Designer Travel has appointed a cruise and long-haul business development manager to support boost its cruise business.
Jessica Trickett started in the newly created role on January 2 and joins from Celebrity Cruises where she was regional sales manager.
She will be responsible for recruiting more cruise specialists and working closely with suppliers to source the best offers and generate content.
Trickett has worked in the travel industry for 20 years, predominantly in retail as an agent, before moving into the cruise sector 12 years ago.
Darren Bien, Designer Travel head of sales and commercial, told Travel Weekly the appointment was part of a strategy for cruise to make up 25% of all sales within two years.
“Cruise now is about 15% of our business, compared to 5% three years ago and now the strategy is to go after river, expedition and ultra-luxury as the areas of opportunity,” he said.
Bien revealed Designer Travel had increased its cruise sales 312% over three years and 98% of its team had made a cruise booking last year compared to 25% three years ago.
He added: “The main thing for us is getting our teams to live and breathe cruise, which three years ago they would not have done.”
This new focus will see five cruise suppliers join Designer Travel’s conference this year, compared to one last year.
On the appointment of Trickett, Bien said it had “hit the jackpot” by bringing on a cruise expert to help grow its own cruise experts.
“We are on the lookout for people who are either cruise specialists or have a passion for it,” he added. “If we had 20 cruise specialists with Jess giving them one-to-one business development support, it would really help to grow the business.”
Trickett told Travel Weekly: “I absolutely knew straight away this was the right move. I feel excited to start and get stuck in.
“We’ve had lots of brainstorming and it’s very exciting future for Designer Travel.”