Trade hails Celebrity’s river move Ella Sagar
Agents are hopeful that Celebrity Cruises’ move into river cruising will lead to a rise in sales and increased spotlight on the sector. The line has signed an initial
order for 10 “transformative” ships to sail in Europe from 2027. More details are due to be announced soon and bookings will open this year. Jonny Peat, senior commercial
manager for cruise at The Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “Celebrity Cruises is a hugely important and popular cruise brand for our members. We look forward to hearing more about their plans.” Sarah Wikevand, ROL Cruises
managing director, said the specialist was “delighted” to learn of the move. She added: “We know there is
a strong crossover between ocean and river cruising, and we can’t wait to see how Celebrity Cruises brings its renowned style and service to this growing sector.” Marco Macchieraldo, Paramount
Cruises senior product manager, hailed the plans as “very exciting”. He said the tailor-made specialist
had always seen “huge potential” in the river cruise market but had “never quite cracked it”. He was hopeful that would change with the new ships. Club Voyages founder Sam
Ballard said he “cannot wait” to see what Celebrity has in store.
Agency credits £100 voucher for sales surge
Juliet Dennis
A travel agency is attributing a 65% year-on-year rise in turnover in January to a last-minute voucher sent as a thank you to all clients who booked in 2024. Within two weeks of emailing the ‘£100’ voucher to 2,500 clients on New Year’s Eve, the two-branch agency recorded the same value of bookings as it had made during the whole of January in 2024. ArrangeMY Escape general
manager Jennifer Lynch said she had been overwhelmed by
4 30 JANUARY 2025
the response, adding that many clients had spent more than planned because of the voucher. “We have been inundated. The
volumes have proved better than last year and the only thing we have done differently is the voucher,” she said, noting: “Customers have told us they are spending slightly more than they would have done because they have got £100 off.” The voucher is valid for
bookings with the majority of ArrangeMY Escape’s suppliers. To use it, customers are required to spend a minimum of £2,500 per
pe on and to book in J
person and to book in Janua The £100 comes off the
uary.
commission earned by the agency on every booking. Lynch said: “We didn’t send this
out to get everyone to book – it was more that we wanted to say thank you to everyone who supported us in the past 12 months. I was going to send it out before Christmas, but I think New Year was the right time, because people were over Christmas and thinking about holidays.” The majority of bookings have
been for this summer, with couples and families taking advantage of the
They’re going
to really shake the space up and bring even more spotlight to the sector
“They’re one of the most
innovative ocean lines in the world and they’re going to really shake the space up and bring even more spotlight to the sector,” he added. This was echoed by James Cole,
Panache Cruises founder and chief executive, who said the move would “increase the exposure of river cruising”. Gareth Harding, Travelosophers cruise specialist and winner of the
Clia Cruise Master Award, said he expected Celebrity Cruises to “bring its own take on the product and service offering”. However, he tempered this
with a warning that the move must “not encourage agents to discount unnecessarily” as is sometimes the case in the ocean sector. Speaking after the expansion was
announced, Giles Hawke, Celebrity Cruises vice-president and managing director for the UK, Ireland and EMEA, said: “We feel there’s a big opportunity for us in this market. “We know our trade partners
will love having Celebrity Cruises river cruises to sell, and we know our customers will love it too.”
Jennifer Lynch
and, inset, the £100 voucher she sent clients
discount. Based on the response so far, Lynch was confident the extra bookings generated would cover the cost of the discounts. “We have created more business
than we would have done. Who’s to say that client was going to rebook with us if we hadn’t done this?” she said, adding the agency’s profits were 15% up on the same period last year. Lynch is considering sending out
similar discounts throughout the year. “I’m going to do it at different times of year, as an incentive to get people who booked last Easter, for example, to rebook,” she said.
travelweekly.co.uk
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