Seabourn wants to adopt a more “tailored approach” to the trade in 2025, according to its sales director for the UK and EMEA.
In a webinar with Travel Weekly, Tom Andrews, who has been in the role for six months after replacing Wendy Lahmich, said there were “untapped opportunities out there” for the ocean and expedition cruise line regarding its relationships with agents.
Andrews said: “We’re going to be looking at what we can do to make us as tailored and focused as possible with every agent, to benefit Seabourn and, ultimately, our travel agent partners.”
He said it would likely be “a learning curve” in terms of understanding which agents are “best placed to do what job”, which would be determined with the help of sales analysis.
Andrews stressed the line was not taking a “one size fits all” approach, but instead looking to “work more closely with certain travel agents” to benefit its strategic position.
He said: “We’re not a big team, so we do need to be really tailored on who we focus our time with as a priority and be conscious of how we approach our agent relationships.
“The door is open, and we need to make sure that we’re focusing as much time efficiently with the most impactful partners. There are definitely more opportunities out there for us to grow.”
Andrews also set out his aim for the line to be “more data-driven” to shape its future strategy.
“What I’d like us to do is step back and look at what else we can do longer term,” he explained.
“There’s loads of numbers, insight and data within the Carnival brands and I want to make sure we’re using that to our advantage, which should filter down to getting a better result for Seabourn and also for our travel agent partners.”
Andrews also said “driving opportunities” for premium space suites in the UK market was a focus, as this was an area in which Seabourn had previously “under-indexed” compared to other markets.
This is what prompted the launch of Seabourn’s ‘Sail of the Year’ incentive, which offers a £50 Amazon voucher for every new Penthouse Suite booking on any 2025 and 2026 voyage.
Andrews revealed the line was in a “well-booked position” for 2025, while 2026 is “way ahead” of the same period last year, with both pricing and demand “going in the right direction”.
He said putting Seabourn’s 2026 voyages on sale earlier than usual was “paying dividends straight away”, pulling the booking curve forward, which he hoped would keep its prices higher.
He added the “main pocket of opportunity” for agents booking clients was in the second half of the year for ocean voyages and 2026 for expedition.
Andrews expected Seabourn to open expedition itineraries for 2027 in the second quarter of this year.