Barrhead Travel’s record-breaking year has been fuelled by cruise bookings, the agency’s annual conference heard.
Cruise achieved 69% growth overall compared with 2019, with the mainstream sector growing by 80%, the luxury sector by 104% and river cruises by 16%.
Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson said: “We’ve been focusing on cruise within our branches and we’ve trained all our staff. The value that cruise offers is just fantastic.”
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In an effort to boost bookings for river cruises, every store now has a river cruise specialist.
Sales and marketing director Nicki Tempest-Mitchell described the past year as “exceptional” for the business, with spend per booking rising by £683.
The average number of people on a trip grew from 2.4 to 2.6, Tempest-Mitchell said, but the average duration fell from 9.78 days to 9.34. The fastest-growing destination was Turkey.
During a panel session on the cruise sector, Tempest-Mitchell said the average booking value of cruises has risen by £1,000, with the best-selling sailings being those to the Caribbean.
Pointing to the popularity of fly-cruise, Tempest-Mitchell called for more flights from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool.
She also encouraged cruise lines to work more closely with agents.
“Work with us and tell us when the launches are happening,” she said. “The more details you give us, the more results you’re going to get.”
Barrhead Travel is upgrading the search function on the cruise section of its website – as well as the search function on Cruise Direct and The Cruise Specialists – in an attempt to improve the customer experience.
Photo (L-R): Anne Marie Kirk (Canada manager); Jonathon Munro (head of longhaul); Jacqueline Dobson (president); Nicki Tempest-Mitchell (sales and marketing director); Nicola Murdoch (cruise manager)