NEWS — EVENT PREVIEW
Ahead of his appearance as one of two keynote speakers at this month’s Selling Cruise Conference, Andy Stuart, Norwegian executive vice-president of global sales and passenger services, spoke to HOLLIE-RAE MERRICK
Andy Stuart’s career in the cruise industry didn’t start as many people might expect. He “tripped into the industry” when he lent Norwegian’s then sales director Geraldine Noon a jumper at a softball match – and a year later was offered a sales role covering the UK market. Although he never got his jumper back, he did go on to manage the UK office for nine years before moving to the US in 1997 to take on the role of vice-president of sales planning. Stuart is now executive
vice-president of global sales and passenger services and has been with the line for 25 years. Later this month he will take to
the stage at the Clia Selling Cruise Conference in Southampton as one of the keynote speakers.
25 years of changes During his time with Norwegian, Stuart has seen a lot of change in the industry – particularly in on- board innovations – and impressive growth in the UK market. “When I started, Norwegian was
largely irrelevant in the UK market with 1,500 passengers a year – it wasn’t a significant market,” he said. “But they were looking for the first sales guy to put in the work with travel agents in the UK.” By the time he moved to the US, UK passenger figures were up to almost 50,000.
Stuart said he is excited
about addressing agents at the conference because the trade will always play an important role to Norwegian.
“The industry as a whole has
always been very supportive of agents. The majority of business for most of the lines throughout my time in the industry has come through agents,” he said.
Agents ‘have reach’ “People ask me if I think we will have any business through agents in five years’ time and to me it’s an easy question – we definitely will. “The reach we get through
agents is far beyond something we could do on our own. “But travel agents aren’t the same as they used to be when I started: there are many different models now and I will be focusing on that at the conference.” Stuart believes online agents
won’t necessarily outlast other agency models. It’s a question he said he’d been asked on numerous occasions, but he added: “One size doesn’t meet all needs.” He said Norwegian was
constantly encouraging agents to engage with its products and training, whether through webinars, its NCLU training website and ship launch celebrations.
And while countless agents
engage with cruise lines to help bolster their bookings, Stuart said
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it was a bugbear for the industry that some agents still don’t take advantage of the training and tools provided. “A travel agent has to know
everything about all different cruise lines and these tools we provide should be used – a lot of investment goes into it,” he said. Stuart believes it’s vitally
important that agents have good
product knowledge, put the right passengers on the right ship and then help to boost demand through positive feedback. “The product is most important; the price shouldn’t be the most important question,” he added. “We shouldn’t commoditise the industry by focusing on price. “Each cruise line is different and we need to make that clear.”
Clia conference attracts record 260 agents
A record number of travel agents are due to attend this month’s Selling Cruise Conference. Andy Harmer, director of Clia UK and Ireland, said he was
excited about this year’s line-up, which includes talks from keynote speakers Andy Stuart of Norwegian Cruise Line and Gerard Tempest, Carnival UK’s chief commercial officer. The conference takes place in Southampton on May 22 and 23, with the option of an extra day for ship visits on May 24. Representatives from 35 ocean and river cruise lines will be
attending and six ships will be in port during the conference. “This year’s Selling Cruise Conference will be a record-breaking
event, with more agents attending than ever before,” said Harmer. “We have 465 delegates registered to join us in Southampton including more than 260 travel agents, the largest number since the conference began in 2007. “We have an outstanding line-up of speakers and the conference
will offer an inspiring and informative opportunity for customer- facing travel professionals to increase their knowledge of the industry and their cruise sales. “I’m delighted that each year the conference attracts greater numbers of delegates – who all leave inspired, I hope, to go back to their workplaces to sell more cruise holidays. “We all have a shared goal: to demonstrate to travellers not only that a cruise is the best holiday choice but also that they should book with a Clia-accredited travel agent.”
EVENT PREVIEW
Stuart: Agents will always play key role
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