As a franchisee with us, you can sell holidays from 450 travel suppliers and you’ll benefit from the special relationships we have with over 45 key trade partners (KTPs) who give us added bonuses such as exclusive deals and special access to new products such as new cruise ships.
We have over 14 cruise KTPs and with 19 new cruise ships being launched this year, it’s no wonder our agents are reporting booming cruise sales with Clia reporting 479,000 more British travellers took a cruise break in 2022 compared to 2021.
Last week our key trade partner, P&O Cruises, released advance registration for its summer 2025 programme meaning passengers could pay a deposit to reserve a cabin and already one of our travel consultants, Emma, has taken 40 bookings worth over £90k.
Agents find P&O is incredibly popular among UK travellers as food, entertainment and amenities are all geared to British tastes (there’s even kettles in every cabin).
Menus are developed by celebrity chefs, there’s Strictly Come Dancing competitions, kettles in every cabin and a huge range of incredible itineraries in the Caribbean and the Med with many cruises departing from Southampton making it a great option for those who don’t want to fly.
Around 25 per cent of our P&O bookings are for its impressive newest ship Arvia.
Launched last month, highlights include a retractable SkyDome roof, a spa, a high-ropes altitude experience, swim-up bar and numerous infinity pools. With prices from £829 for 14 nights in the Med, Arvia’s cruises offer incredible value for money making it an easy product to sell.
Consultants who book P&O cruises can collect rewards and get discounts to sail onboard its ships plus other incentives and, of course, benefit from commission on every cruise sold. Book a first-time cruise for a client and if they book a second cruise whilst onboard (cruise lines tend to give impressive onboard discounts) you’ll get the commission of their next cruise too – without doing any work!
“Cruise is one of the fastest growing sectors in travel attracting new-to-cruise clients all the time,” says Duncan Croucher, our senior cruise business development manager who has years of experience in the world of cruising.
“Since the Covid rebound people want to get back on ships and see the world. With 19 new ships launching this year there’s never been a better time to sell cruise and benefit from loyal repeat customers who book time and time again.”
Duncan heads up our cruise division and cruise mastery programme which helps consultants become masters of cruise in 12 months. Agents that sign up get access to expert training and support, ship visits and a company cruise with workshops on how to sell more cruises.
Emma isn’t the only consultant making impressive cruise sales. Over the last few weeks, David Walker sold a £27k cruise, Eva a £15k cruise, Doug a £12k and Ross over £35k-worth of cruises (to name just a few).
Travel consultant Robert Craig signed up to our cruise mastery programme last year and joined us on one of our ship tours in Liverpool. Being given the chance to explore a Virgin Voyages cruise ship (another KTP) really helped him sell the product successfully.
“I was really blown away by the adult-only offering and the vibe on the ship. I started promoting Virgin Voyages and then went on a Virgin Voyage myself on Valiant Lady. As I was able to take loads of pictures and post socials I got a huge interest.”
Robert Craig, travel consultant
Now Robert is booked to go on Resilient Lady, another Virgin ship, for his 40th birthday and is also planning to sail on two MSC cruises in the autumn – MSC Virtusa and MSC Euribia.
“Cruise is definitely a great product to sell in terms of margin (up to 19 per cent commission). And once you’ve got a cruise customer that’s booked through you, if they book another cruise while onboard the commission literally gets passed back to you. I’ve not come across anyone yet that’s not enjoyed the cruise so much that they haven’t booked another onboard. So you get repeat business pretty easily.”
Robert Craig, travel consultant
If you like cruising like Robert, we plan to host many agents on a company cruise this autumn.
And if you like discovering new cruise ships, keep your eye out for our pictures of Oceania Vista. Our co-founder Paul Harrison will be onboard this new ship next week and as this cruise line is also a KTP you could get some great deals on it if you join us.
