A 5% discount for online sales made direct to Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is being abolished as part of a drive to generate more sales through the trade.
The discount will be removed from the company’s website, its 2013 worldwide preview brochure, due out next month, and all future brochures.
The initiative is part of a marketing push which has seen a “significant investment” by Fred Olsen to create demand and drive customers to agents.
The company claimed an “encouraging uplift” in bookings since the start of the year as a result of increased brand awareness, which has included a TV campaign, millions of inserts in the national press, and more than one million brochures and pieces of direct mail produced and mailed for agents.
The company is also sponsoring this month’s World Indoor Bowls Championships, which are being covered live on BBC, in addition to international exposure on Eurosport and Sky TV.
Sales and marketing director Nathan Philpot said: “We would like to be in a position where ‘the price you see is the price you get’, and is the same wherever you see it. This will help to ensure a level playing field for all our travel trade partners.”
Referring to the Costa Cruises disaster, Philpot said: “During the first couple of days after the incident, we saw a downturn in sales. But this has gradually reversed, and our sales were up on Sunday, In fact, on Monday we received more sales calls than on any other day in January – once again demonstrating the resilience of the public and their confidence in the cruise industry.”