Agents prepared to think differently about cruise and find innovative ways to promote holidays at sea can expect greater levels of support from operators.
That will be one of the key messages delivered by Adam Goldstein, president of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, to delegates at the Ace Columbus Day in Birmingham on September 20.
Goldstein, a keynote speaker at the event aimed at experienced cruise sellers, said the line was looking to back agents who were prepared to push boundaries.
“You can look at other markets around the world to see if what’s going on there can be moulded to the tastes of UK consumers and be successful.
“But you have to accept that some things may not work. It could be that having a batting average of about 50% might be respectable.”
Goldstein indicated Royal Caribbean would persevere offering financial support to agents operating in this way, even when things do not go to plan. “As competition gets sharper we are more keen to identify agents who are hitting upon new business models that promise interesting returns.
“Our sales people need to be sure their time and resources have a maximum chance of delivering for us. If there was a clever idea that the agent executed well, but for whatever reason the market did not react, I’d like to think we’d give that agent another chance.”
Jo Rzymowska, Royal Caribbean UK general manager, cited Cruise118 as one such agency it has backed. “We were probably the partner that allowed it to get off the ground,” she said.
Columbus Day is the second half of this year’s Cruise Convention, which saw 400 frontline travel agents attend the Selling Cruise Conference event in Southampton in May.