Oceania Cruises competition highlighted ‘strength of knowledge’ among trade

Oceania Cruises has hailed the “strength of knowledge” among UK agents as it revealed the winners of its Oceania Insiders video competition, held with Travel Weekly.

 

Sales bosses at the luxury cruise line said the initiative is part of a wider drive to get more travel partners on its ships to gain first-hand experience.

 

The overall winner was Clare Sacco, The Travel Academy’s marketing and partnerships manager, who scooped a luxury seven-day cruise for two and a £100 voucher.

 

Five runners-up also won a £100 voucher each: Iulia Vilaua, luxury commercial executive at Iglu; Natasha Chaplin, commercial and planning manager at Fred Olsen Travel Group; Daisy Crane, commercial account manager at ROL Cruise; Louisa Maynard, reservations manager at The Cruise Line; and Steven Ireland, Not Just Travel agent.

 

The winning agents will help the cruise line to test a new training platform and promote the sailings among colleagues – and will have opportunities to attend events and ship visits with clients.

 

 

Louise Craddock, UK & Ireland sales director, said it had been hard to select the best six from the 45 entries because there were many “hilarious” and “joyous” videos – but the winning entry stood out as “it blew our minds”.

“She went above and beyond to articulate everything that we do well at Oceania Cruises,” said Craddock.

 

“I welled up in tears at the end of the video, because I couldn’t believe that she had put that amount of time and effort in putting something like this together.”

 

More: NCLH chief luxury officer outlines ambition to expand UK trade distribution

 

Paul Beale, UK & Ireland sales vice-president for Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, said: “It goes to show the strength of the knowledge in the UK about Oceania Cruises – they really know the product really well…and the fact that they wanted to dedicate the time to get on board and experience the product first-hand was really impressive and appreciated by us.

 

“This has highlighted 45 passionate people within the UK who want to sell Oceania Cruises.”

 

Craddock said entries came from a mix of agents, some of whom hadn’t sailed with the line before, while others have been working with Oceania for years.

 

“One did a video with the music from our TV commercial. I was laughing so much because it was just genius,” she said.

 

“Natasha from Fred Olsen Travel was in her garden on a sunbed, sipping a cocktail, telling us all about Oceania Cruises – at the end she said she’d been an ambassador as long as she’s been in cruise so ‘when are you going to put a ring on it?!’

 

“Steven Ireland is relatively new to travel and I was super-impressed. He seemed to be all over social media; he’s one to watch for the future.

 

“Louisa Maynard is from The Cruise Line, which was the first travel agency in the UK to sell Oceania – she talked about the journey she has been on with the brand, right from the beginning.”