Sussex Cruise Club is hoping to work with more cruise lines after teaming up with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines to run its first external post-Covid consumer event.
The club, part of Woods Travel agency in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, said it hoped to boost its profile and work closely with more cruise lines by hosting further similar customer events.
It follows the return of industry veteran Roger Mallock to the industry to work as sales manager at Woods Travel.
Mallock welcomed around 60 cruise club customers to the event at the Harbour Hotel in Chichester with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ area manager Kerry Eades, who gave a presentation on the cruise experience, destinations and ports of call.
Mallock said the event had been a firm success. “We had a strong response to the event and a good number of bookings. This event showed to me very clearly that the general public are thirsty for up to date accurate information and a trusted source of booking,” he said.
He added: “The cruise lines, in spite of the pandemic, have invested huge amounts in the future and they are relying in many ways on cruise agents to introduce new travellers to the market. With this type of hotel-based event we hope to increase our cruise profile further in 2023 and support those travel businesses that wish to support us.”
Mallock urged other cruise lines interested in working with the agency’s cruise club to get in touch.
He said: “We have not scratched the surface where the Sussex Cruise Club is concerned. We have a cruise club brochure which may be a useful way for these companies to reach our clientele. The club is set to expand significantly in numbers as we return to travelling once again.”
Mallock, who worked in the industry from the 1980s until 2019 for travel agencies and cruise companies, joined Woods Travel last month.
The company comprises an Abta travel agency, cruise specialist agency, The Sussex Cruise Club, as well as a long-established coach tour operation offering trips in the UK and abroad.
He said: “I am so pleased to be joining Woods Travel at this exciting time as the travelling public gain confidence once more, which is clearly shown by the very strong bookings pattern across the industry to date in 2023.
“Everyone that knows me says that travel has always been where my heart is and where I have been most fulfilled.”
Since 2019 Mallock has worked in international marketing, IT and most recently, personal development, as a subscription sales manager in learning and development products for the public sector.
He previously worked for Tui; Exchange Travel; Bath Travel; Planet Cruise, now Iglu; Shearings; Fred Olsen Cruise Lines and Paying Too Much Holidays. As well as working at branch manager level in travel agencies, he worked as a tour director for Saga Holidays and Shearings, and on the future cruise desk at sea for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.
He launched Worldchoice TV travel show as a guest presenter and has written a published book on cruising for newcomers, called Cruisemaster.
Pictured: Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ Kerry Eades with Woods Travel team