Scenic Group has posted its best trade sales week to date as January levels outperformed the same month last year by 35%.
The week starting January 27 was the standout record week for the UK market with bookings more than 15% up on the same period in 2024.
The result follows Scenic Group achieving a 30% rise in annual UK sales through the trade in 2024 over the previous year.
The operator has extended an incentive offering agents £50 in rewards for every 2025 booking made until the end of February.
UK sales for Scenic and Emerald Cruises’ 2025 river cruise itineraries are up more than 35% on last year’s figures.
Emerald Cruises’ Caribbean ocean sailings have also been boosted by the ship Emerald Sakara (pictured) being featured in two episodes of ‘Susan Calman’s Cruise of a Lifetime’ on Channel 5 last month.
UK head of sales Jonathan Davies said: “We are thrilled to see such positive results to date. We know that these wouldn’t be possible without the ongoing support from our valued trade partners.
“Our trade sales have increased thanks to engaging with more agents, providing more opportunities for ship visits and equipping our partners with strong offers and marketing collateral for the peaks period.
“As a thank you to our agent partners, we’ve extended our rewards incentive offering agents £50 in rewards for every 2025 booking they make until the end of February.
“We are thrilled with the positive impact that Emerald Sakara starring in ‘Susan Calman’s Cruise of a Lifetime’ has had on sales of Emerald Cruises’ yacht sailings. Not only has the show driven a notable uptick in traffic to the Emerald Cruises website – 500% increase after the first episode – but it has contributed to over three times as many sales as the previous year.
“We also recently introduced low-cost flight options as a direct result of agent feedback last year. This initiative provides our partners and their customers with more flexibility with their cruise holiday choices than ever before.”