InteleTravel is “determined to push its cruise business far beyond its natural share”, according to president James Ferrara.
Speaking on a visit to the UK, he told Travel Weekly: “According to Clia, one in every 10 holidays sold in the UK is a cruise. In the US, five in every 10 holidays sold by InteleTravel agents are cruises. So we already have a bias towards cruise in the US and we want to really grow the cruise market in the UK.”
He said InteleTravel would do this by driving Clia membership and through training.
“Our training is our secret sauce for everything at InteleTravel. Suppliers come to us and say we provide the best training for homeworkers through our automated platform that they have seen,” said Ferrara.
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And he claimed suppliers felt InteleTravel agents were some of the most engaged.
“We had many get up on stage at our conference in Belfast last week and say our agents are more enthusiastic, more open to learning and more engaged than any others,” said Ferrara.
He added that this was particularly good for the cruise market that is looking for tens of thousands of new to cruise passengers to fill all the new capacity coming on line.
“We know that there’s a portion of our industry that has become jaded and has aged. But one of the contribution that we’re making in the UK market is that we’re bringing new blood into the industry – and it’s young. It’s not just millennials – it’s Gen Zs as well. These are social media-savvy, driven individuals who are bringing a shot in the arm to the UK market.
“There is a younger profile of consumer that has a certain attitude or perception about cruise. But these younger agents in InteleTravel can change that for the cruise industry,” he said.
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