InteleTravel is aiming to increase its cruise sales by 50% by the end of next year, according to UK and Ireland managing director Tricia Handley-Hughes.
In an interview with Travel Weekly, Handley-Hughes (pictured) shared her plans to increase cruise bookings from 10% of the agency’s current business up to 15% by the end of 2024.
She described cruise sales as “booming” among the homeworking agency’s 14,500 agents, as bookings have already increased fivefold in the last two years.
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She said: “Two years ago, cruise sales were a meagre 1-2% of our business – it was that low.
“Then it shot up to about 6-7% last year and now we’re at 10% so we’ve seen massive growth in a short space of time as sales have been booming among our agents.
“I would love to see our cruise sales grow to 15% of the business by the end of next year, which is certainly an achievable target in my eyes.
“Of course, we don’t know what’s going to happen with elections, the cost-of-living crisis or anything else, but I think with the engagement with our cruise suppliers we can do it.”
Handley-Hughes went on to say InteleTravel has been making a “conscious effort” to boost its cruise business and to build up agents’ confidence.
The agency is encouraging its homeworkers to engage with the sector as much as possible by going on ship visits, attending cruise conferences and signing up to webinars so they can boost their knowledge and motivate each other.
“It has been a conscious effort to build up our cruise business as we have nearly 15,000 agents and our cruise sales weren’t reflecting that number until recently,” she said.
“We have been engaging a lot with the sector and now not a day goes by when we don’t get cruise news coming through our suppliers which keeps agents very motivated.
“The most powerful form of marketing is word of mouth between agents. When agents hear of other agents’ success, it breeds a curiosity and a hunger for them to further engage in the cruise sector.
“If some agents are selling at a good yield and reaping that repeat business, it excites other agents and motivates them and that’s what we want to see.”