(Photo: Festiva Sailing Vacations)

I had a great time last night interviewing Mike Pauer of Festiva Sailing Vacations. Festiva has what sounds like a terrific product: six-passenger, luxury yacht cruises to unspoiled and little-visited Caribbean isles aboard stable 44 foot catamarans, complete with captain and chef.

They are just now reaching out to the travel agent community and home-based travel agents have a great opportunity to take a leadership position in promoting this offering. What makes this especially attractive, IMHO, in addition to the destinations (which are mouth-watering) is the net pricing structure. I'm rounding amounts here for simplicity's sake, but it goes something like this:

You can get net rates of $3,000 per two-person cabin. During low seasons, those cabins retail for $4,000 and for $5,000 during high season.

Let's say you want to go yourself (I sure do!). You book a whole boat (there are plenty to choose from) for $9,000 for a high season cruise. Now you find two friends or good clients. If you sell two cabins for $5,000, you and your spouse sail free and put $1,000 in your pocket. If you offer an incredible discount of $1,000 (say as a 'thank you' for those valued clients), you, in effect, take a $5,000 trip for $1,000. Still a pretty good deal. If you offer a $500 discount, you break even, an even better deal.

With the first-hand experience and product knowledge you will gain on this first trip, you will (assuming you love the experience) be able to sell the product like hotcakes when you return.

Next time you book the whole boat, you can sell all three cabins for $5,000 each and earn $6,000!

You can listen to the complete teleseminar. You can also download it at that link to listen to on your iPod. And if you're excited by the possibilities, you can sign up for a working relationship with Festiva.