Travel News February 2018
CRUISE 27 BUILDING ON SUCCESS
Nearing her first year anniversary with Royal Caribbean, KIRSTY JOHNSTON caught up with Sales Director Amanda Darrington to see how she has enjoyed her first year in the post, and her plans for 2018 for the leading cruise line....
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OYAL Caribbean's new ship Symphony of the Seas is "absolutely awesome", according to RCI's Sales Director Amanda Darrington and will be a perfect fit for the Northern Ireland market. “We have put a lot of our focus on this new ship and agents across Northern Ireland know they have the customers who will want to go on her, which is why we invested so heavily in marketing here - we wanted to take everyone on that journey with us”. Symphony of the Seas is set to be the world’s largest cruise ship and will redefine family and adventure travel when she launches in Barcelona in April 2018. She will will spend her inaugural summer in the Mediterranean before repositioning to Miami in November 2018 and offering Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings.
Amanda Darrington joined Royal Caribbean as Sales Director in April 2017 and has continued to build on the cruise line’s successes - steering the sales team with a steady hand as the company heads into a series of innovative ship launch years.
Amanda has brought a wealth of travel experience with her to the team, earned during her 30 years within the travel industry. During this time she has held the position of Sales Director for Funway Holidays and prior to that, acted as Head of Trade Sales at Kuoni Travel UK for over three years. Speaking about her first year in the role, Amanda said: “I’ve been in the role for 10 months now. I started out in travel when I was 19 as a retail agent, and I’ve worked for all the big players, including Thompson, Thomas Cook and Kuoni. “The thing I love about working for a cruise company, is that it’s my product, and the whole team know it inside out. This is why our trade partners come to us. My role is to help the trade understand more about our product and what will attract their customers to our ship. We aim to find the right ship for the right customer and we are very fortunate that we are in a position where we can do that. This doesn’t come at the expense of other cruise lines, instead we are competing with a land based holiday and communicating this in a bespoke way,” she added.
“We know what a particular store is selling and what works specifically for their customers, and I’m very passionate about that. We get into the details, so that every customer is happy.”
In addition to ongoing engagement with valued Trade partners, delivering promotional campaigns and rewarding agents via leading loyalty programme, Club Royal, Amanda will also be helping to foster and develop key talent to help Royal Caribbean achieve its vision of having the best sales team in the travel industry. As Sales Director, Amanda currently provides leadership to the thirty-strong Royal Caribbean sales team in the UK and Ireland. She said: “We’ve got a very famous and well established team throughout Ireland in Jennifer, Michaela and Holly. In terms of profile, most of the travel community is well aware of the team and they are all known to be a very professional and fun bunch who are always willing to look at innovation and new ideas. They put Royal Caribbean on the map and help our agent partners attract a new audience. “Michaela and Jennifer have been on a journey, and Michaela’s role has now developed more and she
Amanda Darrington, Royal Caribbean Sales Director, UK and Ireland
has a great relationship with agents. I’m looking forward to later in the year when we will have our new ship, Symphony of the Seas. Along with the newly refurbished Independence of the Seas, this will be a very important ship for agents in Northern Ireland.
“We are very actively encouraging all agents to come and see us and see the product. Club Royal is going from strength to strength. We have well over 10,000 members in the scheme, creating a great sense of community. In 2018 we want to make sure we are keeping it fresh, innovative and push the dial to stay the market leaders,” she continued. “Last year Club Royal was responsible for the #mysymphony campaign, getting 100 agents on the inaugural of Symphony of the Seas and for 2018 we’ve launched #getmeonindy and we are aiming to get 1,000 agents on the revitalised Independence of the Seas.” Speaking about the newest ship to join the fleet, Amanda said: “We have really looked at the new WAVE campaign with Symphony and have one big sale for the start of the year. We’ve been very prevalent in outdoor marketing including taking advertising spaces at bus stops, using posters and radio, and we have invested a lot of money into our trade partners, giving them all the assets they need to help people make the right decision when choosing a cruise - making sure they are paired with the right ship. “At the same time, the newly refurbished Independence of the Seas will boast new features making her extra extraordinary when she sets sail in summer 2018 following a multi-million pound makeover,” she continued.
Royal Caribbean’s new brand campaign ‘This is How to Holiday’, continues to showcase extraordinary moments to overcome the misconceptions around cruise and inspire the new-to- cruise audience to consider a Royal Caribbean cruise as a new option for their holidays. The WAVE campaign was launched pre-Christmas and offers will run until March 5, 2018.
Holidaymakers can snap up Buy One get One Half Price, with a further 25 per cent saving for the third and fourth guests when sailing for six nights or more on holidays departing April 1 to Dec 31, 2018.
Sixth badge on agents’ training portal
ULTRA LUXURY cruise line Silversea has added a sixth badge to its innovative online training portal for travel agents. Silversea Academy provides agents with the perfect platform to become experts across all areas of the award-winning cruise line.
The new ‘Silver Explorer’ badge will allow agents to learn about the ship’s fascinating stem-to-stern refurbishment. The badge provides agents with the chance to study the upcoming Silver Explorer 2018- 2019 voyages and deepen their knowledge of the refreshed public areas, dining venues on board and the range of redecorated suites.
The new badge will also include an interactive ship for agents to educate themselves on Silver Explorer’s layout. Agents completing the badge will be able to take a Silver Explorer quiz to test their knowledge. “With Silver Explorer’s recent refurbishment, we are
excited to offer this new badge on our innovative online training portal. This badge is perfect for agents looking to educate themselves on the ship and to gain a better understanding of Silver Explorer’s layout and new improvements,” said Connie Georgiou, Silversea’s Sales Director, UK and Ireland.
Silversea Academy currently offers five other badges for agents to complete.
The ‘Silversea Graduate’ badge provides an overview of the Silversea product and the processes required to make a booking, the ‘Expedition Cruise Expert’ badge informs agents of the Silversea expeditions and the ‘World Cruise 2019’ badge broadens their understanding of Silversea’s 132-day World Cruise. Finally, the ‘Silver Cloud’ and ‘Silver Muse’ badges educate agents on Silversea’s latest ice- class vessel and Silversea’s new flagship.
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