with partners such as
Reader’s Digest, Roadshow Entertainment, The
Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Royal Caribbean
International, Princess Cruises, Costa Cruises, Wests
Ashfield Leagues, Cooroy RSL Club, Nine Network, The
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and leading consumer
publication Cruise Weekly.
As a token of her appreciation to the charity that
helped her throughout her depression, Elisa formed a
charity initiative, Cruising for a Good Cause, solely
funded by EseaCruising.com. "I really am thankful to all
the charities that helped me when life was once very
bleak and gloomy for me and I wouldn't have been able to
be where I am today if it wasn't for the generosity of
others which made me become more aware of people who
need a helping hand" Elisa says. Cruising for a Good
Cause allows travelers to support local and worldwide
charities who tirelessly promote humanitarian values
within the community and internationally. In 2008
Cruising for a Good Cause launched its first $1 Cruise
Auction online in conjunction with The Red Cross
Australia, eBay, Royal Caribbean International and Wests
Ashfield Leagues raising money for the China Sichuan
Earthquake appeal. "As Australians we are very
fortunate. We enjoy travel and life, so what better way
to express our appreciation to other countries and
people who have welcomed us by providing relief in their
times of need or disaster," Elisa states.
Going forth, Cruising for a Good Cause will become an
ongoing initiative ensuring that amongst the positive
growth of EseaCruising.com, the less fortunate are not
forgotten.
Story Copyright (c) from Wests Ashfield Leagues Members Magazine
(May to Jul 2009 Edition)