The Cruise Globe hopes new agency will be world leader within a decade

The Cruise Globe is set to launch a cruise agency simultaneously in the UK and US at the end of May, and aims to become the world’s leading cruise retailer within 10 years.

The specialist business is building on the brand’s existing app, which has more than 140,000 users who actively log, track and share their cruise voyages. 

The Cruise Globe has joined Global Travel Collection (GTC) – a division of Internova Travel Group, which also owns Barrhead Travel – as an independent agency, gaining access to GTC’s partner programmes and industry relationships.

Co-founders Matthew Jones, Will Ellison and Emma Le Teace – a well-known cruise blogger and YouTuber – announced the expansion plan in April. The full-service agency is due to launch on May 26 and key appointments have already been made to lead each market, with targets to grow the team in both the UK and US to 10 within the first year.

Former Panache Cruises training manager Emma Taylor will be head of the UK agency, bringing more than 20 years of experience including roles at Thomas Cook, Co-op Travel and Six Star Cruises.

Tamara Matulonis will join as head of the US agency, with more than 20 years in travel across brands such as Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Harr Travel and Expedia Cruises OVC.

Speaking to Travel Weekly, Jones said the team intentionally chose an agent-led, tech-enabled model over an online-transactional OTA format. 

He emphasised that launching with an established community provides a significant advantage when it comes to cost-effective customer acquisition.

“There is a lot of power in having a community before you start a travel agency, because so much of the challenge now comes from trying to differentiate yourself,” Jones said. 

“I believe The Cruise Globe will be the world’s leading cruise agency within the next decade. We have the data, the audience, the network and team to make this happen.”

Jones added the app’s user data will give agents “superpowers”, allowing them to view a customer’s full cruise history and preferences before initiating a conversation, thereby “entirely removing traditional lead constraints”.

The app will remain free, avoiding paywalls, subscriptions or “aggressive display advertising”. 

Instead, development will focus on enhancing the social experience through photo sharing, wish lists and leaderboards.

Future tech updates include map-based itinerary comparisons and data-driven predictive tools showing the likelihood of ports being missed or voyages diverted.

Jones noted the cruise sector has historically lagged behind other travel sectors with regards to the digital experience, and he believes these new features will directly appeal to a changing cruise demographic.