FRONTLINE
founder and chief executive, so I started in November 2023, working from home in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, and I haven’t looked back. I’ve just had my best year ever: last year, I won Cruise Connoisseur of the Year for the business; I was a Silversea advocate; and won a New to Expedition Cruise award, which led to me being invited to go to Antarctica with Atlas Ocean Voyages. We have a huge repeat business. Our slogan is “nothing is too much trouble”, and we look after customers from the start to the end of the journey, which does encourage a lot of repeat clients. It is our responsibility once we get that customer to keep them for life. I travel to Chorley, Lancashire, a couple of times a year to see the team in the Panache office.
Kathryn Waites
The Panache Cruises cruise connoisseur tells Samantha
Mayling about specialising in the luxury and expedition sectors and sailing in Antarctica
Q. How did you start in travel?
It was by accident. I was due to study A-levels and had thought about being a teacher. In the careers office, I saw an advert for the Youth Training Scheme at Pickfords Travel. My careers teacher’s son worked there and said the long-term prospects were good. I started at Pickfords in 1987 and eventually became a branch manager. We were taken over by Airtours, who then merged us with Hogg Robinson and formed Going Places. I’ve also worked for Lincoln Travel in a Newcastle call centre, selling predominantly long-haul; it was sold to Tui. Then I worked for Holiday Discount Centre, and I have also worked for a small, independent agency, Holiday Stylist. I’ve also lectured for travel and tourism students at New College Durham and Newcastle College.
Q. Why did you join Panache Cruises? I wanted to get back to sales, doing what I really loved. I researched a lot of companies and Panache kept coming up. I liked what I read about James Cole, its
22 28 MAY 2026
Q. Is the cost of living affecting sales? It doesn’t tend to affect a lot of our customers, even with the Middle East crisis. We had the Safe to Sail campaign in April, with a free guide sent to customers with answers to questions about the impact of the Middle East conflict. There’s always a reason for people not to travel, but they forget pretty quickly, whether it’s an ash cloud or whatever. When Dubai opens up again, there will be lots of deals and people will go back.
Q. How was climbing Kilimanjaro with Panache? A team of 15 of us did it in June 2025 to raise money for Reuben’s Retreat. It was brutal but great at the same time. We were really close-knit. I’ve done treks before but I would never have had the opportunity to do Kilimanjaro unless it was with a group like that. We have raised more than £75,000 for Reuben’s Retreat since our partnership began in 2024. We make a donation from every booking, and there is a Three Peaks fundraiser in June.
Q. How did you develop your cruise selling skills? There was intensive training for the first couple of months, and I took to it like a duck to water. I had a lot of experience already, so I had a good base knowledge. Also, within a couple of months of starting, I attended the Clia river cruise conference, which was massively helpful. I saw about 12 ships and we stayed and dined on three different ships. I’d never sold a river, expedition or luxury cruise before. We try to go on as many ship visits as possible and get quite a lot of fam trips. We are always training, whether it’s online or in the office with various cruise lines. There is also the Expedition Cruise Network and the Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers has some expedition cruise lines. I’ve been on Atlas and Explora Journeys – and I’m going on a sailing to Iceland with Ponant in June with a colleague. As a family, we’ve cruised for years. The joy of a cruise is waking up every day in a new place – think about what good value it is, with drinks, dining and often excursions all included. We are also doing more and more for our Iconic Collection, which offers cruise-and-stay experiences, with sailings paired with safaris or scenic railway journeys for luxury packages.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR RECENT TRIP TO
ANTARCTICA WITH ATLAS It’s really special. We saw
humpback whales close to our Zodiac and we could also see a pod of orcas from the ship, World Navigator. We saw millions of penguins – they’re so funny, and they’re not fussed about humans being around. The landscapes and scenery were mindblowing and kayaking through icebergs was a wow moment. I was impressed with Atlas Ocean
Voyages’ service, food, crew and expedition team. It’s so informal and relaxed; people wear fleeces, hiking gear and tracksuit bottoms a lot of the time. I was nervous before
the polar plunge but it was so exhilarating – I wanted to do it again afterwards. I wrote a daily blog for our website and shared the experience with
other staff members. We sailed across the Drake Passage; it was a good sailing – I took seasickness tablets and was absolutely fine. I would definitely recommend sailing
the Drake Passage. It was very well organised on board – you get fitted for your kit and have Zodiac and kayak briefings. Educational sessions with the expedition team were really interesting; the team were so friendly and knowledgeable.
Kathryn in Antarctica
travelweekly.co.uk
PICTURES: Samantha Mayling; Adam Arkinstall
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