Itineraries operated by Virgin Voyages’ fourth ship have been designed specifically to appeal to the UK market, according to chief executive Nirmal Saverimuttu.
Earlier this month, the line announced its new ship Brilliant Lady, which is scheduled to enter service in September 2025, will sail in the US and Caribbean, offering departures ranging from five to 16 nights.
Saverimuttu told delegates at this year’s Clia conference the itineraries were created based on feedback from UK customers who said they wanted longer durations.
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“Historically, we’ve sailed a lot of four and five-night trips over in the Caribbean and US, but the feedback we’ve had from our UK customers is they want longer trips, so that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
“We’ve designed these itineraries with the UK in mind as the UK market is very important to us.”
Saverimuttu hailed the performance of the UK market this year, saying bookings secured in April and May surpassed those made during the wave period.
However, he expressed his disappointment at the volume that is sold in the UK overall, saying despite the UK being the line’s second largest source market, it “doesn’t go far enough”, and blamed “misperceptions” about the brand for lower bookings.
“Historically, we’ve not done as well as we would have wanted to in the UK but we’re hoping now those misperceptions about us are going away, it’ll get better.
“The UK is our second largest market, but it should be our second largest market by a long way and it doesn’t go far enough.”