Clia reaches new record of 4,300 agency members

Clia UK & Ireland has increased its agent membership by 10% since May 2024, reaching almost 4,300 members, its annual conference heard.

The trade body also recorded 10,000 individuals accessing its resources and training in the same time period.

Clia UK & Ireland managing director Andy Harmer thanked agents for their engagement as he detailed further initiatives to 850 delegates at its conference in Southampton.

He said: “At the end of last year we launched the Clia Champion programme for expedition and river who will graduate in June.

“We are bringing both back for this year and adding, for the first time, a new stream focused on luxury cruising.”

On the events side, he highlighted July 3 for a free-to-attend new to selling cruise virtual day and September 15-21 for Clia Cruise Week.

He added the Clia website would undergo a refresh in July which would relaunch with additional resources including more virtual ship tours for agents.

The conference included two optional opportunities for agents with a new to selling cruise day and an expedition summit hosted on Swan Hellenic ship Diana in Portsmouth.

On the day of the conference there were luxury and expedition cruise “takeovers” with experts from the two sectors sharing tips on how to sell their products and find suitable clients, as well as interviews with mainstream cruise lines.