P&O Cruises is including an agent call to action into its TV advertising campaign in response to feedback from the trade.
The campaign, which launches on September 1 and will focus on the line’s new Mediterranean fly initiative, will now include a push for consumers to book via a travel agent or by visiting the P&O Cruises website. Previous advertising campaigns have encouraged consumers to book by calling the cruise line or visiting the website.
Chris Truscott, who has recently been promoted to sales and distribution support director, said the decision reflected P&O Cruises’ commitment to the trade and the important role of travel agents in the sales strategy.
He said: “This commitment is another example of our ‘Agent Matters’ initiative.
“We work in partnership with our agents and they are critical to the success of P&O Cruises and Cunard and this initiative is in direct response to agent feedback that we have collected in recent weeks.
“Through the Agent Matters’ initiative bwe ran an online survey encouraging feedback from agents and feedback has led us to bring back the call to agents in our TV campaign.
“I think it’s important to show our support to agents in a very visible way, they are crucial to us and we’re pleased to be supporting them.
“This is something they had been asking for and this was shown through the survey and also through my discussions with the trade.”
The new month-long TV campaign will begin on September 1 and will also feature a second advert promoting the Caribbean.
Speaking about his new role as sales and distribution support director, Truscott said he was looking forward to working closer with agents in the future.
He added: “I’m delighted to assume the role of sales and distribution support director and this role becomes effective immediately. In the last six months I have had a good look at what we are doing as a company and what we can be doing.
“One of the main aspects of the role will be making sure that our processes give the right level of support.”