Clia director Andy Harmer has encouraged agents to make the most of the tools available to them in order to “cut through the noise” and shout about cruise holidays.
Harmer told delegates at the Selling Cruise Conference that they needed to use and fine-tune their expertise if they are to “cut through to customers who are constantly bombarded with lots information from other companies”.
He said every minute 204 million emails are sent, 2 million searches are made on Google and 571 websites are launched.
“Our challenge as an industry is to cut through the noise,” Harmer said. “And it’s really difficult for us to explain what cruise is like when people are being bombarded with other things. We have a fantastic product to sell and word of mouth is a very powerful marketing technic and a great way to cut through.
“We know we produce great holidays and we know when customers get off they think the same, but we need to nurture that word of mouth.
“We have a growing army of customers who are telling their friends and families, but are we doing enough?”
Harmer said Clia was relaunching its website to help agents reach the information needed.
Clia refreshes every training module each month, but now the website is being split into three separate areas – the first is the training section, the second is Clia Cruise Daily and the third is the Cruise Toolbox.
Clia Cruise Daily will house all information about news, webinars and ship visits, while the Cruise Toolbox will have all information about cruise lines and their ships.
The Clia website is also now mobile and tablet-responsive for the first time.