E H
Conference session
ays Travel agents have been challenged to increase cruise sales from 23.6% of all sales to 26% by May next year and 30% thereafter. Catriona Parsons, Hays Travel head of
cruise commercial, said Hays’ cruise business was going to “get bigger and bigger”, adding that sales had risen from 16% of business in 2019 to 23.6% this year. She told agents at the conference in Turkey that the
ultimate goal was to increase cruise business to 30%. “We’re doing well and that is down to you, but I think
we’re just beginning,” she said. “Every single region in the country has smashed their
target for cruise between May 1 and October 31. “The [Hays Travel] board has set a challenge. They
want us to achieve 26% by the end of the financial year. I need your help. We need to come together.” Parsons challenged every agent in the room to book a
luxury cruise and a river sailing between January and May 2023 to help achieve the target. Every Hays Travel agent who does so will be entered into a prize draw to win a luxury ocean voyage or a river cruise for two. More than one in three (37%) current cruise bookings
are for sailings of 14 nights or longer and the average cruise selling price has risen by £150 since May, added Parsons. She also noted that bookings for MSC Cruises and
‘operator of choice’ Addressing branch managers, Molloy
said: “You have to stick with us. We want to provide better service levels for you. “There’s so much choice out there so
we never take for granted the bookings that you give us.” Hays Tour Operating is also set to roll
out a new phone system with a callback function, meaning agents can wait in a virtual queue without remaining on the phone line. Molloy
highlighted how the division was now fully staffed.
Kathleen Molloy
Royal Caribbean International had “gone up” this year, with both operators among the agency’s top-five ocean cruise brands, along with P&O Cruises, Marella Cruises and Princess Cruises. “There’s growth in the market with new ships and
innovations and there’s a cruise for everyone,” she said. Parsons pledged to negotiate “the correct” commission
levels with cruise lines, saying: “Let me tell you that we’re not going to stop until you have the correct commissions.”
Company declares forex a strategic priority
Hays Travel has outlined how foreign exchange is a strategic priority for the business as it aims to be “a market leader” for currency transactions in every town and city where it has a branch. Foreign exchange head of
sales Beccy Rayner urged branch managers to make sure sales staff “secured a 5% upsell” when making a foreign currency sale to boost annual turnover. She said: “Our objective is to be
the market leader in the towns and cities where we operate.” Dame Irene Hays explained how her agency staff had learnt
travelweekly.co.uk
about forex from ex-Thomas Cook employees who were now working within Hays’ retail network. She said: “Thomas Cook were
Beccy Rayner
always better than Hays Travel at foreign exchange. “The reason why we’ve made
it a strategic priority this year is we know that we can do better by reinstating that revenue stream. Small incremental steps will
make a big difference.” Rayner said Hays Travel had
already “disturbed” the existing forex market leaders, adding that the company had hired more than 200 forex consultants. She confirmed the business was
working on a second version of the Transaction Processing System, its in-house foreign exchange system.
17 NOVEMBER 2022 11
Catriona Parsons
NEWS ncy hosts branch managers at its first such conference since 2019. Harry Kemble reports from Bodrum
Parsons: Let’s grow cruise to be 30% of all bookings
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