Worldchoice has appointed Charles Weller as dedicated cruise manager as part of an effort to expand the travel agency consortium’s Cruise Club to 75 members.
Weller has worked as an account manager for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and business development manager for Victoria Travel. He will be responsible for expanding the range of marketing, training and support activities, as well as the exclusive deals and consumer incentives that the club offers to its travel agent members.
“Such a lot has been achieved already but I am confident through mutual commitment we can deliver a quality membership proposition and a significant increase in sales for our cruise partners,” said Weller.
Members of the Cruise Club have seen a 30% increase in sales in the first six months since it was established, the consortium claimed. Worldchoice is already responsible for 7% of the UK’s cruise market bookings and hopes to increase this to 9% before 2010.
Head of sales and marketing Helen Talbot said: “Charles has the experience to help us deliver our cruise ATOL facility, create bespoke and exclusive cruise product while retaining our focus on delivering high quality client experiences in a local retail environment.
“Our members are already proving their strength within the cruise sector and through Charles’ appointment we can now forge ahead with our plans to be a bigger contender including the possibility of chartering our own stock.”
More on cruise at travelweekly.co.uk/cruise