Explora Journeys will expand its UK sales team in response to demand from agents.
Speaking to Travel Weekly on board Explora I during the ship’s maiden call at Southampton, UK & Ireland managing director Antonio Paradiso said he is seeking additional sales staff as excitement about the brand grows within the trade.
“We’ve already invested in our current sales team, but I am keeping an eye on Scotland and Ireland as we need to get more regional coverage to better support travel advisors in those areas,” he said.
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“I want to take a similar to approach as I did with MSC where we started with five sales team members and now we have 20.
“The idea is to provide the best possible experience to both the travel advisors and the guests we welcome on board.
“There is a lot of excitement from travel advisors about Explora Journeys and we have many of them contacting us because they want to do business with us so we definitely need to invest more there.”
He went on to highlight the “phenomenal support” the trade has given Explora Journeys since the brand’s inception, and pledged to continue to welcome agents on board this year.
“The trade supported the vision from the very start and we want to say thank you because so many of them put their trust in us when the ship wasn’t even built,” he said.
“We have already welcomed more than 450 travel advisors on board and we are hosting fam trips on Explora I in the Caribbean later in the year so even more can see the product.
“I know that once they have seen it, they won’t be able to contain their enthusiasm and will share the love with their customers.”
He added: “The trade will always be our main source of business and accounts for 80% of our sales so we will never stop doing all we can to support travel advisors.”