NEWS embers on board Virgin Voyages’ V aliant Lady. Josie Klein reports from the Ibiza-Barcelona sailing


‘Focus on the destinations to secure first-time cruisers’


A


Charlotte Brailsford


gents have been urged to learn more about cruise calling points as they were told the “destination is key” when it comes to selling packages to first-time cruisers.


Speaking on a panel moderated by Clia UK & Ireland


managing director Andy Harmer, Louise Craddock, sales manager at Oceania Cruises, said it should be simple to convert non-cruisers into cruise lovers as long as the destination is the focus of the sale. “I think it is quite easy to shift people to cruise,” she said.


“All you have to do is ask questions to find out what they are looking for from a holiday and qualify the information.” “Ask customers to keep an open mind and go through


the itinerary carefully. The destination is key, so go into all the benefits of that holiday and then present them with the price and they will be shocked at how much they can get for their money.” Charlotte Brailsford, If Only’s head of sales for the


south, emphasised the importance of showing off the destination and leaving the cruise element to the end of the sale, and recommended avoiding using a picture of a ship to pitch a holiday to people who had not yet cruised. “It’s not about tricking customers into a cruise holiday,


but also don’t put a ship on the front cover of a brochure – it is about the destination,” she said. Brad Bennetts, head of sales and business development


uise product as Latitude


benefit from monthly Zoom calls with cruise partners and gain access to fam trips, supplier cruise events and Clia’s annual cruise conference. Advantage said members will have


access to “exclusive” supplier incentives, and will be offered cruise-focused marketing support, particularly for events such as Cruise Month and the Wave Awards. John Sullivan, head of commercial for


Advantage, said: “It is impossible for one agent to keep track of the immense amount of information out there, which is why we have created Latitude to collate knowledge while offering support to our members.”


Louise Craddock


at APT, told agents the “destination sells itself”, so they must be knowledgeable when pitching a river cruise holiday. Andrew Schweitzer, business relationship lead at Explora


Journeys, said the new MSC Group brand was relying on agents to gain knowledge and share it with customers to attract clients ahead of its first ship launch in May 2023. “We see yet-to-cruise customers as really important and


we are targeting those passengers,” he said. “We rely on agents so we need you to use us, ask questions and use training tools.”


Harmer: Don’t miss out on pre-voyage hotel bookings


Clia UK & Ireland managing director Andy Harmer urged agents to brush up on their cruise knowledge as he told them “there has never been a better time to sell cruise”. Harmer advised agents to


look beyond the cruise element of a holiday booking to find opportunities for land-based sales. He said 87% of cruise passengers


stay for at least one night in a hotel in their embarkation port before their voyage, according to a Clia survey in July. Of those, 45% stay for one night,


travelweekly.co.uk


23% stay for two nights and 15% for three nights, with 3% saying they stay for four nights or more.


Andy Harmer


Harmer said: “Those


turnaround points are really important, and you may as well be the one to book your cruise customer’s hotel and be the one to fly them in and out. “Customers are going to be


staying the night before their cruise departs anyway, so you should be the one to benefit.” He added: “Cruising has never


been more innovative and there has never been as much investment in the industry. Now, for the first time, we can say there truly is a cruise for everyone.”


20 OCTOBER 2022 11


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