Tui has created a new cruise-focused team to train and support agents in the UK and Ireland.
The four-strong team has been tasked with driving cruise sales and raising awareness of its Marella Cruises and Tui River Cruises brands, both inside and outside the company.
Senior cruise commercial support manager Steven Heath will be supported by cruise commercial managers Jessica Garner and Lynsey Roberts. Heath’s responsibilities include building relationships and providing strategic direction to trade partners.
Garner and Roberts will start on October 31 before Heath joins the team on November 28. Tui said Heath brings with him “a wealth of experience”, having formerly been a travel advisor and retail operations executive before moving into the commercial team at the company.
Sarah Whitehouse will hold the position of training delivery manager within the team and will also start her new role next week.
She has worked as a store manager within Tui’s retail arm before recently becoming a training consultant.
Tui said she would share her “passion and knowledge about Marella Cruises and Tui River Cruises to ensure agents understand the brands, products and services available”.
Each position will report into national account manager Andrew Isherwood.
Chris Hackney, managing director of cruise at Tui UK and Ireland, said: “We’re excited to be growing the team at this pivotal time for the cruise industry.
“Since the restart of cruise last year, we’ve been working hard to reassure customers and get them back to cruising.”
He added: “We have ambitious plans for Marella and Tui River Cruises and having a dedicated team in place to support agents will play an important role in the businesses’ future.
“With the launch of Marella Voyager and our new US itineraries on Marella Discovery in 2023, we are seeing trends of customers booking earlier than before.”