NEWS — EVENT PREVIEW
Clia boss Andy Harmer reveals what agents can expect from this year’s Selling Cruise Conference next month. Report by HOLLIE-RAE MERRICK
Clia UK & Ireland will urge agents to take hold of their own destiny at this year’s Selling Cruise Conference. Held between May 21 and 23, the 2015 conference will combine networking, conference sessions and ship visits.
Speaking ahead of the
three-day event in Southampton, Andy Harmer, director of Clia, said: “Our theme is Destiny and each letter [of the word] has a different topic attached to it. We will look at destination, experiences, sales, training, innovation, new-to- cruise and you. The You session will reflect why agents are so important in the cruise sector and how they can use what they’ve learnt to boost cruise bookings back to their agencies.
“Agents are probably more
important to cruise than any other sector in travel. “Travel agents attending any of our Clia events are already taking control of their destiny and their future sales of cruise.”
Record attendance A record number of agents will attend this year’s event – it sold out earlier than ever before. “We will have 400 agents
the event, delegates will attend conference sessions and visit a different ship each day.
“Agents are probably more important
to cruise than any other sector in travel”
attending, which is a record for us,” said Harmer. “I think it reflects the popularity of the event and how far we’ve come. The Selling Cruise Conference is now a main event in the calendar for agents and the trade can see the benefit of attending. “In total,
there will be 600 delegates, which is another record,
Speakers: Mark Kammerer, HAL, and Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity Cruises
12 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 16 April 2015
with most river and ocean lines attending.” During
Ships and speakers Three of the industry’s newest ships will be in Southampton: P&O Cruises’ Britannia, Royal Caribbean International’s Anthem of the Seas and Princess Cruises’ Royal
Princess. Harmer believes having “the newest and
most innovative ships at sea” in Southampton for the event has been a big draw for delegates. Speakers at this year’s
conference will include Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice-president of sales and trade support at Celebrity Cruises, and Mark Kammerer, vice-president of international marketing and sales at Holland America Line. Both are flying over from the US to speak at the conference.
Trade fair The trade fair at this year’s event will be different. Harmer said: “We will have a
new event at the conference – the Selling Cruise Showcase. “This is the new trade fair and there will be more opportunities
P&O’s Britannia will be one of the ships that delegates can visit in Southampton
for agents, our cruise line partners and executive partners to network. “Our aim is always that agents
return home with a new skill or a new contact. It’s important we continue to highlight the opportunities available in the cruise sector and the training opportunities available to agents through Clia and cruise lines.” The Twitter hashtag for the
event, for which Travel Weekly is once again the headline trade media partner, will be #FoundMyDestiny. Tickets for the Selling Cruise
Conference are sold out. ❯ For more information about the conference, visit
cliauk.co.uk
Conference theme
DESTINATION EXPERIENCES SALES
TRAINING INNOVATION
NEW-TO-CRUISE YOU
EVENT PREVIEW
Selling Cruise Conference 2015
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