Windstar Cruises plans to make the UK its second-largest source market within the next three years.
In an interview with Travel Weekly, head of UK sales Augustus Lonsdale (pictured) said he wants the UK market to make up half of the line’s international sales, which accounts for roughly 30% of the business.
Lonsdale, who has been in post for three months, said he wants the line to become a “household name” and will prioritise educating agents on the product to ensue that happens.
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“Currently, North America is our largest source market, followed by Australia and then the UK but I want to make the UK the second largest source market and make Windstar a household name,” he said.
“It’s a stretched goal which will take two or three years to come to fruition, but I believe it can happen, especially following our recent sales success.
“July was our best month so far this year and two weeks ago we had our best week of 2023 in terms of booked revenue so I’m really happy with that.
“Year on year we are up significantly and we are looking good in comparison to 2019 levels.”
The line hosted 250 agents on its recently refurbished Star Legend across a series of ship visits last week as it sailed from Edinburgh to London Tilbury, as well as five trade events in London.
Lonsdale hailed the success of the visits and confirmed he would host more later in the year.
“Having Star Legend in the UK, including two days docked at Tower Bridge in London, provided us with a great opportunity to host a huge number of agents, including many who are new to Windstar,” he said.
“With 100% of our business coming through the trade, it was fantastic to be able to show off the newly transformed Star Legend to our agent partners and to let them experience just what Windstar is all about.
“We will certainly be taking agents on fam trips this year and I also plan to host some webinars so agents can learn more about the product.”