Agents told now is the time to sell cruise cruising.org

With 22 new vessels launching in 2023, more adventurous itineraries and a “ship to suit everyone”, there has never been a better time to sell cruise, said Andy Harmer, CLIA UK & Ireland Managing Director, at The Advantage Travel Partnership’s Back on the Water conference, the consortium’s first cruise-specific conference since 2019. “There are two types of customers: cruisers and those yet to cruise,” he told the 200-plus agents that attended the convention on Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady. “One in 10 package holidays sold in the UK is a cruise. For every customer there’s a cruise suited to them and the opportunity to sell cruise has never been greater.” Opening the conference sessions, Harmer highlighted recent CLIA research that revealed 66% of those questioned who had never been on a cruise said they would consider one if they could find the right sailing. He urged agents to maximise on these potential sales by boosting their cruise know-how through training courses, webinars, reading trade press, visiting the CLIA website and upping their knowledge on cruise destinations. “There is also no such thing as a typical cruiser,” he said. “In fact, only 30% of cruisers are couples. Five per cent are singles, 15% are parties of three and 20% are parties of over six, and under-35s are showing a great interest in cruising.” The conference, where agents sailed from Ibiza to Barcelona, also included updates on Advantage’s renewed focus on cruise and speed networking with more than 20 supplier partners.