Meadows champions agents

THE president of luxury cruise line Seabourn, Rick Meadows, believes agents are making a comeback in the USA in the face of online competition, offering a more personalised and qualified service.

Meadows said frontline sellers played a key role for Seabourn, talking down suggestions that travel agents were losing out to online travel companies.

“Travel agents are still huge in the US,” Meadows told CW.

“I personally think there is a rise in the role of the travel agent in America, which is great to see.

“When you look at the health of the travel distribution system in the US, there are more and more travel professionals that have really made their mark and identified how to be really successful.”

Speaking exclusively with Cruise Weekly in Singapore last weekend, Meadows, himself a former travel agent, said: “For us, the Seabourn experience has a far greater distribution through our travel agent partners because they add so much more value in the booking process.

“They are able to articulate who we are and what we are all about.

“You’re not going to get all that subtly from an online booking.”

He added he was excited by how the travel industry in North America had become “more potent” over the last few years. “It’s a positive shift.” Meadows is pictured (right) aboard Seabourn Encore with recently appointed senior vice president of global sales and marketing, Chris Austin.