SeaDream Yacht Club is approaching operators to help shift certain itineraries through travel agents as it rolls out discounts of more than 50% for extended bookings.
The luxury cruise company said late sales had picked up but that it hoped partnerships with tour operators would help sell dates outside of the core summer season later in the year.
Deals with the unnamed operators are currently under negotiation, although it is not known how soon they will be completed.
Head of UK and Ireland Ian Buckeridge said the company aimed to sell some of its itineraries as part of fly-cruise packages, with the price including flights and land-based stays. This includes a cruise from Alexandria to Piraeus on October 3, which will include seven-nights on board and a four-night pre-stay.
Although the company does work with operators, he said: “This year we have gone to operators to get help rather than them coming to us. We have got a couple of dates that are a challenge for us at the end of year and we are addressing these issues now.”
The company is also offering 50% discounts on back-to-back extended itineraries instead of its traditional 10% for new Mediterrean bookings from July 11 to October 3 to stimulate demand.
Buckeridge promised further sales and marketing activity to the trade in the next few weeks to coincide with its new brochure launch.
Meanwhile, SeaDream I is currently in dry dock for upgrading, with a new Admiral suite being added in the area previously used for an on-board shop. The 375-foot square foot suite has already been added to sister ship SeaDream II last year. Both ships now feature 56 bedrooms each.
President Bob Lepisto, who was promoted to the role in January, said: “We sold out of our staterooms last year and so we looked at it from a business point of view and saw we could return more revenue to the bottom line by turning a little shopping mall into a suite. It’s already proving popular.”
Meanwhile, Lepisto reported the early signs of recovery in business travel sales but said 2010 was likely to be a tougher year with a full sales bounce-back unlikely until 2011.
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