Tui has announced it is seeking increased sales through independent agents, following Marella Cruises’ engagement with its “largest ever” contingent of third-party trade partners.
Speaking to Travel Weekly on board Marella Cruises’ newest ship Marella Voyager, Tui UK & Ireland commercial director Richard Sofer declared he wants to see increased relationships with independent agents following the operator’s investment in its sales team.
“We are hosting 500 Tui agents and 100 independent agents on board which is our largest ever contingent of independent agents,” he said.
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“We are seeing more independent agents now than we have in recent years because we’ve invested in a bigger sales team so we are really seeing the virtues of that in the bookings that are coming in, but we want to see more sales coming through independent agents.”
He went on to advise third-party agents immerse themselves in the Tui brand and to recognise its value for the British customer.
“Tui is a well-known brand and customers trust us and we want our independent agents to know that we are 100% designed for the British customer, from food to venues to shows, we are absolutely on point for what our core customers want – we make no compromises,” he added.
“People come back to Tui time and time again knowing their needs will be 100% catered for and it’s really important our independent agents know just how fantastic a Tui holiday – be it beach, city or cruise – really is so they can push sales.
“Our strategy is to have every single holiday type a customer can want, and whether they go on one holiday a year or 10 we want to give it to them.
“People can be nervous about trying new holidays and want to know they can have an excellent experience so we want to give them the trust so they can test different holiday types under the Tui umbrella, so beachgoers might try their first cruise or vice versa.
“Its a massive advantage of our business model and we want agents to shout about it.”