Bolsover outlines new digital strategy Ella Sagar


Bolsover Cruise Club’s new leadership team has outlined an ambition to leverage social media and technology to “take market share” and target younger customers. Katie Wilson, the specialist’s new


director and daughter of managing director Michael Wilson, said she wanted to “create the cruise agency of the future” targeting “digital natives”. Wilson said: “Now is the time to


do this as cruise has got cool [on social media], so why hasn’t the travel agent?” As part of the changes, Francesca


Hurst has been promoted to head of sales and operations, while Shelley Bayne has been brought in from Sky as head of product to “shake things up”. Hurst said: “We want people to be


scared – we want to take market share.” Wilson added she was “ready to


shout” about the changes across the business, which include hiring across marketing, product and social media over the last year to take the total headcount to 157 people – including a full-time influencer and videographer. The company’s Chesterfield


office has also been “revamped” and the business has built two studios for


Agent frustrated by P&O Cruises’ block on Ukrainian clients


Ella Sagar


A cruise specialist agent has expressed frustration after a P&O Cruises booking for Ukrainian customers was cancelled due to a policy barring customers from “prohibited jurisdictions” on board. Paramount Cruises head Patrick


Hill said the booking for a week-long Norwegian fjords sailing from Southampton was for six Ukrainian citizens, two of whom live in the UK and four in Ukraine. The £9,000 booking was cancelled


by the line’s finance department as the agency was told all Carnival UK brands


4 9 JULY 2026


have a policy to “not accept bookings” from individuals who are “ordinarily resident in prohibited jurisdictions”. These include Russia, Belarus and


Ukraine’s occupied regions of Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Hill said none of the customers


were from these regions, and there was “nothing within the booking flow” to flag the booking would not be accepted. He said he was told: “The business


has made the decision not to accept bookings from the whole of Ukraine as we are unable to control by region.” Hill “struggled” to find any


documented information about Wilson said the aim was to bring From left: Francesca Hurst, Katie Wilson and Shelley Bayne


filming social media content. The new digital focus marks


a significant evolution for the Derbyshire-based business, which has operated as a traditional family-run independent since the 1960s. Two standalone brands will now


be developed: Odysia, a social media- first agency that soft-launched in March, and Luxury Journeys, a luxury specialist coming in September.


in new customers, adding: “I truly believe in the power of social media and technology to attract a new digitally minded customer who may not want to engage with traditional travel agency marketing.” She said the team had built its


own CRM and integrated AI to help “surface opportunities” with customers who had previously booked or engaged with agency marketing, such as offering reminders of when a client is overdue to book. She stressed the evolution would not include offering land-only product, with cruise “always part of packages”, adding that success would be measured in higher repeat- booking rates and volumes, as well as a reduction in average customer age.


P&O Cruises’ Iona; inset: Patrick Hill


the policy, which made explaining the decision to the disappointed customers “very difficult”. He has since booked a separate


group of Ukrainian guests on a sailing with Norwegian Cruise Line, which asked for proof of residence. Ukrainian entrepreneur Liliia


Ilkevych, director of travel agency Fly&Joy, said she had come across this issue and had found some cruise lines were “less strict” while others carried out “more-detailed checks” for Ukrainian nationals living in Ukraine. Ilkevych said she saw this not as “a


blanket refusal of all travellers living in Ukraine”, but rather “a compliance-


related policy” affecting official residents of occupied territories. A P&O Cruises spokesperson said


the line planned to “add detail to terms and conditions to ensure awareness”. They added: “In response to


Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US, EU, UK and other G7 nations have imposed sweeping economic sanctions on Russia, Belarus and Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine. “As a company that operates in


compliance with these international restrictions, we are unable to accept reservations from guests residing in Russia, Belarus or the sanctioned regions of Ukraine.”


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