Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ UK boss has urged travel agents to target the luxury line’s sailings – rather than going for high volumes of cruise bookings elsewhere.
Graham Sadler, speaking on Regent’s first restart cruise following an 18-month break due to the pandemic, said the average commission agents earn per booking is £1,500.
He called on agents, who he acknowledged have had “a dreadful time financially” during the pandemic, to identify clients in their database, adding that “the earning potential is huge” with Regent.
Sadler said: “Agents have had time to contemplate their business strategy. They can either go for volume and not make a lot of money or go for a small amount of bookings and make a lot of money – that is what we would recommend.”
He said the line could equip agents to become experts “within a couple of days”.
“We’ve got events, a website, 360 tours, [agent platform] Marketing Central and we’ve got sales people,” he added. “We have every single tool possible to give them the expertise and confidence to sell at the luxury level.”
Regent’s UK bookings for 2022 are 40% up versus 2019. Asked why the line has fared so successfully during the pandemic, president and chief executive Jason Montague said: “It’s a combination of a lot of factors. The focus that the entire team has about delivering that unrivalled experience, it is not just on the ship but off it as well before the guests even get on to the ship. It’s how we feel about our trade partners too.
“It is the support we’ve given trade partners in addition to the actual service we’re providing to the guests.”