Opinion: Agents are more critical to cruise than ever

Cruise lines must attract agents who don’t currently sell the product, says Nick Wilkinson, business development director UK, Ireland and Scandinavia at Norwegian Cruise Line

Although there is no doubt that cruising is one of the fastest growing sectors in the travel industry, there is still a lot that we could all be doing to capture a greater share of the market.

The latest figures show that 1.7 million people cruise every year in the UK, but with a national population of over 64 million there is huge opportunity.

Travel agents are the number one distribution tool for the industry, and so to attract more new-to-cruise passengers, cruise lines need to make the distribution network larger by attracting agents who don’t currently sell cruise.

This will be all the more true in coming years. With plenty of capacity increases – including Royal, Princess, MSC and of course Norwegian with four new ships in the next five years – agents will be more critical than ever, with opportunities created for agents across the board.

Typically, offering incentives such as training is a great strategy to adopt. The cruise industry loves its agents and supports them through various initiatives – our own Partners First programme is testament to that – and by looking to educate and train agents to sell cruise products, this should be its own reward. There are however, other things that can be done.

For those cautious about selling cruise for the first time, cruise lines should encourage cross-promotional partnerships so that they are selling cruise as a “bolt-on” at first to other products they are more familiar with.

Adding a Disney cruise to Disneyland is a good example, or striking up an official relationship with other holiday companies and operators is also a sensible move to make.

Last year we at Norwegian developed an exclusive brochure with Belleair Holidays that offered rail/stay cruise options, and this opened up the possibility of selling cruise to agents that had never done so before.

A basic advantage about selling cruise is that it’s a great product! No other holiday allows you to unpack once and visit several destinations in one go, or offer such an expansive experience that appeals to different generations, families, couples and singles.

Ice Bars, Broadway shows, night clubs, world cuisine, celebrity chefs, a huge range of shore excursions… there truly is something for everyone.

Cruise Week is a great time to reap the benefits as there are so many offers on. Cruising offers and promotions now mean so much more than simply money off – Norwegian and Royal Caribbean with their new all-inclusive packages, Celebrity’s Up, Up and Away… there is a lot more to offer clients.

But consumers are not the only ones that benefit; again the opportunities that are available to agents are very much there all year-round, with training and travel agent holiday rates being among the strongest in the industry – and of course, cruise lines offer some of the most spectacular fam trips and opening ceremonies around.

We are always keen for as many agents as possible to experience our product, so as there are plenty of capacity increases across cruise lines we look forward to welcoming a larger agent population on board!